What are some examples of antithesis in Martin Luther King Jr's "Letter from Birmingham Jail"?

Antithesis is the opposition or contrast of ideas or words in parallel structure.  Parallelism occurs when structures within sentences or parts of a sentence take the same form.  Parallelism is a grammatical repetition.

One of King's most quoted lines is an example of antithesis: "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."  First, one must understand how this sentence is in parallel form.  If one were to break the sentence down to its parts of...

Antithesis is the opposition or contrast of ideas or words in parallel structure.  Parallelism occurs when structures within sentences or parts of a sentence take the same form.  Parallelism is a grammatical repetition.

One of King's most quoted lines is an example of antithesis: "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."  First, one must understand how this sentence is in parallel form.  If one were to break the sentence down to its parts of speech, it would follow this structure: noun, adverb, verb, adjective, noun, preposition, noun, adverb.  The two parts that are underlined show the two structures that are repeated, so one knows this is an example of parallelism.  Looking at those two parts in the sentence ("Injustice anywhere" and "justice everywhere"), one can see that the phrases are opposites of one another.

So what is the reason for antithesis?  King wants to show his audience (particularly the eight clergymen who sent him the letter to which he is responding) that his purpose in being in Birmingham is greater than Birmingham; it is about rooting out injustices across the country to protect and elevate justice for all.  It is not a Black or White issue; it is the country's issue.

Some other examples of antithesis (with the parallelism underlined):

1. "Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly." (para. 5)


2. "...the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood." (para. 10)


3. "We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed." (para. 13)


4. "One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws." (para. 15)


5. "Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust." (para. 16)


6. "An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself. This is difference made legal. By the same token, a just law is a code that a majority compels a minority to follow and that it is willing to follow itself. This is sameness made legal." (para. 17)


7. "Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection."