In the text, “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” (1965), by Malcolm X and Alex Haley, the
authors captures Malcolm X as he undergoes a moral and spiritual transformation that eventually led to his great leadership in the African American community. The author uses chronological order to show the journey Malcolm X took from his prison sentence, to him making a 180 and changing his mindset, and eventually becoming an influential leader that still has a legacy to this day. The author explicitly gives readers an insight on X’s journey, in order to highlight his great acts. The intended audiences are people who were followers of Malcolm X and/or African Americans.
As a group, we feel a wave of sympathetic emotion towards the negative acts taken place during this time. It is hard as a young, black African American to listen to such horrifying events, being told by another young, black African American. To think if we were born during that time, we would have to deal with those types of terror. Even though we still go through things, it cannot be as bad as the times before us. We are thankful to not have to endure that type of pain. Also, we are grateful for our ancestors, who fought for us to be treated fairly. We are not perfect, but we sure are blessed.
Haley and X uses pathos to narrate Malcolm X's experiences while growing up as a young boy and losing both of his parents. Each author appeals to the audience by speaking of life events. For example, Malcolm X loses his father first, from a sudden murder that is covered up as a suicide. Malcolm X says,".... their parents had said-that the Black Legion or the Klan had killed my father, and the insurance people had pulled at fast one in refusing to pay my mother the policy money." Here Malcolm X is speaking of the things he hears about his father from other children's parents at school. And from their perspective of his father they perceived Malcolm to be a "trouble-maker" as much as his father was. Malcolm also goes on and says,"I can't describe how I felt. The woman who had brought me into this world, and nursed me, and advised me, and chastised me, and loved me, didn't know me..........But there was nothing I could do." In this moment Malcolm X is coming to a realization that his mother has forgotten him and with the sense of her forgetting him, they no longer have a connection together. So, it's as if he's losing his mother as he lost his father, just on different terms.
As a group, we feel a wave of sympathetic emotion towards the negative acts taken place during this time. It is hard as a young, black African American to listen to such horrifying events, being told by another young, black African American. To think if we were born during that time, we would have to deal with those types of terror. Even though we still go through things, it cannot be as bad as the times before us. We are thankful to not have to endure that type of pain. Also, we are grateful for our ancestors, who fought for us to be treated fairly. We are not perfect, but we sure are blessed.
Haley and X uses pathos to narrate Malcolm X's experiences while growing up as a young boy and losing both of his parents. Each author appeals to the audience by speaking of life events. For example, Malcolm X loses his father first, from a sudden murder that is covered up as a suicide. Malcolm X says,".... their parents had said-that the Black Legion or the Klan had killed my father, and the insurance people had pulled at fast one in refusing to pay my mother the policy money." Here Malcolm X is speaking of the things he hears about his father from other children's parents at school. And from their perspective of his father they perceived Malcolm to be a "trouble-maker" as much as his father was. Malcolm also goes on and says,"I can't describe how I felt. The woman who had brought me into this world, and nursed me, and advised me, and chastised me, and loved me, didn't know me..........But there was nothing I could do." In this moment Malcolm X is coming to a realization that his mother has forgotten him and with the sense of her forgetting him, they no longer have a connection together. So, it's as if he's losing his mother as he lost his father, just on different terms.
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