1. I think Malcolm X alters the tone of the piece at the end to make a clear distinction between his past and present thoughts. The last paragraph of the memoire was supposed to conclude his experience of getting his hair dyed. His purpose was to show that he no longer agreed with his actions in the past. The change in his tone signifies his change in thought and view in life. It’s like he was ashamed of himself for changing his hair color.
2. Firstly, when I first read the memoire, I assumed that Malcolm X would be a strong Christian. After learning that he had established his own Muslim organization, I was surprised but this stilled proved that his beliefs were strong for his religion. I never had a pleasant opinion about Malcolm X even though I never knew him. The informal language in the memoire made that first impression worse. However, after reading about his change in belief when he was betrayed by the person he looked up to, my impression of became more positive. Reading his biography didn’t have a big change on my understanding on my story. It was hard for me to make a connection between the changes of his beliefs to his realization of the fact that black people should be happy the way they are. I can make connections between his change in opinion about dying his hair in the past and his change in opinion about NOI. It was hard to find a direct connection for me to have a better understanding in anyway.
I agree with your answer to the first question. Malcolm X didn't like the decisions he made in the past and was really angry at himself. Along with showing his change in view, I think that he also wanted to make it clear that he thought other people shouldn’t try to change themselves. They shouldn’t “mutilate” their bodies the way he did and should learn from his mistake.
ReplyDeleteI also didn’t change my opinion after reading Malcolm X’s biography. I don’t know how his becoming Muslim would change anything. His religion wouldn’t change much. However the part about his childhood and his teacher discouraging him because he was black might have affected his views about black and white people. I think you mentioned that in your answer though so I agree with what you said.