Simile, Metaphor, and Foreshadowing
Simile and Metaphor
You know, Malcolm X wasn't considered one of the greatest and most influential writers of all time for nothing. There's a reason why people reacted to his words. Besides his fiery delivery of speeches against the oppression of African Americans, he was definitely a guy who knew how to utilize his literary tools.
Think about his audience. Just like him, the majority of the people that Malcolm X spoke to came from poor and under-educated backgrounds. How was he supposed to teach them complicated sociological concepts and keep them entertained at the same time? The answer is simile and metaphor. He employed these techniques in his speeches, so it's no surprise that they show up in his autobiography.
Often, he takes an example from his life on the streets and translates it into an example of the racial oppression of African Americans. He says:
This was my first lesson about gambling: if you see somebody winning all the time, he isn't gambling, he's cheating. Later on in life, if I were continuously losing in any gambling situation, I would watch very closely. It's like the Negro in America seeing the white man win all the time. He's a professional gambler; he has all the cards and the odds stacked on his side, and he has always dealt to our people from the bottom of the deck. (1.70)
See how it went from a story about gambling into an example of how African Americans are discriminated against? Many people in his audience probably could identify with the first part of his simile, and so they would be able to grasp the message behind the second part.
Malcolm does the same thing with metaphors. He writes:
We were "state children," court wards; he had the full say-so over us. A white man in charge of a black man's children! Nothing but legal, modern slavery—however kindly intentioned. (1.97)
Again, by calling attention to how similar two seemingly different things are, Malcolm helps his readers understand a more complex idea by comparing it with something they are probably already familiar with. Pretty smart move.
Foreshadowing
This last aspect of the writing style in The Autobiography of Malcolm X is actually kind of creepy. Did you notice that Malcolm is constantly talking about how he's going to die? Like from the first chapter. Here, we have proof:
And my father was finally himself to die by the white man's hands. It has always been my belief that I, too, will die by violence. I have done all that I can to be prepared. (1.2)
All of that talk of death constantly reminds us of one thing: his assassination.
We can't be sure why Malcolm X wanted to emphasize the possibility of his death, but Alex Haley has a pretty good incentive. It would make readers of the autobiography think about Malcolm as a martyr who died for his cause. Whether or not that's true, it's how Malcolm X has been written into history.