What Is The Autobiography Of Malcolm X

Spike Lee is not only one of the best filmmakers in America, but one of the most crucially important, because his films address the central subject of race, as so does the book. He doesn't use a sentimental approach or political work, but shows how his characters lived, and why. Alex Haley depiction of Malcolm X life as told to him by Malcolm, shares the same perception as the movie, but what Alex provides in the book seems to be almost or all Malcolm’s

Malcolm was arrested on January 12, 1946, and convicted of burglary, carrying an illegal firearm, and larceny (Crime and Investigation 1). He was sent to Charlestown State Prison for 8-10 years. While there, he joined the Nation of Islam. He began exchanging letters frequently with Elijah Muhammad, the Nation of Islam’s leader, and changed his name to Malcolm X. He stated the “X” symbolized his lost tribal name, and that he was destroying the surname “Little” that his ancestor’s slave-owners had imposed on his family.

In the beginning he speaks of his time in prison and how he learned to read. What he states in the beginning reflects his point of view to the reader. By stating that he's an inmate learning to read, readers gain the impression that at that point in the essay, rather than being Malcolm X, he's just your average inmate trying to finding his place in the world. During the middle, his point of view is still that of an inmate, but with additional knowledge aiding him in shaping his morals and values. In this section by Malcolm X stating that "an inmate was smiled upon if he demonstrated an unusually intense interest in books," and "I was lucky enough to reason also that I should improve my penmanship" the reader ascertains that he is making his transition from being your average inmate with no morals, to the learned activist Malcolm X. In the end, he instills upon the reader that he has obtained morals and become Malcolm X. In the two quotes "if I weren't out battling the white man," and "the worlds' white man indeed acted like devils", the reader finds out that through his reading, Malcolm X has obtained morals and by gaining such morals he has gained a purpose; the role of the civil rights activist. By putting his points of view in this specific order, the reader is given a chance to interpret his transformation from prison inmate to civil

Malcolm X on the micro level involves interactions with many individuals throughout his life. From his parents and siblings to girlfriends and his wife, and even those he met in prison and after prison, they all played significant roles in Malcolm’s

The author’s purpose for writing the book was for the reader to gain knowledge of Malcolm X as an individual and not as a phenomenon. He wanted to deliver truths that spanned his brief lifetime.

Through his readings and new found religion, the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X finds self-pride. He starts to become proud of who he is and where he came from. He realizes that before, all he was trying to do was act like someone he wasn’t and all it had gotten him was seven years in prison. The letters he got from Elijah Muhammad and his family encouraged all of this. He strives to admit his guilt, and “implore the forgiveness of God” (170). He would often “be startled to catch [himself] thinking in a remote way of [his] earlier self as another person” and marvel at how much he had changed (170). All the reading he did “awoke … some long dormant craving to be mentally alive” (179). His trip to prison opened up new doors for him because he gained knowledge that made him rethink his niche in life.

Instead of going to school to get a traditional education, he dropped out of school at fifteen and learned the ways of the streets. Malcolm associated himself with thugs, thieves, dope dealers, and pimps. He was convicted of burglary at age twenty and remained in prison until he was twenty-seven. During his prison sentence, he became a changed man. He educated himself and he learned about and joined the Nation of Islam, studying the teachings of Elijah Muhammed. Elijah taught Malcolm how history had been “whitened by the white man” (p.184) and he echoed “the black convict’s lifelong experience” where “the white man is the devil,” (p. 186). This thought process encouraged many black inmates to discover the Nation of Islam.

He studied hard to get high grades and he was even elected as the class president. He was doing his best, until his teacher went up to him and told him that his dream to be a lawyer, is not possible all because he is black. Instead, he insisted him to become a carpenter. From then, something started to changed within him. Malcolm sees the limit to the white acceptance, and the inevitable truth of what life awaits for the colored. He starts believing that in the white society he was living in, there is no success nor future. Spike Lee never really focused on Malcolm's childhood in the film, except for this particular part. He chose this moment to highlight, because this scene single handedly explains why he hated whites, why he became a hustler, and why he became a civil rights activists. It was the hatred against the whites. From then, he stopped accepting the whites. This was the moment when Malcolm's view on integration between whites and blacks became possible, to impossible. The historical figure of Malcolm X’s philosophy started here, with the hatred of his enemy. Malcolm X in his speech, preached that the black man should have their own power, by separating themselves completely from the white society, similar to what his father was preaching. His childhood tragedy gave him the reason to fight for, and the belief for uniting the black race for separating them from the cruelty. Malcolm X we all know of, would have never existed without

The Nation of Islam strongly disagreed and forbade its members and especially Malcolm X from taking part in the political scene (Litwack pg 7). Malcolm knew that if the black population continued to act as a separate community while also avoiding political action, they would never achieve equality. The Nation of Islam strongly disagreed and forbade its members and especially Malcolm X from taking part in the political scene (Litwack, pg 7).  These differing viewpoints and the growing jealousy of Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm’s mentor and leader of the Nation of Islam, were the fundamental reasons not only for him leaving the Nation of Islam but for the entire tone of  “the Ballot or the Bullet” speech (Haley, pg 1).

Malcolm X is an extremely critical figure that contributed in shaping American social life. He was a famous man who articulated the struggle, anger, and beliefs of African Americans. He was a radical man who fought for change despite the situation. His struggle for equality for the black nation landed him in prison. While in prison, Malcolm was able to study, and earned a college degree. However, most importantly while in prison, Malcolm X was introduced to the Islam faith by one of the prisoners. He received teachings from the Muslim faith, which made him realize that, his people were being oppressed and abused by the whites. While out of prison, he went to visit honorable Elijah Muhammad and later on went around preaching Elijah

The opinions that many people have about religion derive from their association with churches, mosques, and other places of worship. However, Malcolm X defied the usual curve of religious doctrine and embraced what he felt was right for him and those who shared his views. In his autobiography, Malcolm X abandoned atheism to become a follower of the Nation of Islam (NOI) and later, he ended up following Eastern Islam. In the Autobiography of Malcolm X, Malcolm’s views and his idealism is derived from his practice of Islam and his will to fight for the rights of African Americans also come from the same base.

It would be the time spent in prison that would transform Malcolm and change him from a career criminal to the activist he would later be known as. He visited the prison library and read books on religion, philosophy, and history. He read and copied the entire dictionary acquiring the skills that would make him a powerful public speaker. He dedicated his time in prison to his own personal development and through his brother Reginald learned of the organization known as the Nation of Islam or the Black Muslims. The Nation of Islam is an Islamic religious organization founded by its leader Elijah Muhammad which promoted Black separatism from whites culturally, physically, politically and psychologically. Malcolm began to follow the preachings of Muhammad and practiced the religion devoutly, giving up drug use, alcohol consumption, as well as eating pork.

Despite his dismal upbringing, Malcolm was able to graduate from his junior high school at the top of his class. He was aspiring to become a lawyer, but after one of his teachers told him that trying to be one was, "no realistic goal for a nigger", he decided that school was not for him and moved to Boston for awhile and made a living working a number of jobs, none of which were permanent. Eventually he would find himself working as a waiter at a restaurant called Small's Paradise in Harlem, New York. It was at this time that Malcolm Little began using and then selling drugs and even committing burglary. In 1946 he would be arrested for burglary and sentenced to ten years in prison. It was during his stay at the Charlestown, Mass. Prison that he would make maybe the most significant change of his life. Malcolm would begin studying the teachings of Elijah Muhammad, the leader of a small cult-like Islamic group that called themselves the Nation of Islam, he also began to study the Koran (the Islamic holy book). It was during these long years in prison that Malcolm was able to educate himself fully and came to the conclusion that he wanted to join Elijah and the Nation of Islam and fight for equality between blacks and whites.

The woman who raised and loved him did not know him any longer. This is one of many instances that illustrates the white society’s “lack of mercy and compassion” (22). Malcolm X blames whites for robbing his mother’s dignity, for separating his siblings, and for “disintegrating” his home and unity. Therefore, Malcolm X states he has no compassion for “a white society that will crush people” (22). The word “crushed” imparts the same horror he feels on the audience to illuminate the extremity of racism so that the audience can sympathize with his reasoned anger. Being called the ‘n-word’ in his life is another factor in Malcolm X’s belief that white society is demeaning to blacks. When Malcolm X told his English teacher that he wanted to be a lawyer, she replied, “That’s no realistic goal for a n-word” (118). The teacher’s statement is a clear portrayal of the widely accepted sentiment in that time period that African Americans are too incompetent to have good jobs and have ambitions. As a result, this incident deeply affected Malcolm X and has contributed to his disapproval of blacks being servile in a white society. Malcolm X appeals to the audience 's sense of horror and hatred by sharing his experiences in order for paint a more illuminated picture of racism.

The Autobiography of Malcolm X is the story of Malcolm X, an African American male growing up in the United States in the mid-1900's. At this time in America prejudice and segregation were widespread and much a part of everyday life. Malcolm takes the reader through his experiences with American society, which rejects him. This rejection, along with the inferiority cast upon all Black Americans, forces these males to search for acceptance. They are forced to search for purpose in causes greater than single individuals. As the book shows, this is evident in Malcolm throughout his life and in the life of other African American males. The Autobiography shows how during this time in American history