“Xlexia”
Is
Malcolm X’s autobiography agendized? Most certainly, because he was. We all
are. The memoir was penned by ghostwriter Alex Haley such that an undercurrent
for his philosophy would be easily visible. Malcolm’s memoir wasn’t written out
of a desire to self-plumb, but instead to perpetuate and reinforce his message.
That being said it is not outright propaganda; it doesn’t have to be, as it
draws his thought-process to be the logical conclusion. The co-authoring, then,
is probably what we should focus on, if the Question (neither the comics
character, nor the marital proposal) has been filtered out by becoming a
secondary source.
The
cover of the ‘99 version of the Autobiography
states, subtitled, “As told to Alex Haley,” in slightly less red, slightly less
large letters. Though Malcolm’s words are given to us through a sieve, they
retain his agency; it is a dictation more-so than an interpretation. His
diction is preserved as well, giving the reader the same matter-of-fact tone
that comprised his speeches. These stories don’t seem to’ve been touched by
more hands than one (well, two, I guess…), offering continuity in style. The
life-lived content lends the personal feel that just his speech-voice on a page
might lack.
The
chunk offered in our collection is almost the entirety of the chapter “Mascot”
in the Full Premium Extra Black Nationalist Edition (served with chips (and a
pickle)). The chapter explores Malcolm’s intermediary school days and his
preliminary relationship with the white people surrounding him. Other than the
blatantly obvious social inequality on display, we get an impression of
Malcolm’s forming character; he is smart, a cracked-whip wit only checked by
the system in which he was born. And funnily enough he has a sense of
humour(!), evident in the sardonic smack with which he treats the white man’s silly
ways, at once destroying the legitimacy they don’t have and revealing the
indefensibility of their laws: “From my seat in—you guessed it—the back of the
bus….” It works doubly-well as proof-positive for his initial anti-integration
stance. The whole selection shows the supposed incompatibility of the two
“races”.
The
memoir instills the same anger felt by the protagonist Mal. The Advisement
Scene, where Malcolm is told he cannot be
just about boils the blood on the Kelvin scale. The minor unfairnesses stack up
into one major injustice, working to set your teeth by the end. “All praise due
to Allah that I went to Boston when I did. If I hadn’t, I’d probably still be a
brainwashed black Christian.” The final line drives home his point that the
United States in the 1960s was fundamentally averse to black culture. As much
as I respect the man, I’m glad we’re all in the pot together now, and gettin’
along. (Also REALLY GLAD I went with the baseball analogy “drives home his
point” rather than describing the final line of the chapter as “the lynchpin”
of his philosophy. That would’ve been, er, UNFORTUNATE).
A thing that interested me about this excerpt from Malcom X's autobiography was the straightforward style he (Haley, X, whoever) writes in. It's very conversational; it's as if he's talking to the reader. Perhaps X (or Haley) employs this simpler style because this expert is not technically a memoir; It's a part of an autobiography. However, there are elements of the memoir in this excerpt. Though he tells the events as they happened in a simple style, he does employ some powerful reflection. For example, he writes, “even though we [African Americans] might be with them [white people], we weren't considered of them. Even though they appeared to have opened the door, it was still closed. Thus they never did really see me.” X also reflects on his popularity in middle school, saying that he was popular because he was a “novelty,” a “pet.”
ReplyDeleteAnother thing that interested me was how ambivalent X was towards the racism that was directed towards him in Michigan at first, even from the people who were, for the most part, friendly and courteous towards him; Perhaps because he was used to the racial slurs and stereotypes, he was able to just role with the punches and not let it bother him. However, X isn't so ambivalent after he returns home from his revelatory trip to Boston, and his English teacher/advisor tells him to be realistic about his future career opportunities as a black person. It strikes a nerve with him and makes him change his demeanor.
Before I started reading this piece, the title had me twitching: "from the Autobiography of Malcolm X." I didn't want to read an autobiography. My past experience with autobiographies connote boredom, plain language, and straight facts, no creativity. So I decided to push those thoughts away and be open to this "memoir." As I read through it, I made it my mission to point out the lines or sections that would define this piece as a memoir. At first, I found it to be simply telling exactly what happened--which is exactly what I was afraid of--but I soon began to see bits of reflection and enjoy some of the more clever lines.
ReplyDeleteFor instance, I really enjoyed this line: "I noticed again how white people smelled different from us, and how their food tasted different, not seasoned like Negro cooking" (144). Shortly after this, X adds in a small piece of reflection, noting that he was treated "as a mascot, I know now" (144). He continues this idea throughout this section of his autobiography, and this keeps the reader connected to his bigger picture: the viewpoint that people of his race did not belong in this "white people's world." One of the stronger lines that I found says this: "But it has historically been the case with white people, in their regard for black people, that even though we might be WITH them, we weren't considered OF them" (145).
Lastly, his agenda is definitely noted throughout this piece. I especially saw this when he writes, "I was trying so hard, in every way I could, to be white. Which is why I am spending much of my life today telling the American black man that he's wasting his time straining to "integrate." I know from personal experience. I tried hard enough" (149). I think he does a good job of providing a convincing argument for his claim while simply telling his own story. I think this has a lot to do with his voice and how blunt and honest he is.
Like Shannon, I wasn’t entirely thrilled about the idea of having to read an autobiography. Normally, I can only read them when it’s about someone I want to do research on, want to know their past, and so forth. However, after reading the piece, I was floored and wanted to read more. I than began to wonder what the difference is between an autobiography and a memoir. Usually, an autobiography is strictly facts ridden. However, Malcolm X’s autobiography, most certainly added in reflections—something that may equate to the style of the autobiography style, but most certainly has tidbits of memoir style.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the piece, there were some key quotations that we’re powerful, but also informational about Malcolm and the time period. Some major quotes I found that made pivotal points of the piece are: “I noticed again how white people smelled different from us…” (144) to then a later quote of “I didn’t know the world contained as many Negroes as I saw thronging…” (153), “If I hadn’t, I’d probably still be a brainwashed black Christian” (157).
The introduction of Ella is a catalyst for Malcolm, he even says himself that “…she was the first really proud black woman I had ever seen in my life” (151). For once, he seems to have a person to look up to. Everyone seemed to dub Malcolm as a lesser person; a person that is not on the same level as the whites, which radiates with the time period. Compared to Malcolm’s teacher, “But you’ve got to be realistic about being a nigger. A lawyer—that’s no realistic goal for a nigger. You need to think about something you can be” (155), Ella is a person that Malcolm uses as a source of empowerment, whereas the white teacher can represent how the segregation and what’s going on during this time.
One of the biggest things that struck me about this memoir was how overtly (to me at least) it was telling the story from his adults perspective. As many have pointed out already, this is an autobiography technically and not a memoir, so maybe this is part of the reason for this style. X shows that he is speaking from his adult perspective in multiple instances. I noticed it most glaringly on page 145 in the middle paragraph that begins with "This is the sort of kindly conversation which I try to clarify today" I think X's reason for doing this is directly related to his political agenda. Naturally, he desires to draw parallels between his life growing up and the activism that he was doing at the time, and what better way to do that than to weave it within his narrative. He does this same sort of thing again on 147 at the end where he says that "mine was the same psychology that makes Negroes even today, though it bothers them down inside, keep letting the white man tell them how much 'progress' they are making". In a way, X's reflection at times reflects forwards, rather than backwards, which is an interesting and different way to think about reflection in a memoir but definitely aids his political purposes.
ReplyDeleteThe first line I am going to talk about is on page 145 when Malcolm X says that white people will never be loyal towards black people. He says, "But it has historically been the case with white people, in their regard for black people, that even though we might be with them, we weren't considered of them. Even though they appeared to open the door, it was still closed. Thus they never really did see me,". This line really put me off to the memoir. It is hard to read these memoirs from the past with the times being so different and for us to truly understand what's going on at that time is impossible. But the world is different now and when we revisit these types of situations it doesn't seem like it does much positive, only triggers anger out of people.
ReplyDeleteThe next paragraph I think continues to show Malcolm's attitude towards white's at the time when he says, "I don't care how nice one is to you; the thing you must always remember is that almost never does he really see you as he sees himself, as he sees his own kind. He may stand with you through thin, but not thick; when the chips are down, you'll find that as fixed in him as his bone structure is his sometimes subconscious conviction that he's better than anybody black," (145). I stopped reading after this paragraph. I didn't see any point to continue reading after that.
I have to admit I was both intrigued and nervous to read Malcolm X's contribution to our memoir class. While I was curious to read about his experiences as a youngster I was unsure about what I would find. The straight-forward style drew me in immediately. I was very curious to read about some of the experiences that molded the man he eventually became--the infamous man we've all heard of or read about. This excerpt did not disappoint.
ReplyDeleteThe first line that caught my interest was quite simple, but it struck me as something that would have been blatantly obvious to young Malcolm X. He said, "I noticed again how white people smelled different from us, and how their food tasted different, not seasoned like Negro cooking" (144). This comes not long after he says how he and Mr. Swerlin got along from day one. It further emphasizes that, while there was some common ground, the two men were distinctly different (at least in their own eyes). This quote embodies racial tensions of the time and how differently the races perceived themselves to be from one another.
These differences culminated with Malcolm X's discussion with Mr. Ostrowski about his future (154). This fell in line with what I know about America before the civil rights movement but he managed to bring it to life in a way I've never experienced before. His use of Mr. Ostrowski's words were remarkable. The dialogue illustrated just how whites thought of black American's as this form of "other." It irritated me in the way I can only imagine it irritated Malcolm X. Whether or not Mr. Ostrowski said those exact words or not it irrelevant. The bottom line is he found a way to convey to the reader just how much racism he faced on a daily basis.
Like my other classmates, I was also thrown off by the word autobiography, which to me are much drier than memoirs. But what also threw me off was that it was in collaboration with Alex Haley, and I had to wonder if the "voice" in the story was really Malcolm X or the stylings of Alex Haley- by the end it didn't seem to matter but it was just something I was pondered.
ReplyDeleteThough the style of the story is straightforward like an autobiography-he just kind of says that facts as is with no in depth description-there are bits of reflection in between that are reminiscent of a memoir. After reading the many different memoirs for months, I found myself wishing that he would just take his reflections a little more in depth, with more emotion and description. On page 151, when talking about a conversation with his sister he says "It thrilled me to hear her say that, and even more, the way she said it. I had become a mascot;our branch of the family was split into pieces. I had just about forgotten about being a Little in any family sense." I feel as though he does this alot throughout the memoir, where he begins to reflect on his emotions in a certain scene, but only scratches the surface. Another interesting point about his reflections is that his reflections from his adult self are very evident in the scenes, especially when he talks about his realization of being a "mascot"; he says these reflections with the knowledge he knows as an adult, which make sense for an autobiography but from the standpoint of a memoir, I wish there had been more reflections from his child-self's point of view.
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this. I enjoyed his blunt and straight to the point style. I went into this thinking that I would have no understanding of what he was feeling or thinking but I found that this style he uses, directly telling the reader (instead of letting them guess) was incredibly helpful.
ReplyDeleteI was also surprised by his ambivalence towards the racism directed towards him. I was interested in how he viewed white people. He notices that they smell different from him, but at the same time, he doesn’t think they mean any intentional harm when they say “nigger.” It was interesting that he was indifferent to it in the beginning but eventually it hardened him. He mentions that at one point he actually wanted to be a white person and then he becomes a huge voice preaching the need to embrace the race.
I was interested in how he viewed adults. Anytime they asked him what was wrong, he would never tell them. He seemed to just want to please the adults. I think that he began to resent the adults because an adult ruined his dream and the ideas he had about being white.
As pretty much everyone else has pointed out, the autobiography aspect threw me a loop when I first picked up the piece. I felt that it would just be another cut and dry retelling of a person’s history. However, as I began to read and full grasp the piece for what it was I was enthralled with the writing. The writing itself was very straightforward and easy to grasp and drew me in. The only thing that I had going on in the back of my head was that this piece was a collaboration with another writer, so I felt like this could not be fully authentic. I kept this in mind heavily while I was reading, but as I read I felt that the piece was solely Malcom X’s writing. The piece itself may not have had a great deal of in depth reflection and description, but how the writing made up for it with the ideas of Malcom X himself as well as his trials and tribulations in the fight against racism. The piece still contains little chunks and lines of reflection, such as when he noticed how white people smelled different, that add a great deal of character and voice. Overall I feel like this “memoir” really helps portray what Malcom X was going through during this time period in his life. He gets his ideas and stories across while portraying a decent level of emotion and reflection. I feel like after reading this I will be holding autobiographies to a level of critique (for the most part).
ReplyDelete