FREE ESSAY ON THE METAMORPHOSIS OF MALCOLM X

THE METAMORPHOSIS OF MALCOLM X

Malcolm X once wrote, "My life has always been one of changes" (Haley 404). In his
autobiography, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, it is very evident that through his life,
he went through a series of drastic changes that went from one extreme to another. He
went from being at "the bottom of the American white man's society," to become one of the
most influential advocates of Black pride (150). Throughout the novel the most evident
changes are when Malcolm X moves to Boston, goes to prison, and going on Hajj.
After living in Michigan, Malcolm X moves in with his half-sister, Ella, in Boston.
Malcolm X described the move as "pivotal or profound in its repercussions" (38). When he
gets to Boston, he sets out to explore the city and to "get the feel of Boston" (40).
When he looks around the area he is living in he finds it full of nothing but "Hill
Negroes" (40). He notices that all these black people are simply breaking their "backs
trying to imitate white people" (40). He immediately rejects their way of thinking and
finds himself in the middle of the town's "ghetto section" (42). 
Soon through his friendship with "Shorty", Malcolm X is exposed to a new kind of living.
He spends his first month in Roxbury with his "mouth hanging open" (48). He saw small
black children "shooting craps, playing cards, fighting… [throwing] around swear
words and slang expressions" (43). Eventually, all this exposure to black people "being
their natural selves" took a great toll on him (43). After hanging out with Shorty and
his friends, inevitably, he took his first reefers, first cigarettes, and the first
liquor he drank. He ultimately went from being "country" to a "cool cat." When he was
exposed to all these "jungle streets," he became a hustler and soon began to live like an
animal, living only to survive (163). As he became more involved with these people he
lost all sense of values and morals. He eventually became a common street hustler, drug
dealer, and burglar until he was finally caught and served seven years in jail.
Malcolm X's experience in jail "saved" him eventually and molded him into the great
leader he is known for today. While in prison the first thing that made a "positive
impression" on his life is a fellow inmate named "Bimbi." (153). What impressed him the
most about this man was the way he was able to "command total respect … with his
words"(154). By trying to pursue a friendship with Bimbi, Malcolm X consequentially seeks
an education. Through his readings and new found religion, the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X
finds self-pride. He starts to become proud of who he is and where he came from. He
realizes that before, all he was trying to do was act like someone he wasn't and all it
had gotten him was seven years in prison. The letters he got from Elijah Muhammad and his
family encouraged all of this. He strives to admit his guilt, and "implore the
forgiveness of God" (170). He would often "be startled to catch [himself] thinking in a
remote way of [his] earlier self as another person" and marvel at how much he had changed
(170). All the reading he did "awoke … some long dormant craving to be mentally
alive" (179). His trip to prison opened up new doors for him because he gained knowledge
that made him rethink his niche in life.
After he left jail, Malcolm X believed that the black man was superior to the white man
and the white man was simply the devil. He preached this to thousands of black people and
converted them to the Nation of Islam through his moving speeches that stunned and
captivated them. However, all of his beliefs were totally changed after he took a trip to
Mecca and went on Hajj. 
The first thing that enthralls Malcolm X, is the unity he sees in all the Muslims that
are gathered at the airport. Everyone, from a king to a peasant, is dressed in the same
clothes. There is none superior to the other because in the eyes of Allah (SWT) everyone
is equal. When he boards his plane to Jedda, he sees people of all races together with
the same goal as his, to honor Allah (SWT). He feels the total brotherhood and respect
that he has simply because he is a Muslim. 
The second thing that amazes Malcolm X is the total respect that Dr. Abd ir-Rahman Azzam
has for him. The thing that surprises him the most is that he is white and he gives him
so much hospitality. Dr. Azzam treats him like he is his "brother" and Malcolm X is taken
back by the generosity he is shown by this white man, that in America he could never
dream of getting (335). Malcolm X is full of humility when he finds out that this man
gave up his hotel room for him to use until he could go back to Mecca. Shortly after his
completion of the Hajj he accepted the true Islam. The "color-blindness of the Muslim
world's religious society and the color-blindness of the Muslim world's human society"
greatly influenced Malcolm X's decision to convert to the true Islam, and take back all
his beliefs that the white man on the whole was the devil. Rather, the "specific
attitudes and actions toward the black man, and toward all other non-white men" that was
condescending, was what was wrong with the American society (333). This trip made a great
impact on Malcolm X's beliefs and changed his life.
A year after he returned, Malcolm X was shot repeatedly in the chest while giving a
speech in front of two hundred people, including his wife and four children. His life was
characterized by a number of extreme changes that transformed his views and what he stood
for. When he moved to Boston he found himself at the bottom of the American society, when
he went jail he found himself again and gained self-pride, but when he came back form
Mecca, as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, his views totally changed, he was on the top of the
American society and there he will remain as one of the most influential advocates of
Black pride.