Malcolm X

Throughout his life, Malcolm X was one of the most influential, and possibly the most effective, civil rights activists of the twentieth century. The Autobiography of Malcolm X is written in the first person point of view and is a classic when it comes to American literature. His ideas and views were widely sought after from the oppressed African-American population in the 1950s and 60s. The obstacles he faced throughout really changed his views of racist America and inspired him to lead a dedicated life preaching the only method, or so he thought, of creating change in the hearts and minds of everyone in the United States. Nonviolence was this method. In his speeches and public appearances, Malcolm did not promote violence, however, he believed in self-defense. Malcolm X persistently preached this idea, but the irony was that his messages to the public were thought of as an understatement and his audiences did the opposite; they acted on violence aggressively instead of reacting to it in a passive fashion. The blame then was placed on Malcolm X for "encouraging" the riots. Although Malcolm X was sincere in his preaching, X's audience made his message appear violent.

The setting of this book takes place in a few different places including New York, Boston, Africa, and the Middle East during the 1920's through 1960's. During the early years in Malcolm's life, he became affiliated with a bad group of people and began committing crimes. These crimes persisted and Malcolm eventually ended up in prison. The mood consistently changes throughout the book as the events in Malcolm's life fluctuate from good to bad. In the beginning, the mood or tone is a little gloomy with the death of his father and with problems his mother is having. The time after prison is kind of a happier point in the book and the time in between is a median of the two moods. After the time period when he was in prison, Malcolm turns to Islam. Once getting out of prison he begins his own newspaper where he speaks about controversial racial views and the superiority of blacks. Interested most in his style of preaching was the black youth of and eventually was named Elijah Muhammad's second in command. Death threats and arguments with his partner Muhammad was why he eventually left Islam. Once he leaves he begins his own organization. Malcolm never had a problem stating his opinion and it cost him his life later on when he was assassinated in 1965.

Throughout his youth Malcolm saw himself as a victim of discrimination with white society murdering his father, divides his family, and being treated as an inferior. Being young and lacking the maturity to understand, he interprets racism as a direct attack on him personally rather than a discrimination of his race. As Malcolm develops a better understanding in prison he interprets his early experience of racism for what it really was. He begins to see black people in general,