In the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, “industry” was listed as one of the thirteen essential virtues Benjamin Franklin organized to arrive at moral perfection. He emphasized that this virtue was to “[l]ose no time; be always employ’d in something useful; [and to] cut off all unnecessary actions” (Franklin 9). Through this lens of Benjamin Franklin’s, it is evident that Malcolm X mastered this virtue of “industry”.

At first when Malcolm picked up a book to read in the Norfolk Prison colony, motivation was required to induce himself to forge “book-reading motions” (Malcolm X). Continuing such an act wasn’t going to help Malcolm resolve his dilemma of skipping words he didn’t recognize and understand, causing him to have “little idea of what the book” was about (Malcolm X). As a result, Malcolm shifted his focus to first building his vocabulary by reading the dictionary. This instance demonstrates Malcolm’s efficient use of his time while he was in prison.

Soon after, Malcolm began copying the dictionary and was eventually successful in his self-education as his “word-base broadened” (Malcolm X). Now able to read and actually understand the content, Malcolm had the opportunity to view the world at an alternate perspective through the books he read. He took advantage of his newly acquired capability and read “until three or four every morning” during his time in prison (Malcolm X). As Malcolm stated himself, “You will never catch me with a free fifteen minutes in which I’m not studying…” emphasizing his mastery in Benjamin Franklin’s “industry” virtue as he makes the most out of his time to strive for a worthy and worthwhile goal: to help the black man (Malcolm X).

Frederick Douglass’ narratives of his life imply a theory that education, whether it be obtained by formal or unconventional means, paves the way for an individual’s success. Douglass’ own education, despite going through very alternative ways to attain it, gave him the knowledge and courage that he needed to have to understand that an escape from slavery would be his best bet at success. Chapter 7 of The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass especially focuses on Douglass’ learning of the true meaning of slavery from books and his resolve to escape from it.

This theory is definitely reflected in Malcolm X’s autobiography. At first a man with very low literacy skills, Malcolm X soon becomes frustrated at not being able to communicate through writing. He soon starts to “acquire some kind of a homemade education” (Malcolm X 1) and read, studies, and practices writing words from the dictionary he obtains from the Norfolk Prison Colony. Malcolm X even says, “Many who today hear me somewhere in person, or on television, or those who read something I’ve said, will think I went to school far beyond the eighth grade” (1). In reality, his literacy is self taught, knowing that in order to express himself in a way that will garner him respect, he would need to educate himself as much as possible.

Even though it takes place in a different century, Malcolm X’s reading of slavery and its “atrocities” has a very similar reaction to Douglass’ readings of it (Malcolm X 3). It opened both men’s eyes to the horrors of white exploitation of blacks and in Malcolm X’s case, other races as well. But Douglass’ readings caused him to wish to have continued to be ignorant instead of suffering with the knowledge of black mistreatment. Malcolm X, on the other hand, although he became more sensitive to the “deafness, dumbness, and blindness that was afflicting the black race in America,” he did not allow himself to be overcome with the negativity and suffer in silence (3). This is probably due to the difference in the two men’s circumstances: Douglass thought he was going to be a slave for life while Malcolm X knew that prison was going to be temporary for him and that he could make a change once released. This change is something he resolved to do and he accomplished it and also nationwide attention, making his mission to expose black mistreatment a success. This success was only possible through the unconventional means of education that he provided for himself.

Rousseau believed that “the object of our study is man and his environment (Rousseau, 2).” Meaning that we learn by experiencing the world for ourselves, for “true education consists less in precept than in practice (2).” He also believed that in order to follow this theory, one must be free and isolated from the world. When you are separated from the world or others, you become free in the sense that you are able to learn anything that you set your mind to, without the influence of others.

At first, Malcolm X wasn’t the most intelligent person, for he didn’t know how to speak or write correctly. However, while in jail, he was able to create “a homemade education (Malcolm X, 1)” which is something that comes from within oneself. After getting a hold of a dictionary, he would teach himself “over and over (Malcolm X, 2)” so that he could learn how to read and write. Part of his success had to do with being alone; he “preferred reading in the total isolation of [his] own room (Malcolm X, 3)” because this allowed him to take more books out of the library. Malcolm was eager to learn; even at night he would try to read by leaning towards the little light outside of his cell just to read, giving him little sleep every night. It was in jail, where he felt “truly free in [his] life (Malcolm X, 2).” Here he was able to learn and teach himself things that he probably wouldn’t have thought about otherwise. Malcolm realized that it was “in prison that reading had changed forever the course of [his] life (Malcolm X, 3),” and even helped him to become one of the most powerful leaders of black America.

Later in his years, he was asked where he had attended school and he simply replied “books.” Through the eyes of Rousseau, we see how being isolated and free plays a big role in one’s education. It pushes one to achieve something greater, without interference. Malcolm X was able to make use of his situation being in jail and pursued self-education. It was though jail and isolation that led him to freedom and becoming one of the most influential people in history.

In The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Douglass uses his life of slavery to describe his experience and witness of the white man’s cruelty. There is a huge inequality between White American and African American and the relationship seems impossible to overturn. Not only the whites are superior, the white man is the owner to the black slave. Therefore, the white man is justified to do anything to his slave because the slave is considered his property. As Douglass records, “I have seen him [master] whip a woman, causing the blood to run half an hour at the time… He seemed to take pleasure in manifesting his fiendish barbarity” (Douglass, 2). It is obvious that the white man master does not treat his slave as a human being. In addition, the cruelty of slavery seems endless that children are force to be separated from their mother. Family is forced to destroy its bonds.

Through the lens of Frederick Douglass, there are some similar between Douglass narrative and Malcolm X’s autobiography. Malcolm’s self-education through reading books gives him the knowledge of African American’s history. Malcolm points out that “…history had been “whitened”— when white men had written history books, the black man simply had been left out” (Malcolm X, 3). He means that the history books are in favor to white men and the books describe slavery as if it is normal. Malcolm reacts to this with complete shock and he continue to study more about the “sin and the blood on the white man’s hands”. Malcolm X reads about “black slave women tied up and flogged with whips; of black mothers watching their babies being dragged off, never to be seen by their mothers again” (Malcolm X, 3). Malcolm’s narrative is similar to Douglass’s personal story in a way that both of them think slavery is an horrible act in history, and white men’s violent and cruelty toward slave can never to justify.

Although Frederick Douglass and Malcolm X were born a hundred years apart, both of them object to the position of African Americans in society. In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, he explains the cruelty of slavery with his experiences. Douglass talks how black children are separated from their families, resulting in loose relations with siblings. Douglass also describes how a white man treats his slave. Douglass writes, “he would at times seem to take great pleasure in whipping a slave. I have often been awakened at the dawn of day by the most heart-rending shrieks of an own aunt of mine, whom he used to tie up to a joist, and whip upon her naked back till she was literally covered with blood” (Douglass 1). For Douglass, education forever unfit him to be a slave and it ultimately led to his freedom.

Aspects from Frederick Douglass’s narrative was present in Malcolm X’s autobiography. Malcolm X wasn’t in a period of slavery, but a period of great discrimination against blacks. Much like Douglass, Malcolm X could not read. Malcolm X self educated himself while he was in prison. In prison, he taught himself how to read. He comes across books on slavery and through these books he learns how inhumane slavery was.  Malcolm X read, “descriptions of atrocities, saw those illustrations of black slave women tied up and flogged with whips; of black mothers watching their babies being dragged off, never to be seen by their mothers again” (Haley). The illustrations of black slave woman being flogs with whips resonates Douglass experience where he watched his aunt get whipped. The idea of “never to be seen by their mothers again” also relates back to Douglass’s time period where most children would not see their family ever again because they had to go serve their master. For  Malcolm X, “right there in prison that reading had changed forever the course of my life. As I see it today, the ability to read awoke inside me some long dormant craving to be mentally alive” (Haley). Reading had also changed Malcolm X, he was “awaken”. Both Douglass and Little were disgusted with slavery and decided to speak up about it. Frederick Douglass and Malcolm X were powerful figures in the quest for racial equality.

In Emile: or A Treatise on Education by Jean Jacques Rousseau, he stated an important quote, “The inner growth of our organs and faculties is the education of nature, the use we learn to make of this growth is the education of men, what we gain by our experience of our surroundings is the education of things.” (1). Rousseau emphasized how important education is and how it can be obtained through our experience of our surroundings and the situation that we are in.

This is applicable to “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” because he made use of his surroundings in order to achieve education. He originally was convicted of robbery and spent a total of seven years in prison. During his time in prison, Malcolm learned from the dictionary as he “started copying what eventually became the entire dictionary” (Malcolm 1). As a eventually learned how to read, he learned about history and what was happening in the world, including the horrors of slavery. Malcolm X stated, “I knew right there in prison that reading had changed forever the course of my life” (1). This emphasizes Rousseau’s quote about how important education is and how it can be obtained through our surroundings. Malcolm X did not let his incarceration bring him down, but he let this event be an opportunity for him to grow more as a person. His self education achieved in the prison cell eventually led to him being a leading spokesman for black separatism, which sought for African Americans to cut ties with the white community.

Rousseau said that, “We are born weak, we need strength; helpless, we need aid; foolish, we need reason. All that we lack at birth, all that we need when we come to man’s estate, is the gift of education” (Rousseau 1). He claims that education provides us with strength, hence without it, we are weak.

Malcolm X had very low literacy skills before he went to prison. To everyone else, he was just another oppressed black man in a white-ruled society. He was unable to write strong, articulate letters, ”  I became increasingly frustrated at not being able to express what I wanted to convey in letters that I wrote, especially those to Mr. Elijah Muhammad. In the street, I had been the most articulate hustler out there. I had commanded attention when I said something. But now, trying to write simple English, I not only wasn’t articulate, I wasn’t even functional. How would I sound writing in slang, the way 1 would say it” (X 1). Basically, he was unable to convey his ideas.

This fueled his desire to learn. After studying the entire dictionary while in prison, he gained the ability to read and write, as well as the ability to articulate his thoughts. After becoming an educated man, he was then able to speak out against the oppression black-Americans were facing in society, and gain the support of many people nationwide. The way I see it, Malcolm X was always a strong man, but without any education, he could not put any of that strength to good use, until he became self-educated.

In The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, by Frederick Douglass, Douglass is a slave who yearns to learn how to read and obtain knowledge. However his first owner, Mr. Auld, stated, “If you teach that nigger (speaking of myself) how to read, there would be no keeping him. It would forever unfit him to be a slave. He would at once become unmanageable, and of no value to his master” (29). His emphasis on preventing Douglass from learning motivated Douglass to read even more. This mere drive and motivation led to his ultimate success, where he eventually escaped slavery.

The quote Mr. Auld stated relates to Black Shack Alley by Joseph Zobel. Although Jose wasn’t a slave like Douglass, he was a minority as well, under the oppression of white owners. Under the insistence of his grandmother, he goes to school to obtain an education. His grandma did this in order to prevent him from working on the fields as well, like the other young children.  Jose went to school and avoided working at the sugar cane fields, where he even achieved a scholarship because of his outstanding essay. Jose also stated this quote I found very meaningful: “Wasn’t the very act of reading a pleasure more substantial than that of playing or eating, for instance, even when one was starved?” (115). This shows just how important school is and how it can potentially lead to a positive road ahead of you. Both Douglass and Jose have their achievements due to them having an education and their desire to learn.