Malcolm X BY: Arnold Adoff
Topic/ Events
This book is an autobiography of how Malcolm x had grown up. It talked about how he lived in the country with his family and the ku klux klan had destroy his house. It also talks about all the hard ships that he had to face as a black man. His father before he had died had always told him that he was equal to the white man. But the white people he was located with after being separated from his mom had basically told him that blacks were like animals and he was confused about the whole situation because this was all different from what his dad had taught him.
In short this story will explain how Malcolm Little became Malcolm X and describe the process of him becoming Malcolm X like how he became a follower of Muhammad and so on.
I assume that the author decided to write about Malcolm X on the fact that Malcolm is an important person in the civil rights movement. He fought for more than equality. He wanted to be separated from the white man and have their own afro-american city. I think this is why the author wrote about Malcolm X.
I came across this book in the library and thought that i haven't read a book on Malcolm X before. so i started reading and found it interesting. I also watched a movie on the subject. So that I could get a better understanding of Malcolm X.
This book was very realistic in the sense that it was an actual occurrence. I don't really think i can relate his story to someone that i know. I don't think that there will be someone like Malcolm for a while but when they do come. I believe that they will be able to make a change to this world.
People
The author just describes Malocolms beliefs and life through this short book. If i see Malcolm, I am pretty sure he would be a lot different from the book. I would probably get a good understanding of him if I were to meet him. The author has a very one sided point of view. yes it is an autobiography about him. But i feel that it didn't get all of him. In the sense that he wasn't perfect. The book kind of portrais him like that. i feel that it is a bit unrealistic.
Malcolm X is a tall Afro-American with red hair and freckles. He is a very outspoken character that isn't afraid of the white suppressors that are in the book. he turns very religious. And thinks that the white man is the devil. Elijah Muhammad was the head of the nation of Islams headquarters. He was described as a very soft spoken, brown skinned, and small man. But that when he spoke. His words were strong.
They are some of the most important characters in the book. I feel that they should be written because without either of them. there would have been no Malcolm X.
A direct characterization would be that he became a member of Islam. And that he got married and had 4 daughters. I feel these show that he was a respectable man during his last few years. An indirect characterization would be that he would sell drugs and steal and he would also work for the white gangsters of Harlem. this shows that he didn't really care for life at that time.
I feel that the authors syntax doesn't change when focusing on the character. his writing style kind of stays the same through out the whole story.
Malcolm X's actions were pretty dynamic. Everything he did he did to the extreme. there were no subtle moves when it came to Malcolm X. And he was a pretty round character. it tells his whole story so you get a pretty good understanding of him and how he lived.
There wasn't really a lot to go on in the book because that it was a short book. you could not get all of the characters feelings and so forth.the only thing that depicts him is the actions against him like "One night a flaming firebomb crashed through his living room window." He lived past it obviously but these are the only ways that i feel that make me understand his hardships.
Styles
The author used a form of short story journalism. he just got to all the points without explaining them in great detail. It would have been nice for this book to have been longer. I am not saying it is a bad book or anything. just very brief experiences were shown and not to much detail.
The author used brief descriptions of what happened to Malcolm X. He only described the actions of the book. not really the characters feelings. This choice affects the quality of the book. i see this book as good for a short sum up of what happened to Malcolm X. but not too much information on it.
He uses pictures to describe whats going on. to show what is going on in case you don't understand it. This is what i think the author was more focused on than the descriptions. i still think it is a good book though.
I think that the author was just trying to put in the minds of the readers that Malcolm X did nothing wrong but i don't think that is entirely true. I think the author just wrote the book to praise Malcolm. not to describe his life.
The author used no credible sources to his book when describing the life of Malcolm X. I did know a little bit about Malcolm X before reading this book so it was kind of accurate so i don't think that any of it was wrong and that it is pretty credible.
Enduring Memory
Malcolm lived a hard life and i will always remember that. Although his life was hard he did get back on track later on in life. i find this better than some people i know, so i will remember that too. "They always had time to teach Malcolm "hustles" - ways to make money dishonestly." that is him living a hard life. always living by scamming people. its a bad life. "In Africa he had seen how Christians and Muslim black people worked together." This is Malcolm turning his life around and actually trying to figure out ways for america to live like this. this was a very good story. i suggest this as a read if you ever come across it.
