autobiography X Malcolm X's autobiography provides poignant insight into the life of the man, but also offers insight into the historical and cultural context in which he wrote. Malcolm X delves into issues of race, class, gender, and power in the book, showing how these issues are interrelated in his personal life as well as in American society. As such, Malcolm X is very much a quintessential American, whose identity is fractured due to pulls in various directions related to race, class, and identity.

The murder of his father at the hands of white supremacists has a tremendous impact on young Malcolm Little. He experiences first hand, with as much emotional intensity as possible, the real effects of racism in America. Malcolm X understands that it may not be possible for people of color to achieve social, economic, or political parity with their white counterparts. The deep fissures in identity that the death creates are evident both in Malcolm X and also in his mother, who becomes unable to deal with reality after the loss of her husband. It is as if all the hope and idealism the family had when moving to Michigan were completely shattered. Malcolm X's home life is subsequently marred by the loss of both his parents, one to assassination and the other two mental illness. The early trauma fosters Malcolm X's sense of alienation, as he floats from subculture to subculture attempting to root himself and ground himself in an identity that is meaningful.

Deviance is Malcolm X's primary means of coping with the fractured identity and trauma. Without access to legitimate means of acquiring...

His keen sense of enterprise and people skills make him unwaveringly street smart. He spends a long life dealing drugs, pimping, and stealing to support himself; shifting from Harlem to Boston. Malcolm X becomes a real street hustler, and finds a brief glamorization of the career while in Harlem in the wake of its cultural renaissance. Malcolm X rubs elbows with jazz greats as he prowls the nightclubs for business.
After getting busted for armed robbery, Malcolm X's life is transformed yet again. With deviance no longer an option, Malcolm pores over all the books available to him in prison. Illiterate due to lack of access to a stable home life or education, he teaches himself how to read and write like a scholar. His eloquence surprises even himself. As a result, Malcolm X develops keen rhetorical skills in the prison debate society and begins to write letters. Also in prison, Malcolm X discovers the Nation of Islam. The Nation of Islam provides African-Americans with a religion that is alternative to Christianity: which can easily be framed as the religion of white oppression of blacks. Christianity was in fact used to justify slavery and it was also used as a means of social control; Islam is set forth as a faith counter to Christianity. Islam is a faith that becomes a political statement: something that resonates immediately with Malcolm X As he also appreciates the spiritual message of Islam's total surrender unto God, Malcolm X begins to contact the leaders of the Nation of Islam.

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