Narrator Point of View - Analysis, The Autobiography Of Malcolm X | The Autobiography of Malcolm X -Summary, Themes & Characters - Novels PDF Download

First Person (Central Narrator) 

There's no doubt about it, no one but Malcolm X could be telling this story. The narration is first person, and almost feels like Malcolm X is sitting in a chair in front of us telling us his life story. For example:

I remember well how my mother asked me why I couldn't be a nice boy like Wilfred; but I would think to myself that Wilfred, for being so nice and quiet, often stayed hungry. So early in life, I had learned that if you want something, you had better make some noise. (1.26)

In this story about his childhood, Malcolm X draws both on his past and his present understanding. Instead of trying to tell his life story as if he were a character in a novel, he tells it as you would expect any normal person to tell it. So we get the feeling that this is the absolute truth.

Only one problem. Malcolm X is not sitting in front of us telling this story. He’s sitting in front of Alex Haley, 50 times, for two or three hours at a time. We only have the illusion that this is a whole coherent story. Now, why would Haley do that? Think about it, if you read The Autobiography of Malcolm X, you want it to be something primarily written by him. That's what makes it an autobiography. But we're pretty sure that Alex Haley had more than a little role in the creation of this book.

So as you read Malcolm X's story, remember that the choice of the first-person central narrator is a very deliberate one. When you remember that, how does it change your understanding of the story?