First conceived by famous playwright Edward Bulwer-Lytton, it is often said “the pen is mightier than the sword,” but to what extent does this ring true? Metaphorically, the sentiment highlights the effectiveness of communication rather than a violent approach to an issue. However, this opinion is heavily debated as the power struggle between militia and conversation remains ambiguous. The difference in approaches is demonstrated historically when comparing the political intentions of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X amidst the civil rights movement from the 1950s-1960s.
While Malcolm X harnesses a mass cohesive attitude, MLK Jr. emarks on the route of peaceful negotiation. As seen through the texts A Letter from Birmingham Jail and The Ballot or the Bullet speech, literary and linguistic techniques are evidently tailored to advance two different political agendas.The utilization of tone is critical to both messages as it helps guide both arguments to yield different responses from their respective audiences. Both texts incorporate emotionally charged language, specific syntax and sentence structure and extended metaphors to create two vital tones and moods. The rhetorical analysis of both texts will explore how certain tones and moods are manipulated; thus, aiding in the deconstruction of the intended effect on the audience and its deeper analytical ties to societal issues.
Emotionally charged language is utilised to create pathos in both messages to achieve separate outcomes. Throughout the speech, connotative language is used to elicit emotions of anger and frustration to encourage an aggressive mindset towards the fight for voting rights. Whereas, in MLK Jr’s letter, a more heartfelt tone is presented to evoke sympathy as a bridge for understanding between people of colour and white authorities. MLK Jr refers to the black community as “victims of a broken promise.” The emotionally charged noun “victim” outlines how the community has been “attacked” and left defenseless at the hands of the white community in positions of power, this conjures a melancholy tone within the letter. In this time era, people of color were considered to be an equal opposing force rather than victims; however, the emotionally charged language illuminates they are on the receiving end of injustice rather than an enemy. The pathos created from the tone is reinforced by the adjective “broken.”
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The connotations of a “broken promise” highlights the hope of racial integration/ voting rights being taken away from them, and the harshness of “broken” guides the reader to understand the severity of segregation while evoking pathos. The pathos created throughout the letter is used to help the audience empathise with people of color and present them as a community in need rather than an opposition. Thus, the pathos successfully creates a tones of sadness to elicit sympathy which initiates scope for negotiations as there is heightened awareness. Although just one example, this quote encapsulates the effects of emotionally charged language within the letter and overall tones of sadness to elicit understanding from authoritative figures about the fight for voting rights. Although establishing amore hostile and threatening tone, Malcolm X uses emotionally charged language in his speech.
Malcolm X instructs his audience to “kill that dog, kill him,” if they are ever met with police dogs during protests. On a rhetoric level of analysis, the repetition of the powerful verb “kill” reinforces the need for violence in the eyes of Malcolm X. This is a clear example of how tone can reveal one’s political agenda while advancing it and enforcing it on others. The rhetoric exploration the lexical field of the word “kill” rather than “murder” could insinuate that these actions are justified. Upon critically analysing this language, this “justification” could be interpreted as the right to fight back as the black community has already faced too much injustice. This speaks to a greater political philosophy of an “eye for an eye” and calls into question the effect of a hateful attitude. This quote is symbolic of the tone that is created throughout the speech- enraged. The deconstruction of this tone provides the reader with a stronger ability to deconstruct the intent of both activists while outlining the greater social issue.
While emotionally charged vocabulary was used to reap different outcomes, the careful use of sentence structure and syntax is a literary similarity between the two texts. Sentence structure and syntax are key elements that often go hand in hand when creating tone. In both texts, segments which contained powerful language generally had more run-on sentences/longer sentence length. This lack of structure blended with emotive language portrays tones of frustration as both activists fail to conform to typical sentence structures as their feelings are “overflowing.” An example of this is when Malcolm X begins discussing fundamental entitlement to human rights. In addition to run on sentences, each new sentence begins with “And.”
As it is unusual to initiate sentences with a conjunction, he does this to signify that the community is unable to hold back their frustration and anger. This contributes to the overall hostile tone of the letter and reinforces that the black community is disgusted by the injustice. Moreover, to rebel against the normal sentence structure may symbolise their own political rebellion against the government in their fight for voting rights and racial integration. Much like how their sentence structures defy expectations, so do the community’s thoughts and actions. This is also evident in MLK Jr’s letter as some sentences are the length of a paragraph with an abundance of commas. Rhetorically, the audience witness both activists overflow with emotion and frustration; however, the critical analysis reveals links to the broader political issue.
Finally, when comparing the ways in which tone is maintained, it is evident that Malcolm X utilised an extended metaphor throughout his speech to reinforce his ideology. The very title of the speech “The Ballot or the Bullet” is a metaphor stating that if the black community does not have the right to vote (ballot), violence will be used (bullet). The repetition of this metaphor throughout the speech reinforces an unfriendly tone and maintains the overall effect of the emotive language used and sentence structure, as discussed previously. It effectively instills fear in the opposition and harnesses fury in the audience and in victims. However, an alternate interpretation of this may indicate Malcolm X’s deeper political ideology as the metaphor suggests that there is no alternate solution except “the bullet.” This explores a larger political issue of how leaders can be closed minded and unforgiving. The absence of this extended metaphor in MLK Jr’s letter shows he is more understanding and peaceful, which affects the overall effectiveness of both messages.
In conclusion, the ways in which both political leaders utilise tone to advance their political agendas are successful. Although striving for a common outcome of racial integration, MLK Jr employs an open minded attitude while Malcolm X maintains animosity. As seen through the evidence discussed, tone is created through the use of emotive language, sentence structure and syntax, and extended metaphors. Both leaders effectively incorporate these aspects of tone to extract certain reactions from their respective audiences; thus, opening the passage for political change in their own rights. Essentially, the rhetorical and critical analysis enables readers to embark on a metaphorical journey of coercion versus conversation. However, despite vigorous discussion, ambiguity is ever-present and is left to each individual. This leaves one to question, is the pen is truly mightier than the sword?
