Gandhi's Letter To Nonviolent Protests

You should probably steer clear from this article if you’re into the whole dying for no apparent reason during a war thing, because that basically what Gandhi’s is portraying with his Satyagraha saying in the “Nonviolent resistance”. Where he says like;

Mahatma Gandhi was the leader of the Indian independence movement against British rule. He proposed a speech to all of his followers explaining what his resolution was to gain independence, without using violence. Mahatma Gandhi adopts a subtle and affirmative tone while revealing that non violence and the spreading of love is the way to approach this movement for independence. He also portrays his outline for the movement by appealing to the audience's emotions.

In Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” he uses many examples of rhetorical devices in order for him to be able to reach out to the clergymen in the way he wishes to. He wants to get his point, that there should be a strategy of nonviolent resistance to racism, across without upsetting his readers. King uses many examples of ethos, pathos, and parallelism in order for him to convince his readers that nonviolence in the answer.

In this life, many hope for peace, but not many try to achieve it. According to Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, there are many ways to achieve this, but the best possible course of action would be through nonviolent direct action, which includes but is not limited to: peaceful protest, sit-ins and civil disobedience. In King’s letter, he proclaims his reasoning behind nonviolent direct action, including: the concept that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (par. 4), extremism can be used positively (par. 22), and the fact that “oppressed people will not stay oppressed forever” (par. 24). King uses literary devices including ethos, logos, and pathos to prove and reaffirm that which he is trying to convey.

During the time of the Letter from Birmingham Jail, the Civil Rights Movement was taking place. Many people protested for equality amongst people of all color. These people faced injustice, inequality, and police brutality. In Gandhi’s quote, I feel it relates to the people who went through these hardships. Throughout the Letter From Birmingham Jail, written by Martin Luther King Jr. he uses numerous amounts rhetorical devices like imagery and allusion to build his argument towards the intended audience.

British rule was tough on many Indians. Gandhi, an Indian born lawyer, believed in freedom and peace for his people. He once experienced racism when he was kicked out of a train in Europe. He changed people’s point of view without breaking the law, which was tough for him. Gandhi made his nonviolent movement work through the use of determination, peaceful civil disobedience, and being a powerful leader.

“If you make laws to keep us suppressed in a wrongful manner and without taking us into confidence, these laws will merely adorn the statue books. We will never obey them”(1). Mohandas Gandhi expressed this in his writing “On Nonviolent Resistance”. “Civil disobedience” is when people use their voice by protesting, non-violently, to stick up against unjust laws and unjust movements. The truths and values are proven and brought to attention in the writings of Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr, and Henry David Thoreau. Civil disobedience can be the solution to unjust laws and violence around the world.

Throughout history, many conflicts have happened, some with resolution, and other without. We often tend to think of solving conflicts with war, since most of our history classes are based around World War I, World War II, and so forth, but many conflicts were fought, and successfully won using nonviolent resistance. Many people would use Gandhi as a well known example. Gandhi’s plan of civil disobedience revolved around this big idea called “satyagraha,” which he explains as, “a satyagrahi should always possess civility and humility, qualities that indicated self-control and an humble approach to truth” (Gandhi 50). He later explains that satyagraha is “truth-force” and that truth is soul and spirit, or “spirit-force.” “It excludes the use of violence because man is not capable of knowing the absolute truth and, therefore, not competent to punish” (51). He used this strategy to fight for indian independence. Many other incidents in the world have been fought using civil disobedience, including Women’s Suffrage.

The point of opinion is Gandhi because he is telling the governor what his tactics of civil disobedience are: Gandhi and the public are going to disregard the Salt Laws and trudge to the sea to create their own salt. The manner of this letter is very calm and peaceful. Document B is a passage from Martin Luther King, Jr.’s autobiography along with a photograph of a 1963 sit-in of integration supporters at a lunch counter. The main idea of this picture is that Martin Luther King Jr. is proud because he knows that what he is standing up for is right. This is a good example of non-violence and civil disobedience because the lunch counter was for white people only, and the integration supporters did not fight back at all to the people who may have been flinging junk at them, pouring stuff on them, tormenting them, or spitting at them. Finally, Document C is an excerpt from Nelson Mandela’s book, Long Walk to Freedom, and he is anticipating which tactic to use in order to accomplish liberation. After thinking over the situation, he noticeably chooses the non-violent method, which was the right

In 1757, Great Britain extended its empire into India. This occupation would not fully end until 1947. In the time between, there were many movements by the Indian people to gain independence from the British. The movement that finally succeeded in winning India’s independence was led by one of the most influential figures of the 20th century, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Gandhi’s methods for fighting against the occupation of the British were very different from those of any of the freedom movements before. And that was why it worked. Gandhi did not agree with the general reasoning of the time: that conflicts could be solved through negotiation and forceful resistance.1 Rather, his faith led him to go

Where Forster is using attitude and repetition, Gandhi is using the three artistic proofs: Pathos, Logos and Ethos. Immediately upon starting his letter Gandhi appeals to pathos, the emotional appeal, by stating “Dear Friend” (Gandhi). When taking this serious topic of oppression of millions, using pathos can almost lighten the seriousness of the letter allowing for an easier and smoother read. Furthermore, it shows that Gandhi is not trying to be hostile about his intentions to discuss alternatives for the oppression.

Unfortunately, after the trip to Dandi, Gandhi was arrested as a consequence for the execution of Salt March along with the other protesters who were involved in “buying, selling, or making salt” (Gold 86). However, while being held captive, a poet and a close associate of Gandhi, Mrs. Sarojini Naidu, took an advantage of the new attention that the Satyagrahis and Gandhi had aroused by leading another protest on the Dharsana Salt Works, which caused intense physical harm to the protestors. Anne Todd asserts that as a leader of this particular protest, Naidu inspired and reminded the Satyagrahis that even though “Gandhi’s body is in jail…his soul is with you. India’s prestige is in your hands. You must not use any violence under any circumstances. You will be beaten but you must not resist; you must not even raise a hand to ward off blows” (66). As the demonstrators approached the site, they encountered the British police officers who were trying to block them and were brutally bashing these Indians with “five-foot-long steel-tipped clubs” (Todd 66). Despite the British’ effort, these satyagrahis relentlessly marched forward. Ved Mehta points out a correspondent for United Press, Webb Miller, who reports on the incident at the Dharsana Salt Works:

How might Mohandas K. Gandhi advise someone to respond to an unjust law? “There are two ways of countering injustice. One way is to smash the head of the man who perpetrates injustice and to get your own head smashed in the process.” It is important for people to take a stand on issues of justice in society. It teaches society to work and resolve their issues, it encourages social advancement, and it helps the people who are directly affected by the situation, and can give them assistance.

On August 8, 1942 in Bombay, India, Gandhi gave a speech to many individuals in order to call for a peaceful, yet determined, resistance for the independance of India. Gandhi is speaking to influence the people of India to stand up and declare their independence from Great Britain. The idea of a peaceful protest is a main point of Gandhi’s speech. Gandhi was a very influential orator. A major aspect of Gandhi’s speech is the use of ethos and pathos. Although ethos and pathos are very apparent, a lot of his speech is driven by the effective use of logos.

Aroused by the massacre of Amritsar in 1919, Gandhi devoted his life to gaining India’s independence from Great Britain. As the dominant figure used his persuasive philosophy of non-violent confrontation, he inspired political activists with many persuasions throughout the world (Andrews 23). Not only was Mahatma Gandhi a great peacemaker, but also his work to achieve freedom and equality for all people was greatly acknowledged. Gandhi’s unconventional style of leadership gained him the love of a country and eventually enabled him to lead the independence movement in India.