Auto Biography of Malcolm X
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Auto Biography Of Malcolm X
By, Alex Haley
Illustrator/Photographer:
Main Topic of this book: After the government tears apart his family and he can no longer bear the racism of his all-white high school in Michigan, Malcolm flees to Boston and Harlem, where he sinks deep into a life of crime. From hustling, drug addiction and armed violence in Americas black ghettos Malcolm X turned, in a dramatic prison conversion, to the puritanical fervor of the Black Muslims. As their spokesman he became identified in the white press as a terrifying teacher of race hatred; but to his direct audience, the oppressed American blacks, he brought hope and self-respect.
Characters:
Malcolm X – The hero of the novel. The book is about his life and times. Through his own experiences, he tells the reader what it is like to be a black. The racial discrimination that he faces since childhood. Is a reflection of the discrimination and harassment faced by thousands of blacks in the US.
Rev. Earl Little – Malcolm X’s father. He is a priest in a Baptist church. Besides his work as a priest, he is also an active member of and organizer for the organization founded by Marcus Garvey. Earl Little and his family is constantly threatened and harassed by Ku Klux Klan members due to his activities as a member of Garvey’s organization. Yet he continues to organize the blacks in and around his village, till the Klan members kill him.
Louise Little – Malcolm X’s mother. She is a strong woman who tries to keep her family together after her husband’s death. But the constant interference from the Welfare Department during the depression years breaks her will.
Ella Little – The tall, domineering and independent sister of Malcolm X. She is extremely fond of Malcolm and stands by him like a rock during the most difficult phases of his life.
Laura – The pretty black girl whom young Malcolm meets in Boston-his first date. She is heart broken when Malcolm leaves her for a white girl called Sophia. The rejection coupled with her own problems at home pushes her towards drugs and prostitution.
Setting: This autobiography is set in America. Spanning a period of four decades, the book is a moving saga of America’s most controversial Black Muslim leader- Malcolm X. He spends his boyhood in a small town in Michigan. He is imprisoned at the age of twenty
Point of View: Malcolm speaks in the first person, focusing on his actions and thoughts at each point in his life. However, in each chapter he does include some opinions based on his current perspective late in his life. In the epilogue, Alex Haley speaks in the first person.
Plot/ Body:
The purpose of the story is to traces the life of Malcolm X from his childhood, his life in the streets of Harlem, the transformation that occurs in the prison where he first comes in contact with the teachings of Elijah Muhammad and finally the break with the Nation of Islam. Malcolm X the protagonist is looking back into his past and narrating incidents to Alex Haley, who becomes his close friend and confidante during the course of writing the book. The book can be broadly divided into four parts. The first part deals with his childhood in Lansing. Malcolm loses his father Rev. Earl Little when he is hardly four or five years old. Since his mother is unable to get a job anywhere due to his father’s reputation (he was a member of Marcus Garvey’s. U.N.I.A feared and despised by the local white population), she is forced to turn to the Welfare Department for charity. Due to constant meddling of the Welfare Department into their private affairs, the family breaks up. While Malcolm is sent away to a foster family, his younger siblings are sent away to a close friend’s who agree to take them in. His older brother and sister continue to stay in their house. For young Malcolm,