Malcolm X

At the beginning of the book, it was obvious how Malcolm was treated as if he was an empty shell of a person. He wasn't appreciated as a fellow human being although people didn't openly degrade him like they did other African Americans. But as he lived his early life around those people, I felt like underneath it all, all the feelings of unappreciation were being bottled up inside him. Even from his childhood, the effects of racism were beating down on him, leading him to let feelings of resentment, frustration, irritation and unsatisfaction build up inside. I think those feelings all exploded when he started drinking, doing drugs, and going out with women, especially when he met Sophia. His behavior with Sophia seemed exactly like how white people were treating him. She wasn't really an actual person to him, just a tool he used to burst out all the emotions that had built up in him because of white people like her. It's like he was being a hypocrite, but not exactly. Being a hypocrite is playing two opposite roles, usually one in a certain situation, the other in a different one. But what Malcolm was wasn't exactly a hypocrite, it was rather his way of getting back at the white race by lashing out on them the pain they caused him. It was his method of rebellion towards them, and also himself. The pressure from the whites led him to selfdislike and shame, causing him to act like his bullies.