Malcolm X Essay

Malcolm X Essay In the beginning of Alex Haley’s The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Malcolm is portrayed as a young man barely surviving on the streets of New York with no goals or direction in life. By the end of the book, Malcolm is well-read, religious, and a goal-oriented, proud black man. The reader can easily observe Malcolm’s transformation in lifestyle and attitude throughout the book. Haley starts the book with Malcolm Little before he discovers the Nation of Islam, and then moves the reader into Malcolm X, the minister, when he discovers the Nation of Islam. The last part of the autobiography is represented in Malcolm’s life after he leaves the Nation of Islam and converts into a mainstream Sunni Muslim. The events that occurred in each period of Malcolm’s life had a strong influence on him. While there are many details in Malcolm’s early life that are crucial, the most life-changing events in Malcolm’s life before the Nation of Islam are the death of his father, moving to Boston, and Malcolm’s criminal lifestyle. Earl Little, Malcolm’s father, was tragically killed in1931 when Malcolm was only six years old. Earl Little was said to of died in a streetcar accident, but Malcolm attributed his father’s death to a local white supremacist group, the Black Legion. The events that followed Earl Little’s death were probably what shaped Malcolm’s life and his bitterness and resentment towards white people in the future. After his father’s death, the Welfare workers, who were white, treated Malcolm’s family, especially his mother with no respect, and a young Malcolm, seeing how his family was treated, became resentful towards white people. The second event in Malcolm’s early life that had the most significant impact was Malcolm’s move to Boston. Malcolm states, “no physical move in my life has been more pivotal or profound in its repercussions” (25). When Malcolm moved to Boston to live with his half- sister Ella, his love for adventure and curiosity