Ella Little - Characters, The Autobiography Of Malcolm X | The Autobiography of Malcolm X -Summary, Themes & Characters - Novels PDF Download

You might think that the most influential woman in Malcolm X's life would be his wife, but you would be wrong. No other woman is depicted as positively, powerfully, or lovingly as Ella Little. That might seem a little strange, but we get it. She's kind of the ultimate big sister.

We Littles Got To Stick Together

Ella appears on the scene after Malcolm and his siblings have already become wards of the state. As soon as she appears, she obviously steps into the mother figure role for Malcolm. He describes her:

Ella asked all kinds of questions about how I was doing; she had already heard from Wilfred and Hilda about my election as class president. She asked especially about my grades, and I ran and got my report cards. I was then one of the three highest in the class. Ella praised me. (2.52)

That might seem like the most boring and basic conversation to you, but you have to remember that Malcolm doesn't have any parents at this point. Who is there to ask about his grades? Who praises him for his high marks? Probably no one besides Ella.

When Malcolm moves to Boston, she doesn't just become a symbolic mother figure but an actual one because she manages to change the conditions of Malcolm's custody. She always wants the best for him, and treats him more like a child than a friend. It's because of her that he gets to go to Harlem, and because of her that he moves to Detroit after he gets out of jail. She's constantly looking out for him, and whenever Malcolm thinks of his family she is the first name to pop up.

If you wanted any more proof that she treats Malcolm just like a mother, look no further than the moment he wants to go to Mecca. He says:

I took a plane to Boston. I was turning again to my sister Ella. Though at times I'd made Ella angry at me, beneath it all, since I had first come to her as a teen-aged hick from Michigan, Ella had never once really wavered from my corner. "Ella," I said, "I want to make the pilgrimage to Mecca." Ella said, "How much do you need?" (16.185)

Yeah, we're pretty sure no one else (not even his best friends or Elijah Muhammad) would have given him the money without even blinking an eye. That's real love right there.

The Only Respectable Woman

Considering how influential she is in his life, it's kind of strange that Malcolm X doesn't praise Ella as much as he praises Elijah Muhammad. She has transformed him just as much, if not more so, than Mr. Muhammad.

Ella is the reason why Malcolm gets out of Michigan to begin with. She's also the reason why he gets transferred to the nice prison where he's able to read and participate in debate. She keeps him out of trouble by making him go to Detroit instead of Boston when he's released. And as we said before, she gives him the money to go to Mecca, which leads to the final transformation in his life.

Yet, Elijah Muhammad gets all the props. And we're pretty sure we know the reason. Ella is a woman.

If you check out the "Character Analysis" of Laura, Sophia, and Sister Betty X, you'll see that Malcolm doesn't have the best track record when it comes to women. He believes that they are naturally weak and need to be smacked around every now and again. Ella, on the other hand, is always described as a strong person. Malcolm says:

A strong woman. She had broken the spirits of three husbands, more driving and dynamic than all of them combined. She had played a very significant role in my life. No other woman ever was strong enough to point me in directions; I pointed women in directions. (17.9)

But we guess that's not enough to make her as awesome as Elijah Muhammad.

We guess that Malcolm even knew her gender was holding her back. He says: "But I always had the feeling that Ella somehow admired my rebellion against the world, because she, who had so much more drive and guts than most men, often felt stymied by having been born female" (9.33). So he acknowledges that the world is a more difficult place for women than for men to gain respect. Yet, despite being a champion for black people's rights, Malcolm seems to fall into the same old thoughts about women (Ella included) as everyone else.