malcom x

             The Autobiography of Malcolm X sent a message of hope to its audience. Here was a chronology of the life of a black man struggling to first cope and then break away from the white world. Regarded as an extremist by critics for his earlier calls for voicing his then radical thoughts, Malcolm X's life may help to account for such an opinion. This book and its theme were about the evolution of Malcolm throughout life and his responses to his circumstances. The theme dealt with the idea that no matter how bad life may be, no matter how bad it may seem for you, only you can dictate what life will do to you. Only you can decide what your self-worth is, no one else can if you don't let them. Everyone has the power in him or her to change their life if they look down deep enough inside to help themselves, as Malcolm did when he was in prison. Malcolm X was also a strong believer in the power of words to transform and influence lives; there was no better example to that than his own life.
             Criticized for advocating at first hate of whites, one must first look at Malcolm's own life experiences to understand why he felt in such a way. Growing up, white was glamorized to him as the race to be. His first memory was of his house being burned down by white men and watching the white police and firemen idly standing by doing nothing. Also the lightest of his sisters and brothers, Malcolm's father favored him the most for color of his skin. His mother, however, favored the ones who were darker because she hated the white blood that was in her. The white blood that flowed in Malcolm and his siblings was the blood of a rapist. Growing up, Malcolm frequently heard from his mother to go outside more often to let the sun darken his skin tone.
             Shortly after his father's brutal murder, Malcolm got in trouble for stealing and it was decided that he would be sent to live at the Swerlin's, a white family. Although they accep...

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malcom x. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 04:44, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/18797.html