Themes
Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon...which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals.
— Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Behind the line May contain spoilers.
Our reading
An editorial interpretation.
King presents nonviolence as strength rather than passivity. It can cut through injustice without wounding people, and it lifts up whoever uses it. The closing image of a sword that heals is a deliberate, neat paradox.
Context reviewed