Malcolm X Post Regarding Chapters 1-6)

So far, Malcolm far has been an okay book in my opinion. In the beginning, the book starts off pretty slowly, and in a boring fashion. As the book progresses, it becomes more and more interesting. 

In the first two chapters, I find it amazing how ignorant white Americans were. Many white men and other members of the KKK had absolutely no regards for the condition of African Americans. In Malcolm's case, they killed his father, and left his mother and her eight children to fend for themselves without a second thought. They were also painstakingly ignorant when the Welfare people specifically attempted to break Malcolm's family apart. Haley specifically described this when he states, "I truly believe that if ever a state social state agency destroyed a family, it destroyed ours" (Haley 22). I thought that this action was very cruel; as the novel progresses it is also stunning to see how close Malcolm stay's with his family and how united they are, even though they live far apart. 

My thoughts on the next two chapters are very dismal. I think that Malcolm went downhill as soon as he moved to Boston. He started throwing away his sense of individuality and going around with other people he did not know. Far worse, he started horrible habits such as drinking, smoking, and taking reefers. Another part of these chapters that struck me as very odd and stupid was African American's willing to "conk" themselves and make themselves look more white. I think this action was pitiful- they lost their sense of uniqueness and underwent physical torture just so they could remotely resemble whites. I also find it amazing that there was such a racial difference in those times, and yet white females and African American males could date, and cause the African American to gain status. 

Ok. Now the last few chapters, 5 and 6. These chapters basically reflect Malcolm's initial fascination of Harlem to his eventual move there. First, Malcolm establishes a respectable career in Harlem as a train sandwich server. However, he eventually gets fired and then starts working at a bar in which he learns how to be a "hustler". This is where he goes wrong. He tells a undercover spy that he can find him a prostitute, and then gets caught, and therefore cannot work at the bar any longer. Now, Malcolm starts selling marijuana and other drugs to people. I foreshadow that this will eventually cause him to get caught and result in a huge change in his life.