Paper of Many Parts: The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X with Alex Haley
by Dana Smith

Summary Paragraph

The Autobiography of Malcolm X is a chronicle of the life and times of Malcolm X. Chapter by chapter it conveys the many struggles and hardships Malcolm went through from boy to man with a cause and purpose. This autobiography tells of a man who went from drug-dealing and minor crimes to finding himself in jail. While in jail Malcolm found Allah, who he and Muslims worldwide know as the one true God. Finding Allah and becoming a Muslim sparked a new phase in Malcolm’s life that set the precedent for what and how he lived his life from the moment he accepted Allah to his dying day.

Character Descriptions

Malcolm X: brave, frank, focused, determined

Ella Collins: strong, proud, bold, commanding

Elijah Muhammad: shy, wise, fatherly, powerful

Discussion/Essay Questions

1.   Malcolm X taught violence for violence and not to turn the other cheek when wronged or brutalized racially. Martin Luther King Jr. taught peaceful ways of fighting back toward white racists. Which teaching do you support and why? Which do you think of as more effective?

2.   Press and media called the Black Muslims “hate-teachers”, “hate-messengers”, and “violence-seekers”. Do you think the press would have thought the same way if the Muslims had been any other race such as Jew, Hispanic, or even Caucasian?

3.   Malcolm X spoke about how when he journeyed abroad he found that there was a “Oneness” among the people; race was disregarded and it was as if everyone was one family. Do you think that America has reached this “Oneness” that Malcolm X experienced? If not, do you think America is on its way or will ever get there? Explain.

Key Passage: From 304 (discussing his views on the March on Washington):

“…sick and tired of the black man’s neck under the white man’s heel.” (Malcolm X)

Key Passage Explanation:

 This phrase is the underlining of all of Malcolm X’s teaching. He lectured the black man to stop letting the white man hold him back, to get out of the white man’s grasp and be all that they can be. This phrase was used more than once in the book and is the most important because everything Malcolm X said could lead back to the “black man’s neck under the white man’s heel.”

Recommendation

I would recommend that every one of all ages should read the Autobiography of Malcolm X, if for anything else but to develop an opinion. Readers may not agree with everything Malcolm X advocates but reading this book helps develop where you stand on many of the issues facing the world today. In the beginning of The Autobiography of Malcolm X it keeps you interested by telling of Malcolm’s early life but then towards the middle it has a lot of quoted paragraphs from the very intricate mind of Malcolm X and I found myself having to read certain passages more than once to get the complete and correct meaning of what he was trying to say. That, I think, is the only downfall of this book, and other than that the teenage audience should enjoy The Autobiography of Malcolm X.