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Malcolm x and frederick douglass essay
Compare and contrast frederick douglass and malcolm x
Compare and contrast frederick douglass and malcolm x
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“Learning to Read and Write” by Frederick Douglass and Malcolm X’s “Learning to Read” address their abilities of being self taught to read and write. A deficiency of education makes it difficult to traverse life in any case your race. Being an African American while in a dark period of mistreatment and making progress toward an advanced education demonstrates extraordinary devotion. Malcolm X seized “special pains” in searching to inform himself on “black history” (Malcolm X 3). African Americans have been persecuted all through history, yet two men endeavor to demonstrate that regardless of your past, an education can be acquired by anybody. Douglass and Malcolm X share some similarities on how they learned how to read and write as well …show more content…
Douglass and Malcolm X shared similarities in having an ambition to achieve how to properly read and write, they were self taught, and made use of their circumstance no matter the difficulty. Douglass and Malcolm X were different throughout their educational background, circumstances,and slightly different ways of educating themselves. Douglass was a slave with no educational background who wanted to learn how to read and write knowing that it was better opportunities that were being held from him while being a slave. He took risk and every opportunity he could take , “ I was compelled to resort to various stratagems” (Douglass 100). With his circumstances as a slave he had to keep his reading and writing on low key due to the possible consequences of being caught with learning materials. Malcolm X was a criminal with some educational background. He had a desire to express his thoughts and knowledge but was held back by his eighth grade education and imprisonment at that moment. With this obstacle, he wanted to be able to speak properly and to share his thoughts in a proper letter to the great Mr. Elijah Muhammad, “How could I sound writing in slang,...say[ing] it, something such as, ‘Look, daddy, let me pull your coat about a cat, Elijah Muhammad-’ ” (Malcolm X …show more content…
He wanted to be able to properly write his thoughts and opinions out to be understood. He wanted to leave an impression on people to give them a thought of him exceeding his education far beyond the eighth grade. That impression was credited to his “prison studies” (Malcolm X 1). He had a voice that needed to be heard all over to bring a change to society. He self educated himself day and night with the dictionary, teachings ,and books. Malcolm X considered that “three or four hours of sleep a night” was enough (Malcolm X 3). Malcolm X became interested in the “glorious history of the black man” (Malcolm X 3). “Book after book” showed him the “white man had brought upon the world’s black, brown,red,and yellow peoples every variety of the suffering of exploitation” (Malcolm X 4). Like Douglass, Malcolm found the “Faustian machinations” of the “white man” against the “non-white victims” (Malcolm X). Douglass states, “I feared they might be treacherous.” Unlike Douglass being social and receiving help from others around , Malcolm was to himself and seeked information on his own through books. Malcolm X had more pride in his education and wasn 't afraid to share his knowledge, “Mr. Muhammed, to whom I was writing daily, had no idea of what a new world had opened up to me through my efforts to document his teachings in books” (Malcolm X 6). Malcolm X had some basic education knowledge
In “Literacy behind Bars” narrative from an autobiography by Malcolm X in 1965, Malcolm X shows that being able to read is important and sometimes jail is the best place to learn. The author supports this by showing that he saw the people around him reading and wanted to be able to speak and read as well as them (640). He started out by reading and writing an entire dictionary which helped him read and understand more words (641). Malcolm X read everything that he could get his hands on and was able to learn more and use it later on in his career. He was able to concentrate more about learning in jail then he would have been able to do at a college because he had nothing else to do. Malcolm X would read late into the morning despite that guard
Literacy plays an important part in helping Douglass achieve his freedom. Learning to read and write enlightened his mind to the injustice of slavery; it kindled in his heart longings for liberty. Douglass’s skills proved instrumental in his attempts to escape and afterwards in his mission as a spokesman against slavery. Douglass was motivated to learn how to read by hearing his master condemn the education of slaves. Mr. Auld declared that education would “spoil” him and “forever unfit him to be a slave” (2054).
Many people take for grant of the freedom we have, but Douglass shows that having freedom means having the ability to control one’s own destiny. Douglass was a slave who like any other slaves cannot be educated. Douglass finds this out by accident when he overhears the reasons why it was illegal for them to get education- it because the white slave owners did not want slaves to gain knowledge as it will bring disorder and rebel against slavery. As a result of this finding, Douglass seeks out his own education. One of his methods of learning how to read is by exchanging foods for learning to read. During the slavery, poverty also affected all different people, so Douglass would give breads to poor children and for exchange teach Douglass some words. For Douglass learning meant punishments or even death, but he takes the risk and did all he can to gain knowledge because this is the only way he can be free. He demonstrates to people that education is powerful and the way one can truly be self-governed. Douglass story is a reminder to always appreciate education and to take the most out of learning because in the end no one can take away what’s in our
Education is a privilege. The knowledge gained through education enables an individual’s potential to be optimally utilized owing to training of the human mind, and enlarge their view over the world. Both “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” by Frederick Douglass himself and “Old Times on the Mississippi” by Mark Twain explore the idea of education. The two autobiographies are extremely different; one was written by a former slave, while the other was written by a white man. Hence, it is to be expected that both men had had different motivations to get an education, and different processes of acquiring education. Their results of education, however, were fairly similar.
When looking back at the United States in the mid-1800s, it is important to look at two of the most important writers of the time: Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. While their works have different audiences, intentions, and styles, they both reflect on one of the most important and distinct aspects of the time period: the conflict over what to do with slavery. In the case of Abraham Lincoln, this was a very political issue. He was president during the single most divisive conflict in the history of the United States, the Civil War, and both “The Emancipation Proclamation” and “The Gettysburg Address,” give some insight into not only what he was thinking at the time but what was happening in the highest echelons of the government. Conversely,
Fredrick Douglass and Sherman Alexie both were oppressed individuals that had to overcome adversity to learn to read and write. Douglass was a slave from Maryland in 1818, while Sherman was born in 1966 and raised on an Indian reservation in Washington. Both of these men had to fight to learn to read, and write. Douglass, being a slave, and Sherman being a Native American, both came from group of people that were looked down upon by almost everyone. Douglass had people that helped him along his way; some people volunteered and some he tricked. Sherman taught himself how to read and picked up on things rather fast. Douglass had very few chances to read and obtain books, while Sherman had opportunities to get books. Regardless of how they learned how to read they each had to overcome different obstacles to achieve the same goal.
“Learning to Read and Write” by Frederick Douglass and Malcolm X’s “Learning to Read” deal with the subject of both authors being self taught readers and writers. Any deficiency in education makes it difficult to achieve any great task in life regardless of your race. Making the choice to become an educated African American male during a hostile time of life for African Americans, demonstrated the extraordinary devotion of both men. Malcolm X seized “special pains” in searching to inform himself on “black history” (Malcolm X 3). African Americans have been persecuted all through history, yet two men endeavor to demonstrate that regardless of your past, an education can be acquired by anybody. Douglass and Malcolm X share some similarities
Malcolm X’s “Learning to Read,” is a powerful piece about his time in prison when he taught himself how to read. Through his reading, he discovered the awful things that happened in history and became a civil rights activist. Malcolm X changed his feeling and position throughout his piece, “Learning to Read.” His emotions are clear in his writing, but the change in his writing is clear to be caused by a change in his own thoughts because of the things he learned. The essay shows his lack of reading skills when he was young, but also how interested he became in it, and how much he uses it. He says that reading is important to readers' lives just as it was to his, helping one to form their own thoughts and views. Without the ability to read and understand the world, it becomes difficult to build your own ethical views.
During his time in isolation, Malcolm quickly realized the “street smart” knowledge he thought so highly of, lacked in substance. Seeing the way another inmate named Bambi, effortlessly took control of any conversations he engaged in, Malcolm was envious. Shortly after that, he started to educate himself by reading the dictionary and work on his handwriting. Moreover, he continued his education by reading at new books and stories daily. “Let me tell you something: from then until I left that prison, in every free moment I had, if I was not reading in the library, I was reading on my bunk” (Helery, 1965, p. 2). He motivated himself, in spite of being in the prison environment and took responsibility for bettering his life. Malcom X continued his education, and eventually became a disciple of Elijah Muhammad, founder of the Nation of Islam.
In the essay “Learning to Read and Write,” Frederick Douglass illustrates how he successfully overcome the tremendous difficulties to become literate. He also explains the injustice between slavers and slaveholders. Douglass believes that education is the key to freedom for slavers. Similarly, many of us regard education as the path to achieve a career from a job.
Douglass says that when he was young, his mistress, Mrs. Auld, taught him the alphabet and subsequently, tried teaching him how to read. However, he said that her husband, Mr. Auld, soon found what was going on and forbade her to teach Douglass how to read. Mr. Auld told his wife, that it was “unlawful, as well as unsafe, to teach a slave to read” (Douglass, 38). He further said, that if Douglass learned how to read, “he would become unmanageable, and of no value to his master” (Douglass, 39). With the words of his master, Douglass realized that receiving an education could free a slave from the chains of slavery and that by not education their slaves, white people were able to control them. Although, his education from his mistress stopped, Frederick Douglass did not stop trying to learn to read. At the age of 12, he says that “the thought of being a slave for life began to bear heavily upon my heart”, but he found a book at that time, in which a conversation between a slave and his master gave him hope to continue living (Douglass, 44). In the book the slave was well spoken and educated, so “the conversation resulted in the voluntary emancipation of the slave on the part of the master” (Douglass,
Although he was the top of his class, and class president, Malcolm X’s teacher unfortunately still had a very clear message for him – you won’t ever be what you dream of. Malcolm wanted to become a lawyer, but his teacher had a message for him: “A lawyer – [is] no realistic goal for a nigger” (X, Malcolm 43). This is a clear attack on African Americans and what whites still believed was their role in the United States – to serve as lower class citizens. Malcolm X, however, still became a successful leader later in his life up until his death, despite the condescending message of his
Douglass’s pursuit of education first starts when his master forbids his mistress from educating him further; thus, igniting Douglass's determination to defy his master's command. Douglass recalls the harsh words of his master, “A nigger should know nothing, but to obey his master. . . Learning would spoil the best nigger in the world.” (Douglass, 1987, p. 130) Douglass, at this point in the story, remains unaware of the power of education. After his master’s powerful stance of opposition to Douglass’s education, his curiosity peaks. “I set out with high hope, and a fixed purpose, at whatever cost of trouble, to learn how to read.” (Douglass, 1987, p.130) While Douglass had yet to understand the power of an education, he started to understand the importance of it.
In the tale of Malcolm X it states, “It really began back in the Charlestown Prison, when Bimbi first made me feel envy of his stock of knowledge.” While he was in prison he began to realize that as his friend Bimbi began to talk he and take control of conversations that he wasn’t as educated as he believed himself to be. Also he’d begun to realize that being dumb and uneducated isn’t as cool as it seems when you begin to have a conversations with those who’re more educated than you are. In his tory he also states, “...nearly all of the words that might as well have been in Chinese...I saw that the best thing I could do was get hold of s dictionary-to study, to learn some words.” He felt the need to acquire the knowledge due to the fact that he wanted to understand his friend and have the knowledge to hold a conversation with Bimbi. Malcolm X wanted to expand his knowledge and his vocabulary.“Under Bembry's influence, Little developed a voracious appetite for reading.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_X) His original goal for obtaining education as for the purpose of understanding hi friend Bimbi and due to that need to acquire more knowledge it lead to him discovering more about the complexities and ‘greyness’ along with the deafness and blindness that was affecting the people of America more specifically the black community in
Even though Malcolm X faced dreadful circumstances behind prison bars, literature thickened new opportunities for him to express himself as he pleased; “As I see today the ability to read awoke inside me some long dormant craving to be mentally alive”.