Malcolm X Textual Analysis

The Autobiography of Malcolm X is written with structure, style, and content all conjoined to create a truly beautiful portrayal of Malcolm X’s life. The story of Malcolm’s life captivates readers through the use of quick sentences, engaging content, and simple structure. Malcolm X accomplishes explaining his life and what he did. The Autobiography uses structure to give the reader a complete story, beginning, middle, and end, followed by unique and engaging style, coupled with raw and fascinating content to envelop the reader in the beauty of the text. Malcolm X is written a chronological, type, structure to create a easy to follow story with a simple progression of Malcolm’s life along with the chronological order there are retrospective

Malcolm X is portrayed as a victim of racism, a victim of society, and though it all Malcolm is depicted as a reformed man who is dedicated and educated. “ My Father’s skull, on one side, was crushed in” this demonstrates the harsh and brutal racist acts Malcolm experiences during his childhood. This portrayal of a boy with a murdered father and a future victim of racism gains sympathy from the reader which starts the relationship between the Reader and Malcolm. The raw content also allows Malcolm to explain what he went through that led him to his later actions in life. Along with the blatant racism Malcolm was also a victim of systemic oppression. “After a while my brother Reginald had to have a hustle” (115), this quote depicts the systemic oppression during this period. Malcolm and his family, and Blacks in general, could not acquire jobs and therefore had to acquire jobs through illegal means. Malcolm was oppressed by society as a whole, including the government, that he, and other Blacks, were forced to commit illegal actions which led to their incarceration. The racist acts toward Malcolm along with the systemic oppression led to the imprisonment of Malcolm, and finally his reformation. Malcolm becomes a changed man through prison. Malcolm begins to read and educate himself in order to learn about Islam and debate with Elijah Muhammad. “For evil to bend its knees, admitting its guilt, to implore the forgiveness of god, is the hardest thing in the world”, Malcolm shows his reformation from, “Satan” (157), to a Muslim. This quote perfectly demonstrates Malcolm's transformation into religion and being an educated adult. Malcolm’s transformation allows the reader to side with him and favor Malcolm again because he is no longer an “evil” person. Malcolm’s use of his development regardless of the obstacles establishes the story as an