Reading Response to Malcolm X- Paola Capano

“I suppose it was inevitable that as my word base broadened, I
could for the first time pick up a book and read and now begin to
understand what the book was saying. Anyone who had read a great deal
can imagine the new world that opened. Let me tell you something:
From then until I left that prison, in every free moment I had, if I was not
reading in the library, I was reading on my bunk. You couldn’t have
gotten me out of books with a wedge. Between Mr. Muhammad’s
teachings, my correspondence, my visitors–usually Ella and Reginald–
and my reading of books, months passed without my even thinking about
being imprisoned. In fact, up to then, I never had been so truly free in my
life.” (Paragraph 9)

Malcolm X used his time very wisely while he was in prison. He was very committed to learning how to read and educating himself. He did not let his time in prison destroy him, but rather build him. He shows his commitment by stating “in every free moment I had, if I was not reading in the library, I was reading in my bunk.” This shows us the motivation he had and how he did not let his surroundings distract him. This also help shape him into who he was and help him cope with what he was going through. Being in prison would, of course, feel like the end of the world for most of people. It could leave you to feel hopeless, stuck, like there’s no way out and nothing left for you in life. With Malcolm X, his life was just getting started. As he states, “Anyone who had read a great deal can imagine the new world that opened.” The knowledge had given him a feeling of clarity and new opportunity. He really found his own way to cope with his current hardships and it’s clear to see how much his knowledge meant to him. He states, “I never had been so truly free in my life.” This is not something you would expect to hear someone in prison say, somewhere you are completely locked in and shut out to the world, but he had made something out of himself and his time that would lead to better him and become who he was in the future.

“Every time I catch a plane. I have with me a book that I want to
read—and that’s a lot of books theses days. If I weren’t out here every day battling the white man, I could spend the rest of my life reading, just
satisfying my curiosity—because you can hardly mention anything I’m
not curious about. I don’t think anybody every got more out of going to
prison than I did. In fact, prison enabled me to study far more intensively
than I would have if my life had gone differently and I had attended some
college. I imagine that one of the biggest troubles with colleges is there
are too many distractions, too much panty-raiding, fraternities, and boolaboola and all that. Where else but in prison could I have attacked my
ignorance by being able to study intensely sometimes as much as fifteen hours a day.” (Paragraph 16)

This paragraph shows us the long term impact his prison experience had on him. He even formed a habit of always having a book on him and gaining constant knowledge. He also expresses how his time spent in prison educating himself was better than any education he could’ve earned traditionally in college. He states, “In fact, prison enabled me to study far more intensively than I would have if my life had gone differently and I had attended some college. I imagine that one of the biggest troubles with colleges is there are too many distractions, too much panty-raiding, fraternities, and boolaboola and all that.” Prison led him to a better education because he had the chance to actually focus without any distractions. He also had the choice of learning what he was actually interested to learn which is very helpful because in college there is not always that choice of picking what you spend your time and effort on. Prison gave him the freedom to learn as he was self aware he wouldn’t have been able to do it elsewhere as he states “Where else but in prison could I have attacked my ignorance by being able to study intensely sometimes as much as fifteen hours a day.”