nonviolence gleaned from selected works of mahatma gandhi and martin luther king, jr. (sum)

Thai Nguyen University Batangas State University
Socialist Republic of Vietnam Republic of Philippines

LE THI THU HUONG

NONVIOLENCE GLEANED FROM SELECTED WORKS OF
MAHATMA GANDHI AND MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.


Specialty: Language and Literature



Ph.D DISSERTATION SUMARY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE



THAI NGUYEN, 2014


The Dissertation was completed in:
THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY


Advisor: Maria Luisa A. Valdez, PhD

Reviewer No.1:
Reviewer No.2:
Reviewer No.3:



The Dissertation will be evaluated at the State Council held at:
………………………………………………………………………
At: hour date month year 2014





Dissertation can be found at the libraries:
- National library of Vietnam;
- Learning Resource Center - Thai Nguyen University;
- Library of International Training and Development Center;
- Library of Batangas State University, Philippines.


1
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

1.1. BACKGROUND OF STUDY
Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. are two of the
world’s most famous advocates of non-violence. Both struggled and
committed themselves to create a society without the use of force.
In spite of all these resounding advocacies for non-violence,

men continue to use force and violence as means to an end. Men did
not seem to have learned as proven by the presence of violence
everywhere in the world. In today’s world, people continue to die
violent deaths
In the new era of the twenty-first century, humanity must be
guided by the fundamental truth that killing is never justified or
acceptable - under any circumstance. Unless men realize this, unless
they widely promote and deeply inculcate the understanding that
violence can never be used to advocate one's ideology, they will have
learned nothing from the agonizing lessons of the twentieth century.
It has been said that the best way to understand human nature
fully and to know a nation completely short of going into a formal
study of history, psychology, and sociology, is to study literature.
Through literature, people learn the innermost feelings and thoughts
of people - the truest and most real part of themselves. Thus, men
gain an understanding not only for others, but more importantly, of
themselves and of life itself.


2
Today, the real struggle of the twenty-first century is neither
between civilizations, nor between religions. It will be between
violence and nonviolence. It will be between barbarity and
civilization in the truest sense of the word.
Gandhi’s thinking was ahead of his own time and stays alive
until today. Underlying all this is Gandhi’s impregnable faith in the
possibility of a radically better human future if only men will learn to
trust the power of non-violent openness to others and to the deeper
humanity within us all. To most people this seems impossible. But
Gandhi’s great legacy is that his life has certainly shown that, with

true dedication, non-violence is possible in the world as it is.
The core principle explained why, for King, nonviolence was
“the morally excellent way”. Dr. King’s principle and methodology
of nonviolence outlined a path to social change that still holds true to
this day.
Also, Dr. King’s essays and speeches are characterized by
wisdom. His writings harnesses profound emotional power for
purposes of social action. Within the pages of these works surfaces a
collection of gems, reflecting deep philosophy and unique
expressions.
The wisdom embodied in the selected works of Mahatma
Gandhi and the selected works of Martin Luther King, Jr. could help
the Vietnamese students reassess their lives and values when they
become mindful of their genuine philosophical bounds. Their
writings could describe habits that delineate the Vietnamese attitude
towards life in general and towards specific actions in particular.


3
They may rightly be regarded as qualifiers of human acts, influencing
their deep driving forces. They are conjoined in the raw materials of
the social development of a Vietnamese student as a person existing
in a community of people and support the efforts of nation building.
With these thoughts in mind, the researcher as an English
teacher at Thai Nguyen University of Education is deeply
motivated to explore and undertake an analysis of how
nonviolence is reflected in the selected works of Mahatma Gandhi
and Martin Luther King, Jr. and gain honest implications on the
teaching of nonviolence that may be drawn from the analysis
which shall benefit Vietnamese students.

1.2. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDIES
This study is an analysis of nonviolence gleaned in the selected
works of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. and the
identification of the teachings on nonviolence that may be drawn
from the analysis which shall benefit Vietnam students.
Specifically, the study sought answers to the following
questions:
1. What is the historical root of nonviolence in India and America.
2. How is nonviolence dealt with in the selected works of Mahatma
Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.?
3. What humanitarian issues are given focus on each of the
selections?
4. What literary devices are used by the writers in projecting the
humanitarian issues particularly nonviolence?


4
5. What teachings on nonviolence maybe drawn from the analysis
which shall benefit Vietnamese students?
1.3. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The aptness of literary analysis as an essential part of a
research study is highlighted in terms of its importance to a number
of individuals. Therefore, it is vital to expound how this study is
beneficial to academic managers, college instructors of literature,
students of literature and linguistics sand other researchers.
The academic managers can utilize this study as a frame of
reference when they prepare developmental priorities, programs,
projects and policies in the educational institutions to ensure that the
practice of nonviolence can access the academe and spawn
nonviolent-related activities in the curricula.

College instructors of literature may use this analysis as one of
their methodologies in teaching literature to raise students’ awareness
on nonviolence and develop their students’ appreciation and sense of
value in order to guide and allow them to crystallize and synthesize
what philosophy of life is best to learn and to live by.
Students of literature and linguistics realize the significance of
nonviolence and may be inspired to treat literature as a work of art s
as well as inspire them to engage in literary analysis related to non-
violent resistance
Research the applications of this study’s results on the issue of
school violence education in Vietnam.
Research on non-violent struggle in a number of works of Viet
Nam contemporary literature.


5
1.4. SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
This study analyzes the philosophy of nonviolence as
embodied in the selected literary pieces of Mahatma Gandhi and
Martin Luther King, Jr. pointing out the events and situations which
show the teachings on nonviolence that maybe drawn from the
analysis that may benefit the Vietnamese students. Likewise, this
paper tries to present the historical root of nonviolence in India and
the United States; the humanitarian issues given focus on each of the
selections, and the literary devices used by the writers in projecting
the humanitarian issues particularly nonviolence.
This study employed the qualitative method of research in
analyzing Gandhi’s and King’s concept of nonviolence in the
representative literary works chosen. Likewise, this analysis made
use of the sociological and philosophical approaches as the bases for

analysis. In particular, the sociological approach is supported by
Teixeira’s Theory of Nonviolence, while the philosophical approach
is supported by Holmes’ Theory of Nonviolence. Other approaches
in literary criticism that may be employed in the analysis like the
Formalist Criticism, Biographical Criticism, Historical Criticism, and
Psychological Criticism are not part of this study.
This paper also involved content analysis, which is a
systematic technique in analyzing message content and message
handling. The data analysis in this research centered on pattern
seeking and the extraction of meaning from Gandhi’s and King’s
selected literary narrative or image data. Much effort was focused on
the task of recording data or making notes through concepts and
categories; altering or creating new codes or more subtle categories;


6
linking and combining abstract concepts; extracting the essence;
organizing meaning; creating theory from emerging themes; writing
an understanding; and drawing conclusions.
The essential features in the treatment of materials were
considered by the researcher in the conduct of this study. The general
rules cited by Scott (2014) as regards the seven standards a piece of
literature should abide to in order to be considered literary guided in
the selection of works under study.
The representative literary works were analyzed The Story of
My Experiments with Truth, Harijan and Young India and The
Montgomery Bus Boycott, Letter from Birmingham Jail by Mahatma
Gandhi and I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King, Jr. From these
literatures, readers will be able to see in them the seeds of all these
two writers’ most important teachings. The said selections were

chosen because of their correlation with the cited themes; the
humanitarian issues given focus in the selections; the literary devices
which helped in unveiling their concept of nonviolence; and the
teachings on nonviolence that may be drawn from the analysis.



7
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter is presented with the end view of identifying the
constructs of the study.
2.1. CONCEPTUAL LITERATURE
The review of the conceptual literature yields four types of
constructs, which are used in the analysis and interpretation of the
literary pieces dissected. These constructs include: Literature and
Philosophy of Nonviolence, Mahatma Gandhi and his Significant
Works, Martin Luther King, Jr. and his Significant Works,
Humanitarian Issues, Literary Devices and Historical and
Philosophical Approaches in Literary Criticism.
2.2. RESEARCH LITERATURE
This section presents the published and unpublished researches
that are related to the present study.
2.3. SYNTHEIS OF LITERATURE REVIEWED
This section justifies the direct bearing of the conceptual
literature to the present study followed by the presentation of the
similarities and differences of the cited research literature to the
present study.
2.4. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
The review of the conceptual literature yields four types of

constructs, which are used in the analysis and interpretation of the
literary pieces dissected. These constructs include: Literature and
Philosophy of Nonviolence, Mahatma Gandhi and his Significant


8
Works, Martin Luther King, Jr. and his Significant Works,
Humanitarian Issues, Literary Devices and Historical and
Philosophical Approaches in Literary Criticism.
2.5. DEFINITION OF TERMS
This section presents the terms defined conceptually and
operationally for a better understanding and appreciation of concepts
as they are used in the study. The following terms are defined:
content analysis, historical approach, humanitarian issues, literary
devices, nonviolence, philosophical approach, philosophy of
nonviolence, selected works, teachings on nonviolence,

CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the research methodology in terms of the
research design and treatment of the materials studied.
3.1. RESEARCH DESIGN
This study employed the qualitative method of research in
analyzing the tenets of nonviolence in the representative literary
works chosen. According to Suter (2012), qualitative research is
guided by the philosophical premise that one must consider the
multiple realities experienced by the participants themselves to
understand a complex phenomenon. These multiple realities
experienced by the participants can be reflected in various ways,

including the literary genre called letters and oratorical speeches.


9
According to Ary, et. al. (2006), human experiences take their
signification from social, cultural and political influences, and are
therefore incapable of being separated to the said influences. Hence,
in analyzing the representative literary works, the tenet of
nonviolence prevalent in India and the United States were
considered. These provided substantial and significant interpretations
of the author’s and characters’ motivations with regard to
nonviolence.
Patton (2002) pointed out that the goal of qualitative data
analysis is to uncover emerging themes, patterns, concepts, insights,
and understanding. Thus, this study also involved content analysis,
which is a systematic technique in analyzing message content and
message handling.
The data analysis in this research centered on pattern seeking
and the extraction of meaning from Mahatma Gandhi’s and Martin
Luther King, Jr.’s selected narrative or image data. Much effort was
focused on the task of recording data or making notes through
concepts and categories; altering or creating new codes or more
subtle categories; linking and combining abstract concepts; extracting
the essence; organizing meaning; creating theory from emerging
themes; writing an understanding; and drawing conclusions.
3.2.TREATMENT OF MATERIALS
The essential features in the treatment of materials were
considered by the researcher in the conduct of this study.
To adopt a more systematic identification of selected works,
several norms were adhered to. According to Stott (2014), there are

10
generally considered seven standards as regards how a piece of
literature should abide to in order to be considered literary. If a piece
of writing is considered “literary” this usually suggest that it is a
scholarly article or classical writing that is extremely well written
and is very informative. The said standards include intellectual value,
spiritual value, universal appeal, permanence, suggestiveness, artistry
and style.
With regard to intellectual value, the worth connected to the
stimulating influence of great literature was considered. The
selections can help the readers understand their lives and realize
truths about humanity and life in general. They likewise stimulate the
readers mentally and enrich their thoughts particularly on
nonviolence.
In relation to spiritual value, the quality of great literature
which elevates the spirit was taken into consideration during the
selection process. The chosen representative literary works are
thought to have an underlying moral message that can potentially
make the readers better people. These moral values are often written
between the lines and can help the readers become better persons.
As regards universal appeal, the thought that great literature
appeals to all people regardless of race, creed, nationality or beliefs
was taken into consideration. The said literary pieces appeals to a
range of people across different age groups, nationalities, cultures
and beliefs.
In connection with permanence, the quality that great literature
endures was also considered. The selected prose’s and poems’ appeal

11
is lasting and they can be read again and again as each reading gives
fresh delight and new insights and open new worlds of meaning and
experience.
With reference to suggestiveness, the value associated with
the emotional power of great literature was noted. The selected
literary pieces can carry many associations that lead beyond the
surface meaning. The reader is left to establish what the author is
suggesting and this captures the readers’ imagination by making
them think about what they are reading and engaging them into the
story or poem.
With reference to artistry, the quality which appeals to the
readers’ sense of beauty was likewise noted in the choice of
representative works. The chosen works are well-written and they
appeal to the readers’ creative sides with beautifully crafted phrases
and sentences.
Finally, relative to style, the peculiar way in which the author
sees life, forms his ideas and how he expresses them were considered
too. The selected literary pieces are marked with the writers’ view of
the world and can put thoughts to the readers in a way they have
never considered.
For the purpose of this study and to give philosophical
credibility, the representative following literary works were
analyzed: The Story of My Experiments with Truth, Harijan and
Young India by Mahatma Gandhi and The Montgomery Bus Boycott,
Letter from Birmingham Jail and I Have a Dream by Martin Luther


12

King, Jr. From these literatures, readers will be able to see these two
writers’ most important teachings on nonviolence. Nonviolence, as
espoused by Gandhi and King, spurs peace by seeking the higher
authorities’ friendship, understanding, and cooperation rather than
defeat and humiliation. It is a channel for awakening a sense of
injustice and moral shame in the high-power parties. It overthrows
justice by showing high-power parties they have more to gain by
ending injustice and oppression than by maintaining them. It is aimed
at creating redemption, reconciliation, and a community
characterized by equal justice and mutual benefit. Advocates of
nonviolence recommend it as making the means of achieving peace
and the nature of the peace achieved indivisible. These letters and
oratorical speeches constituted the primary and twining sources of
the study. They were chosen to parallel the criteria spelled out for the
purpose. These works have been taken up in critical analysis far less
frequently than the Gandhi’s most popular books entitled Non-
Violent Resistance, Satyagraha in South Africa: The Making of
Mahatma Gandhi, The Essential Gandhi: An Anthology of His
Writings on His Life, Work, and Ideas, Hind Swaraj and Other
Writings, Peace: The Words and Inspiration of Mahatma Gandhi, All
Men are Brothers: Autobiographical Reflections “ and King’s most
famous speeches entitled “March on Washington for Jobs and
Freedom, Acceptance Speech at Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony,
Beyond Vietnam, and I've Been To The Mountaintop.




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CHAPTER IV

FINDINGS AND PRESENTATION
FINDINGS
The results of analysis and interpretation revealed that:
4.1. Historical roots of nonviolence
4.1.1. In India
Centuries before its birth, the philosophy of nonviolence was
already manifested. Originally, the term used was ahimsa.
Hinduism considers violence as the worst threat to human
lives. Non-violence was recognized as a code of conduct, enshrined
in their writings and referred to as the Upanishads.
It is fascinating to delve on the Movement of ideas and how
they evolve into action. Non-violence is one such idea. It was
apparently conceived among a small number of forest sages of India
about three thousand years ago. The Upanishads bear an account of
such idea. Tirthankaras and Buddha took it up; then further enhanced
it as early as 500 B.C.
Hunter (1990) opined that Ahimsa or nonviolence is deeply
lodged in Hinduism. According to Bondurant (1965), the term is one
of the five virtues relative to accepted rules of behavior that are
found in early Hindu texts. In a world where violence occupies a
position in the reincarnation cycle, nonviolence lures the Hindu
closer to spiritual enlightenment.


14
Shastri and Shastri’s view of the ahimsa from a Hindu
perspective describes it as a theory with ethical, philosophical and
religious meanings. Ahimsa is considered as a cure to the problems
of violence in the world. It involves the quest for the good of
humanity as well as the religious fervor for the welfare of the

environment and of all living things.
4.1.2. In the United States
In the United States of America, the philosophy of nonviolence
originated early in the 1800's the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads
were translated into English, crossed the seas and came to America, -
a leap of 2,000 years in time and 10,000 miles in space. There Henry
David Thoreau read them, made his nonviolent protest against the
war by the U.S. Government against Mexico based on the said
philosophy, went to jail for his principles and wrote his Essay on the
Virtue of Civil Disobedience. Yet, it wasn’t until Reverend Martin
Luther King, Jr. that nonviolence became a sharp sword to put a stop
to social and political differences in America.
4.2. How is nonviolence dealt with in the selected works of
Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.?
4.2.1 How is nonviolence dealt with in the selected works of
Mahatma Gandhi?
Mahatma Gandhi viewed nonviolence as a philosophy of life
(Mayton, 2001). To fully understand Gandhi’s philosophy of
nonviolence, one needs to look closely at three basic principles that
guided his life. These are ahimsa, satyagraha, and tapasya. All of


15
these principles were deeply embedded in his religious beliefs and
permeated all he did in his personal and public life.
Cultivation of this virtue of ahimsa may need long practice,
even extending to several generations. Why can people not see that if
the sum total of the world’s activities was destructive, it would have
come to end long ago? Love, otherwise ahimsa, sustains this planet.
The term satyagraha has two connotations. While satyagraha

can be viewed as a political action, it also is an integral part of
Gandhi’s philosophy of nonviolence. In this context, Gandhi
translates it as “holding onto truth”. Since truth was viewed as soul
or spirit, Gandhi also considered satyagraha to be a truth-force or
soul-force in which humans needed to strive for absolute truth on a
continual basis throughout life.
Tapasya involves the principle of self-suffering in that one is
willing to suffer for one’s goals (Nakhre, 1982). Ahimsa and tapasya
or satyagraha are the characteristics of the means to ascertain
absolute truth in one’s life. Tapasya involves a willingness to accept
the burden of suffering on oneself rather than one’s opponent in a
conflict in order to break the cycle of violence with a minimal
amount of total violence (Nakhre, 1982).
4.2.2 How is nonviolence dealt with in the selected works of Martin
Luther King, Jr.?
According to King, there are 6 principles of nonviolence: 1)
nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people. 2) nonviolence
seeks to win friendship and understanding. 3) nonviolence seeks to
defeat injustice, not people. Nonviolence holds that evildoers are also


16
victims. 4) nonviolence holds that voluntary suffering can educate
and transform 5) nonviolence chooses love instead of hate.
Nonviolence resists violence of the spirit as well as of the body. 6)
nonviolence believes that the universe is on the side of justice.
4.3. What humanitarian issues are given focus on each of the
selections?
4.3.1. What humanitarian issues are given focus on the selections
of Mahatma Gandhi?

Humanitarian issues are given focus on each of the selections
of Mahatma Gandhi include struggle Against Racial Inequality in
South Africa; Struggle for Economic Justice in India; Struggle for the
Abolition of the Caste System in India; Struggle Against Unfair
Taxes in India; Struggle for Increased Salt Tariff; Struggle to Correct
Economic Injustice in Bardgli, India; Struggle for India’s
Independence.
4.3.2. What humanitarian issues are given focus on the selections
of Martin Luther King,Jr?
Humanitarian issues are given focus on the selections of
Martin Luther King, Jr contain Struggle Against Racial
Discrimination in Montgomery, United States and Struggle for
Desegregation.
4.4. What literary devices are used by the writers in projecting
the humanitarian issues particularly nonviolence?
Rhetoric is often used as a tool by speakers who attempt to
persuade or motivate an audience in certain situations; it is an art of


17
winning the soul by discourse, according to Plato. The use of logic,
emotion and virtue are three most powerful elements of the art of
rhetoric. These are the tools that many believe are seen in both
Gandhi’s and King’s movements.
Ethos is a rhetorical strategy which focuses on an appeal to
ethics. It is a means of convincing someone of the character or
credibility of the persuader. Pathos is another rhetorical scheme
which centers on an appeal to emotion, and is a way of convincing an
audience of an argument by creating an emotional response. Logos,
on the other hand, is a rhetorical strategy which emphasizes on an

appeal to logic. It is a way of persuading an audience by reason.
4.5. What teachings on nonviolence maybe drawn from the
analysis which shall benefit Vietnamese students?
Gandhi and Luther King’s selected works show the major
philosophical principles as they pertain to nonviolence. For the
Vietnamese students to understand Gandhi’s nonviolent actions, they
must first understand the ideas, concepts, and values that underpin
his nonviolent philosophy.
By drawing out the teachings on nonviolence from the selected
works, nonviolence is here defined as using force to provoke
opponents into changing their beliefs and actions without
intentionally harming them, but instead by exercising the
transforming power of intentional self-suffering.
The Vietnamese need to listen to the wisdom embodied in the
writings of these nonviolent advocates. It is the intent of this study to
open up a gate of wisdom to the Vietnamese people. The value of


18
these advocates’ letters and speeches will not only get deeply
involved in the relationship between the wisdom of the East and
West. They are the expressions of great minds that are challenging
and worthy of dedication and appreciation for posterity.
The researcher, thus, in faithful syntheses of the readings on man
has found strength and inspiration to effect change through literary
explorations and dimensions of writer who engaged in the pages.
CHAPTER V
SUMMARY, FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
SUMMARY

This study is an analysis of nonviolence gleaned in the selected
works of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. and the
identification of the teachings on nonviolence that maybe drawn from
the analysis which shall benefit Vietnamese students.
Specifically, the study sought answers to the following
questions:
1. What is the historical root of nonviolence in India and America?
2. How is nonviolence dealt with in the selected works of Mahatma
Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.?
3. What humanitarian issues are given focus on each of the
selections?
4. What literary devices are used by the writers in projecting the
humanitarian issues particularly nonviolence?


19
5. What teachings on nonviolence maybe drawn from the analysis
which shall benefit Vietnamese students?
This study employed the qualitative method of research in
analyzing Gandhi’s and King’s concept of nonviolence in the
representative literary works chosen. Likewise, this analysis
made use of the sociological and philosophical approaches as the
bases for analysis. This paper also involved content analysis,
which is a systematic technique in analyzing message content
and message handling.
The following representative literary works were analyzed:
Mahatma Gandhi’s The Story of My Experiments with Truth, Harijan
and Young India and Martin Luther King, Jr.’s The Montgomery Bus
Boycott, Letter from Birmingham Jail and I Have a Dream. These
articles, letters and oratorical speeches constituted the primary and

twining sources of the study.
FINDINGS
The results of analysis and interpretation revealed that:
1. Nonviolence originated among a few of the forest sages of
India about three thousand years ago. It was recorded in the
Upanishads. Buddha and the Jain Tirthankaras took it up and
developed it further about 500 B. C. But it was Mahatma Ghandi
who made nonviolence a resounding method in solving social and
political upheavals in India. However, in the United States of
America, the philosophy of nonviolence originated early in the
1800's the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads were translated into
English, crossed the seas and came to America, - a leap of 2,000


20
years in time and 10,000 miles in space. There Henry David Thoreau
read them, made his nonviolent protest against the war by the U.S.
Government against Mexico based on the said philosophy, went to
jail for his principles and wrote his Essay on the Virtue of Civil
Disobedience. Yet, it wasn’t until Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.
that nonviolence became a sharp sword to put a stop to social and
political differences in America.
2. Mahatma Gandhi viewed nonviolence as a philosophy of
life and to fully understand his philosophy of nonviolence, readers
need to look closely at three basic principles that guided his life.
These are ahimsa, satyagraha, and tapasya. All of these principles
were deeply embedded in his religious beliefs and permeated all he
did in his personal and public life. In contrast, Martin Luther King,
Jr. viewed nonviolence as spiritually aggressive but not physically
aggressive; designed to obtain the opponents understanding, not to

humiliate them; directed at the forces of evil, not the persons caught
in those forces, it avoids both physical violence and internal spiritual
violence, and is based on the conviction that the world is just a place.
3. The humanitarian issues given focus on the selections of
Mahatma Gandhi includes the struggle against racial inequality in
South Africa; the struggle for economic justice in India; the struggle
for the abolition of the caste system in India; the struggle against
unfair taxes in India; the struggle against increased Salt Tariff; the
struggle to correct economic injustice in India; and the struggle for
India’s independence. On the other hand, the humanitarian issues
given emphasis on the selections of King includes the struggle
against racial injustice and the struggle for desegregation.


21
4. To give meanings and a logical framework to their works
through language, to enhance and give deeper meanings to the
concept of nonviolence, and to motivate readers’ imagination to
visualize the characters and scenes more clearly, Gandhi and King
employed literary devices in the selected literary pieces. Gandhi
implanted a stirring principle through the use of repetition and
religious connotations. Likewise, he reminds the people that the
confinement of India is not due to British people but British
colonialism. Ergo, the utilization of logos in the representative
literary works was employed to promote his main idea that
nonviolence is essentially an effective weapon on its own. Through
these devices Gandhi depicts himself as a religious, calm and
peaceful man throughout his speeches and in his letters. On the other
hand, King’s speech reflected the mood and status of the Civil Rights
Movement. His political speeches flowed with biblical imagery,

religious dialogue, and spiritual references. As the movement carried
on, King’s political rhetoric became increasingly interwoven with his
style of sermonic or preachyto the point where today, in hindsight,
distinguishing the influences of his speeches on his sermons and his
sermons on his speeches is a challenging task.
5. Both Martin Luther King and Gandhi were people who
gained tremendous inspiration from their faith traditions and were
able to perform tremendous feats of courage through the
implementation of non-violence. Today, as a culturally diverse
society, people, specifically the Vietnamese students, can glean
teachings on nonviolence from their works and imbibe these
nonviolent advocates’ spirit and carry forward their legacy by


22
practicing daily the non-violent principle. They can realize this by
becoming more compassionate in their thoughts, speech, as well as
their actions in dealing with people from all walks of life and
nationality regardless of their age, color, gender, and faith.
CONCLUSION
1. Selected works of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King
through the literature to educate and guide people for their struggle to
achieve the non-violent world and also helped Vietnamese students
have much deeper understanding, perception and the moral, human
values on the non-violent struggle as well as its major role in the
maintenance to a better and equal society.
2. Nonviolence resistance is not only considered as a method
of persuasion of the opponents, but also a strategy for social and
political change. Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King’s vision
of a reconciled society was that of an inclusive community with a

sense of responsibility to formulate equal opportunity and solidarity.
3. The Vietnamese students may glean teachings on
nonviolence to become more compassionate in their thoughts,
speech, as well as their actions in dealing with people from all walks
of life and nationality regardless of their age, gender, and faith.
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. The academic managers can utilize this study as a frame of
reference when they prepare developmental priorities, programs,
projects and policies in the educational institutions to ensure that the
practice of nonviolence can access the academe and spawn
nonviolent-related activities in the curricula


23
2. College instructors of literature may use this analysis as one
of their methodologies in teaching literature to raise students’
awareness on nonviolence and develop their students’ appreciation
and sense of value in order to guide and allow them to crystallize and
synthesize what philosophy of life is best to learn and to live by.
3. Students of literature and linguistics realize the significance
of nonviolence and may be inspired to treat literature as a work of art
s as well as inspire them to engage in literary analysis related to non-
violent resistance.
4. Research the applications of this study’s results on the issue
of school violence education in Vietnam.
5. Research on non-violent struggle in a number of works of
Viet Nam contemporary literature.