Animal Imagery In Alex Haley's The Autobiography Of Malcolm X

In collaboration with journalist, Alex Haley, Malcolm X tells of his life from his grim childhood to his unexpected death in The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Malcolm X was born in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1925 to Reverend Earl Little and Louise Little. Reverend Little was an iron-willed, confident, and independent man, according to Malcolm’s memory. Little was a strong leader who had no problem speaking against whites and he frequently had organized events in Omaha, Nebraska; in turn, it became a case of conflict with the Ku Klux Klan who later murdered him and burned their house to the ground. Louise Little was left to provide for her children amidst her husband’s tragic and inevitable death. Because of the grief, she was unable to adequately care for her children prompting the frequent visits from white welfare agents and a short affair. As a result, her family slowly began to become corrupt. After a mental breakdown, Louise was committed to an institution in 1937, leaving her family to fend for themselves. The corruption of Malcolm’s family from such a young age set in stone his …show more content…
Malcolm's life in Harlem left instilled in him, images that will forever define him and what he stands for. To further expose the racism he experiences, Malcolm uses animal imagery to depict the whites’ brashness towards him. He recalled a white supremacist judge looking at him as if he was examining a “pink poodle” or a “pet canary” (Haley 32). Further fueling the prejudice, he referred to Malcolm as a “fine colt, or pedigreed pup” (32). Through this racial encounter, Malcolm came to an epiphany that whites “…didn’t give [him] credit for having the same sensitivity, intellect, and understanding that they would have been ready and willing to recognize in a white boy in [his] position” (32). Malcolm uses such imagery to visually depict the oppression he, as a black man, faced in America during the