Compare Malcolm X And Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass tells the story of his pursuit of knowledge in “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave,” and Malcolm X explains his own change in “Learning to Read.” Throughout the courses of their development as readers and writers, Douglass and Malcolm X discover their personal motivation to learn and explore methods to obtain self-education, and once it is achieved, they reflect on what literacy opens up for them.
Even though these men grow up in different situations, they both had dirty hands, and somewhere along the way, they discover the inherent power in the mastery of language and begin to pursue an education in order to obtain said power. Douglass figures this out at a younger age than Malcolm X, when his master scolds his mistress after she was caught teaching him to read and write, and the exchange enlightens Douglass with the realization that “the white man’s power to enslave the black man” is linked to the white man’s superior knowledge (33). He brings it upon himself to continue his education despite being prohibited from learning as he deems this the only way to freedom, and furthermore, equality. Malcolm X has a different approach to this insight, but, nonetheless, he ends up at a similar conclusion: Knowledge will give him the ability to assume control of a situation and to influence others with his words—not only spoken, but written as well. It is a fellow prison inmate, Bimbi, who first inspires Malcolm X. “. . . Bimbi [ ] made me feel envy of his stock of knowledge,” Malcolm X expresses. “[He] had always taken charge of any conversations he was in . . .” (1). Through Bimbi, by failing to imitate what the inmate did, Malcolm X finds his motivation to become literate. The education process that these men undergo is one of their larger differences. Malcolm X is provided with everything he needs in order to educate himself, and he conforms to the prison’s correctional intentions by doing so. Fascinated by the expansive collection of words bound together, he copies “what eventually became the entire dictionary” to increase his vocabulary, and when he finishes, he explores the prison library, which has a unique collection of books that “[a]ny college library would have been lucky to get. . .” (2). In the eyes of the prison, Douglass, …show more content…
Instead of allowing this to put an end to his learning, Douglass uses the concept to fuel his commitment to educating himself. At a young age, he figures out ways of manipulating the world around him in order to further his own education, despite both his master and his mistress forbidding him to become any more literate than he already was. To continue learning how to read, Douglass uses the spare time from quickly completed errands to befriend the white boys in the streets, and with a bribery of bread, he “convert[s] [them] into teachers” (38). Over time, these lessons provide him with enough education to read and comprehend texts, and he decides to move on and learn to write. After familiarizing himself with a few letters in a ship-yard, Douglass challenges any well written boy he knows to see who can write better, and though the boys knew they were going to win, they did not know they were helping Douglass obtain the lessons he was banned from