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Again— no comments here, please: just everyone's final writing for the unit. Thank you.
It is interesting to see the progression of X's identity throughout the autobiography. X makes a lot of changes to his identity throughout the text and doesn't seem to have a firm belief in one identity. X says, "my life had been a chronology of - changes" (X 390). This creates a complication. Does constant change in identity conflict with X's authenticity? It does not seem to. It could be argued that constant changes in one's identity is authenticity. The importance to maintain that authenticity, if one is going to change their identity constantly, is to have an experience that causes that that person to make the change. Throughout X's autobiography, he throws himself into the identity of each specific place he goes to or lives in. As seen, every new place he goes to: from Lansing, to Harlem, to jail, to Mecca, etc., he creates a new identity. He lives, in the places, which allows him to experience the culture of these places, which ultimately causes him to change his identity. The identities he creates before traveling to Mecca are based off of others' ideas, such as Washington and Du Bois. Once he travels to Mecca and completes the Hajj, he creates a new identity based on his own thought. After completing the Hajj, he wrote a letter stating, "What I have seen, and experienced, has forced me to re-arrange much of my thought-patterns previously held" (X 391). X clearly emphasizes seeing and experiencing. Another problem arises. Would creating an identity based off of another person's idea make X inauthentic? In that case, it would make his last identity in Mecca authentic because it is based off of what he believes. Although his overall identity in these different places may not be authentic, his beliefs and what he fights for, through his experience of the culture, seem to be authentic in that particular moment.
X, Malcolm, and Alex Haley. The Autobiography of Malcom X. New York: Ballantine, 1992. Print
Although X changes his identity multiple times throughout the text by changing his name, occupation or personality, every new identity that he takes on is authentic in the moment and his last identity, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, is as authentic as all of the others. Central to the American identity is the freedom to change one’s mind about things and still be absolutely authentic in the moment. Regardless of any contradiction that may arise, Americans remain justified in changing their identities because they are following their genuine selves (the American undecided voter is the epitome of this truth). X, or El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, designs his narrative so that, while his current beliefs may be subtly noticeable in the language he uses, he attempts to embody his the past identity that he is writing about. X follows his own genuine self when, as “Minister Malcolm X”, he accepts Mr. Muhammad’s teachings that say “a woman’s true nature is to be weak” and that “[a man] must control [the women] if he expects to get her respect” (243, 260). Since we know that “[X] believed in Elijah Muhammad and represented him one hundred percent”, we can conclude that X embraced Muhammad’s sexist teachings as his own (283). At a party at the Ghana Club as “El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz”, X describes “Richard Wright’s daughter” as “beautiful, slender, soft-voiced” (394, 407-408). By solely admiring the daughter’s physical attributes, X reflects his most current beliefs of women (namely that they should be valued for their looks) and contradicts his earlier set of values that Muhammad taught him (valuing women for their “true nature”). This may just be a subtle act of rebellion against Muhammad, but nonetheless it demonstrates his willingness to change his mind and his core values. This contradiction, whether X intends for his readers to notice it or not, makes him American. There arises another contradiction when X as “Icarus” claims that “the non-white complexion has evoked and exposed the ‘devil’ in the very nature of the white man” (306, 308). However, later in the text as “El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz”, X says that “some white people are truly sincere” and argues that “its the American political, economic, and social atmosphere that automatically nourishes a racist psychology in the white man” (416, 427). X’s blatant contradiction about the white man demonstrates a radical change in what defines X in the public eye. This contradiction also makes X American by definition. By setting himself up as ‘American’ and even using transcendental language when he says that “I used to lie on the top of Hector’s hill, and look up at the sky, at the clouds moving over me, and daydream, all kinds of things”, X prepares his readers for the biggest contradiction of all (420). By saying that he “used to…look up at the sky”, X implies that he no longer looks up at the sky and, by extension, no longer believes in transcendentalism. Moreover, by characterizing America as the problem and setting himself against America, X contradicts his own Americanism. He is contradicting and fighting the previous contradictions by advocating for a pan-african movement, making himself very un-American. X’s final thoughts, as “El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz” represent his authentic self in the moment and are not to be confused with Haley’s own interpretation of the structure of the narrative (394). Near the end of the text, X admits that certain factors “had each day been making a greater impact, and an increasing persuasion against [his] previous way of thinking” (389). The fact that X is aware of his contradictions and changes in beliefs proves that while his identity changes throughout the book, each identity is authentic in the moment. Even if Haley has no help writing the last chapter, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz is still X’s final true identity, X just doesn’t get the chance to live it up.
X, Malcolm. The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Comp. Alex Haley. New York: Random House Publishing Group, 1964. Print.
When X is introduced to Islam, he is in an isolated space. Being in prison makes it so that his connection with Islam is restricted to letters and books. He decides quickly that he connects completely with “The Honorable Elijah Muhammad,” but I believe that it isn’t Mr. Muhammad himself that X connects with; it is only the idea of him (X, 167). The way that X worships Mr. Muhammad in chapters 10 and 11, and to a degree through chapter 15, is reminiscent of false-idol worship. I believe that this is due to the lack of connection to the outside world.
When he is in jail, X doesn’t see Elijah Muhammad as a person; X sees Mr. Muhammad as a label associated directly with the new ideology X has become so obsessed with. I interpret that X writing a “one-page letter that every day went to Mr. Elijah Muhammad” is at first an alternative to the praying that X has so much trouble committing himself to; he favors the comfort he finds in communicating with Elijah Muhammad through technology over the required intimacy and submission of praying to Allah (173). It is once X actually meets Mr. Muhammad and tries to work with him man-to-man for a while that X starts to realize that his false-idol isn’t what he thought he was, and that is what forms the rift between the two men.
I’ve noticed that X’s relationship with Elijah Muhammad parallels the course of his relationship with Sammy the Pimp in chapters 6 and 7. When X decides to become a hustler, it is because Sammy “prove[s] to be [his] friend in need,” and is able to be somewhat of a mentor for X as he starts out in the marijuana hustling game (101). X, however, quickly becomes “the peer of the other young hustlers [he] had admired” and, after graduating to selling hard drugs and guns, ruins his friendship with Sammy by “hitting [Sammy’s] woman” (102, 118). Comparably, Elijah Muhammad is the face of X’s introduction to Islam and helps to guide him in forming his beliefs. X see’s Mr. Muhammad as an all-knowing figure, but after becoming stubborn in his opinion of how the Nation of Islam should be involved in the media and being accused of “trying to take over the Nation,” X has grown too radical even for the Nation of Islam, the group that radicalized him in the first place (296). This is what leads to his separation from Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam. X and Sammy the Pimp are able to make up to a degree because their falling out takes place in a physical confrontation. X and Elijah Muhammad cannot reconcile their relationship because by the end of it they’ve polarized on a critical level, and Mr. Muhammad “want[s] [him] dead” (300). X has yet again been betrayed by a man he had considered his friend, and, as X says of the aftermath of his confrontation with Sammy, “things never are fully right again with anyone you have seen trying to kill you” (118).
X, Malcolm. The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Comp. Alex Haley. New York: Random House Publishing Group, 1964. Print.
Malcolm X is incredibly enigmatic: he wields a power to draw an audience in, dismantle their pre-conceived notions, and convince them to join his cause. X is so successful at “fishing” because he has a key ‘hook’: he is American, through and through. His skin color alone represents the defining feature of American culture: a mix of heritage that is impossible to delineate, but that we constantly attempt to define. Although X’s message is centered on the black struggle, his ultimate goal is to rectify the cultural wrongs and better America as a whole, a lofty, Du Bois-ian goal.
X is the son of a Garvey-ist preacher, yet growing up he feels no innate connection with Africa, “I somehow never thought, then, of the black people in Africa” (10). After his mother’s psychologically break, X is literally raised by the state. At school, he becomes the All-American golden boy, the perfect “mascot”: basketball player, star student, and class president. From a young age, X is a product of American culture.
When X leaves childhood innocence behind, he begins to embody a different American stereotype, the “ghetto-created Negro” (436). X is the epitome of the downtrodden black American: “it is almost impossible to find anywhere in America a black man who has lived further down in the mud of human society than I have been” (437). X doesn’t want sympathy; instead he wants martyrdom and change. X originally intended this text to be propaganda for the Nation of Islam, yet he describes each stage his life thoroughly, because these details are integral to all of his pursuits. His true role, in every act of his life, is simple: “all I have been doing is holding up a mirror to reflect, to show, the history of unspeakable crimes” (439). X is not holding up a mirror for African-Americans; they are already fully aware of the wrongs perpetrated against them. Instead, X is forcing white society to look itself in the eye, feel guilt, and create change.
Even as a supporter of pan-Africanism, X is infinitely more comfortable in America: “In Africa… I never will forget how ignorant I felt” (437). He cultivates international influence not to change the world, but rather to gain partners in his fight to rectify the race problem in America. He, like Du Bois, strives for Hegelian synthesis, fantasizing that “in our mutual sincerity we might be able to show a road to the salvation of America’s very soul” (434). X never stops chasing after this ideal, always seeking solutions to the unique challenges blacks face in America. As his story comes to an end, he shares this un-changed sentiment: “I have dared to dream… that my voice helped to save America from a grave, possibly even a fatal catastrophe” (435).
X, Malcolm and Alex Haley. The Autobiography of Malcolm X. New York: Random House Publishing Group, 1964. Print.
Throughout The Autobiography of Malcom X there have been many similarities woven in between X's ideals and the ideals of Washington or Du Bois. However, by the end of the text, X does not connect to either man, advocating for his own individual beliefs on how blacks can gain pure freedom, making him more authentic. On the surface, Booker T. Washington advocated for black accommodation, believing that the lives of blacks were never going to get any better. Underneath, however, he rallied for deception of whites in order for blacks to eventually get ahead of the white race. X himself believes blacks need to "engage in more action" and has always believed that The Nation of Islam is "too inactive" (333, 364). X, unlike Washington's surface message, does not think that blacks have all they will ever have. He believes that they should fight now for what they need, and that action will get it for them. X's belief also contradicts Washington's underlying message because X does not want to wait for change, which is one of his main problems with the Nation of Islam. X believes that "the black man never can become independent and recognized as a human being who is truly equal with other human beings until he has what they have, and until he is doing for himself what others are doing for themselves" (317). X does not want his race to sit and accept what whites have given them, rather he wants them to push for their true equality, which will come when they have exactly what the whites in America have, but because of their own hard work and independence. While X does agree that there should be a separation between the two races, he does not agree that it should be due to accommodation. W.E.B. Du Bois was a believer in civil rights as a way for blacks to truly gain freedom. X in turn believes that "the true problem" is the want for "respect as human beings" through civil rights (313). He believes the leaders for these civil rights programs are "white-minded" and "anti-black" (313). They are urged on by the white man and his funding, convincing the white man that he is "superior" (315). To X, the civil rights movement is unproductive and not the way for blacks to truly gain freedom. By The end of the text, Malcolm X has strayed from both Washingtonian and Du Boisian approaches, becoming more authentic through the expression of his own approaches to freedom.
X, Malcolm, and Alex Haley. The Autobiography of Malcom X. New York: Ballantine, 1992. Print
X does not buy into Islamic hegemony when he changes his name from Malcolm X to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, rather he begins to think for himself, using the Islamic ideology to influence his own anti-discrimination movement in America, which suggests that this final identity is authentic. During the Haji in Mecca, X notices the “feeling of brotherhood” between all Muslims and the “Oneness of Man under one God” (398, 380). He translates this sense of community to his black-equality movement in America by discussing the importance of “Pan-Africanism” (403). He wants the movement for equality to extend beyond America, and he talks about the need “to start thinking internationally” (399). X does more than just accept the teachings of Islam; he uses them to promote his movement. In this way, when X becomes El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, he begins to think for himself. X says, “I considered all Negroes to be my blood brothers,” and therefor he strives to “preserv[e] the American black man’s unity” (402, 397). He calls upon people to have a “global black thinking,” which is a very different request than his predecessors—such as W. E. B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington—demanded (404). When X combines Islamic teachings with his own ideas, he does not allow hegemony to control him. His new identity—El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz—is authentic because it is the result of deliberate, individual thought, not hegemonic pressures.
Furthermore, Islam, as opposed to the Nation of Islam, does not teach that all white men are of the devil. Rather than just accept this opinion as true, X confirms this belief with his own experience. “In the men’s room at the airport, I met the first American abroad who recognized me, a white students from Rhode Island. … ‘Are you X?…You can’t be! Boy, I know no one will believe me when I tell them this’ ” (369). The kindness of this white man is one example of how X begins to notice that not all whites are evil. He says, “In the past, yes, I have made sweeping indictments of all white people. I never will be guilty of that again—as I know now that some white people are truly sincere, that some truly are capable of being brotherly toward a black man” (416). X recognizes the change in opinion he has undergone when preaching his new belief, which suggest that he is thinking carefully about his faith and not just blindly accepting the teachings of Islam. In this way, X does not become El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz because of hegemonic pressures. His identity switch is a conscious change. The way X thinks for himself suggests that his new identity is not the result of him falling under the influence of hegemony; rather X is consciously thinking about his beliefs and creating a new, authentic identity for himself.
Malcolm X changes identities multiple times throughout the text, however, every identity that he encompasses is completely authentic at the time he is embodying it. Every experience that X goes through shapes and complicates his interpretation of the white race. There is no point in the text where the reader can necessarily trace the development of X's ideals on racism from point A to point B. Rather, X's final identity, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, is the final result of an accumulation of thoughts and ideals that X has developed over a lifetime of shifting perspectives. In other words, X would have never been able to arrive this final identity had he not undergone the experiences of his childhood days in Lansing, his times hustling on the streets of Harlem, his days in prison, and his time served as Elijah Muhammad's minister. The collection of all those experiences - the zig-zagged journey of developing thoughts and ideas are all essential to shaping X's final identity.
X's remembrance of his white history teacher back at his Detention Home in Lansing, Mr.
Ostrowski, exemplifies how much certain meaningful experiences and individuals meant to X, how much they could sculpt X's outlook on his entire interpretation of the white race. When Mr. Ostrowski tries to destroy the confidence that is woven into X's persona by telling him to forget pursuing an intellectual career and, instead, to become a carpenter , the first flame is lit within X that leads to his whites hatred during his time as Minister Malcom X. "'You've got to be realistic about being a n*. A lawyer - thats no realistic goal. You need to think about something you can be'" (43). This experience sticks with X for the rest of his life, and has an incredible impact on him; a few pages before the end of the text, X admits that he wishes he has pursued an academic education, and proved Mr. Ostrowski wrong. " My greatest lack has been, I believe, that I don't have the kind of academic education I wish I had been able to get - to have been a lawyer perhaps. I do believe that I might have made a good lawyer" (437).
Just as the harsh words of his old history teacher helped motivate X to reach success as an influential speaker, the hustling tactics that X learned on the streets of Harlem were essential to his success in "fishing" - recruiting new members to Islam. "From the old hustling days I knew that there were tricks to everything" (281). Additionally, X's experiences with Sophia and the white prostitutes living in his building while he was a hustler drastically influence his option of women later in life. " I wouldn't have considered it possible for me to love any woman. I'd had too much experience that women were only tricky, deceitful, untrustworthy flesh" (260). These experiences influence X to firmly agree with Elijah Muhammad's teachings that "a women's true nature is to be weak" and that a man "must control her if he expects to get her respect" and describes his wife, Sister Betty, as "a good Muslim women and wife" because she "puts up with [him]" (260, 268).
X's incredible shock at seeing people of all different colors interacting together in his pilgrimage to Mecca exemplifies how much he truly believed that all white men were the devil previous to this experience. "There was a color pattern in the huge crowds. Being from America made me intensely sensitive to matters of color…true brotherhood existed among all colors, no one felt segregated, there was no 'superiority' complex, no 'inferiority' complex"(395). His negative, hate-provoking experiences with whites throughout his lifetime caused him to legitimately believe the broad generalizations that Elijah Muhammad taught - that all white people are evil prior to this pilgrimage. However, his time spent in Mecca opens X's eyes, and causes him to change his perspectives yet again. " 'In the past, yes, I have made sweeping indictments of all white people. I never will be guilty of that again - as I know that some white people are truly sincere, that some are truly capable of being brotherly toward a black man" (416).
X's final identity , El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, is the result of an accumulation of a life of changing experiences, perspectives, and ideals. I do not doubt that if X's life had not been taken as early as it did, this newfound identity would continue to develop and change as X's experiences grew. The fact that X embodies several different identities throughout the text doesn't make make any certain identities less authentic than others. In fact, X's ability to have constantly changing ideals and perspectives actually makes him a more authentic and accessible character, because he encompasses the freedom that every American believes they should have - the right to sculpt oneself into whatever legitimate identity one chooses.
X, Malcolm and Alex Haley. The Autobiography of Malcolm X. New York: Ballantine books, 1992. Print
The names scattered throughout Malcolm X, both the ones he chooses to include and the ones he chooses to omit, suggest the importance of names as a sense of power and identity. The chapter titles overwhelmingly reference his various identities – from Detroit Red to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz – with the one important exception of Laura. His inclusion of her name in the book seems to reference her as one of the turning points in his past identities, one where he discards her for a white “status symbol of the first order” (78). In this persona, he admittedly acts “deaf, dumb, and blind” to treat her in such a way, and still “blame[s] [himself] for all of this” (80, 80). She symbolizes his Hill-based identity, the straight shooter prior to the hustler, and as such is included as a chapter title.
When discussing politicians to various New York hustlers, there is no reason to suspect X uses pseudonyms to protect their identities. He accurately recounts dealings with Sarah Vaughan, President Nasser, and many others – all using their real names. In fact, the only character he does not call by her first name is Sophia. X states without any flair that he is “going to call her Sophia,” even though that’s not her real name (78). A reader can speculate that X makes this choice either to protect her from scorn in the real world, or is simply a manifestation of his pervasive sexism that dismisses women as not deserving of real identities. Whether conscious or not, doing so demotes Sophia to a caricature of a women; a textual character exploited for sex and little else.
X also admits that his own historical names, and their public perceptions, have confined him in some way to accept hegemonic perceptions. After becoming known in the public eye as a radical Muslim in the Nation of Islam, even after renouncing the group, he still struggles with an accurate perception of his new identity. He laments that his “earlier public image… kept blocking me” from objective analysis, especially in the press (431). To attempt to increase his following with his newly changed ideals, he tries to “gradually reshape that image,” in part by adopting the new name El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (431). X’s use of different names with his different identities further signify the importance of names in his life, at their base to indicate to the reader his changing internal opinions and identity.
X, Malcolm and Alex Haley. The Autobiography of Malcolm X. New York: Ballantine books, 1992. Print
The transformation that Malcolm X undergoes during his travels abroad directly parallels his transformation in prison in that he uses new perspectives and knowledge to change his views of blacks in America. Both experiences, prison and Mecca, lead to a shift in X’s radical view of race in America and how to eliminate racism in general. In prison, X is exposed to the Nation of Islam and Elijah Muhammad’s very polarized take on race. He immediately feels very passionate about what Muhammad teaches and the idea that there is “’the devil white man’ and ‘the brainwashed black man’” (186). A shift is already evident as these are the “first serious thoughts [he] had ever had in [his] life” (186). Malcolm Little completely immerses himself in and dedicates his life to the Nation of Islam and the fight for equality as is evidenced by his adoption of “X” and his rejection of his white tinted name “Little.” X firmly believes that all blacks in America need to unite in order to escape “the devil white man[‘s]” oppression. This view of the racial struggle in America is a much more mature outlook than he previously had. So, his time in prison marks a transition in both his moral character and his overall involvement in the fight for equality.
His vision is further broadened when he travels across the Middle East and Africa. In the Middle East, X witnesses a different side of Islam, one where the “brotherhood” of “people of all races, colors, from all over the world coming together as one” prevails (388). He characterizes this brotherhood as Islam’s collective “color-blindness” and attributes it to “an increasing persuasion against my previous way of thinking” (389). X witnesses how this model of integration is successful and sees an opportunity for greater unification. Again, his view of race changes from focusing on black unity in America to pushing for all non-white groups across the world to unite in order to eliminate all white oppression. Another significant shift in X’s racial perception is his acceptance that all whites are not devils, rather he makes the distinction between Muslim and non-Muslim whites. He says that he “in the Muslim world” he “had seen that men with white complexions were more genuinely brotherly than anyone else had ever been” (383). But in Africa he sees how whites are still exploiting the African people only “it had been her human wealth the last time, now he wanted Africa’s mineral wealth” (405). This observation strengthens the distinction between the Muslim brotherhood he had witnessed and the rest of the white people and he knew that his reaction to the whites in Africa “presented no conflict with the convictions of brotherhood which [he] had gained in the Holy Land” (405).
In both prison and the Middle East, X experiences a major change in his view of the racial tensions in America. Coming out of prison, X firmly believe that all whites were devils and that the blacks in America needed to join the Nation of Islam in order to fight white oppression. His journey to Mecca opens his eyes to a, seemingly, other world where people of all races join together in brotherhood and share a common colorblindness. His opinion of both whites and black unity shifts during these two experiences and, in both cases, he develops a more mature outlook on racial prejudices in both the world and America.
X, Malcolm and Alex Haley. The Autobiography of Malcolm X. New York: Ballantine books, 1992. Print
Though Malcolm X's political, moral, and religious views continuously change throughout his life, his active, ambitious, and authentic persona remains constant. Every experience X endures adds fresh depth and perspective to his mindset, and contributes to his final identity, El-Hajj El-Shabazz. From his upbringing in Lansing, to years hustling in the streets of New York, to his conversion to Islam, X invests maximum effort and passion to each goal he pursues. Ultimately, Malcolm X's personal exposure to various national and global societies helps him realize that people of all colors can live together in harmony.
During his childhood in a primarily white community, Malcolm X cannot contemplate the idea of racial equality; until he moves to Boston with Ella, X has only known blacks who "[break] their backs trying to imitate white people" (X, 48). As a result, Malcolm X resents his black identity, and develops an urge to repress his true entity by embodying whiteness. In migrating to Boston and eventually New York, Malcolm X gains awareness of his "long-suppressed African instincts," and attempts to detach from the chains of hegemony by living the life of a hustler (67). A seven-year prison sentence allows X to rediscover his intellectual capabilities and uncover the history of the white man's relationships with various ethnicities. Studying such literature leads X to the conclusion that the "white man's Christian religion [is] used to brainwash us black people," and inspires X to convert to Islam and form a powerful bond with leader Elijah Muhammad (232). In his twelve-year involvement with Mr. Muhammad, X emphasizes his race's inferiority; he determines white Americans' social and economic superiorities leave blacks defenseless against discrimination with limited opportunities to replicate the white man's success.
Despite his hatred toward whites, Malcolm X's journey to Mecca opens his eyes to the possibility of peaceful integration: "I have never before seen sincere and true brotherhood practiced by all colors together, irrespective of their color" (391). The opportunity to partake in such a cohesive and welcoming culture forces X to once again reconstruct his opinion of race. From his trip, X realizes the social problems existing in segregated America derive not from whites as a people, but whites who use derogatory "thoughts and actions toward the black man, and toward all other non-white men" (383). Malcolm X's different phases ultimately humble him, and expose him to harmony in humanity he otherwise would never imagine.
X, Malcolm and Alex Haley. The Autobiography of Malcolm X. New York: Random House Publishing Group, 1964. Print.