Kings Letter from a Birmingham Jail and Waldens Civil Disobedience - Essay Example

On the most basic level, the reader can understand the ideas put forward by Thoreau in “Civil Disobedience” to be based upon nonviolent resistance. Within Thoreau’s times, this was, of course, something of a new idea. Rather than seeking to effect change by violence and/or the spilling of blood in the form of a revolution, Thoreau understood that civil disobedience in the form of nonviolence could affect the same goals at a faster rate than could be realized by violence. Although this was not specifically stated, the reader can infer this from a full analysis of the piece due to the fact that King’s other writings and speeches continued to emphasize the importance of nonviolent means as a vehicle for achieving the ultimate goals of the civil rights movement. This was not only due to his belief that violence was ultimately evil, it was also due to the fact that Thoreau understood the fact that within any conflict there exist several parties.

Martin Luther King himself identified with and appreciated the concepts put forth by Thoreau as well as by Gandhi, who also drew upon Thoreau’s inspiration in order to affect the Indian freedom movement, as a means of presenting the importance of the civil rights movement within the United States. Martin Luther King said, “I am not afraid of the word tension. I have earnestly worked and preached against violent tension, but there is a type of constructive nonviolent tension that is necessary for growth” (King 266).   Although it could be argued that the letter was not specifically directed towards his supporters only, the fact of the matter is that King’s letter served to help his supporters to understand and promote his message among those “fence riders” that had yet to take a side in the brewing conflict.

Moreover, the reader can understand that within the Civil Rights movement, there was a fundamental break with regards to what policy was the best to pursue. Some individuals within the struggle for civil rights were of the belief that violent resistance was the only means by which lasting change could be affected. Said King, “We must see the need of having nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise” (King 266).  As such, King asserted that the most profitable approach was the responsibility that civil rights campaigners had.  King explained in the following way: "one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws” (King 265).  In such a way, the focus was taken away from seeking to engage violence with violence; rather, King sought to willfully resist as a means of providing a societal recognition of the greater good which he was seeking to demonstrate.

 This was, of course, due to the fact that violence had already been used by those opposed to the civil rights movement and the individuals towards whom it was directed had no effective means of protecting themselves (Helicher 91). At this point, people had not fully understood the idea of King’s message nor realized that the brutal repressive tactics that were being used against him were uncalled for and effectively in violation of human rights.

Although neither Thoreau nor Gandhi advocated nonviolence based upon Christian virtue, King utilized their theories and changed them according to the needs and realities of the Civil Rights movement.  In such a way, it is possible for the reader to understand that a key influence was gained from Henry Thoreau; however, the application of this was specifically molded in order to fit the unique needs of the times. Rather than viewing Martin Luther King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” as a mere copy of the concepts that Thoreau had earlier put forward in “Civil Disobedience”, the reader can understand that Martin Luther King sought to incorporate key concepts while the same time integrating current reality. Moreover, with the third group of stakeholders that have previously been mentioned, “Letters from a Birmingham Jail” was intended to engage these people with the unjust nature of the conflict that had ultimately landed him in prison. King’s ultimate goal was not only to educate people but also to engage the neutral elements of American society with regards to a more complete understanding of the moral nature of the cause that he was fighting against.

Although similar in many ways, these two works display key levels of difference. Whereas King was heavily influenced by the work of Thoreau, he was able to take Thoreau’s message of nonviolent resistance, originally intended as something of a humanist approach to conflict resolution, and add key elements of the Christian tradition as a means of engaging both the neutral shareholders and those within his own group that might be tempted to engage in violence as a means of resolving the conflict.