After Malcom X learned to read and write in the Charlestown Prison he said he “never had been so truly free in his life”. By this, Malcom X had achieved something he had never done before. When he says he is free, he is portraying knowledge and new understanding, something he was never exposed to out of prison. For Malcom X, his journey with self taught reading and writing allowed him to explore more in literacy and writing. Malcom X says, “I suppose it was inevitable that as my word-base broadened, I could for the first time pick up a book and read and now begin to understand what the book was saying”. He was able grasp the understanding of words and sentences instead of just picking up words that seemed familiar. Malcom X felt free because he was learning, not only was he able to find a hobby but he was able to use it as a way of escape from reality. He was so fascinated and intrigued about his new academic growth that it made him realize how lost he was, reading and writing changed his life forever. He was able to acknowledge the importance of books, authors and writers despite being incarcerated. Nevertheless he took what he learned and made an impression of himself out of it. There is irony that an incarcerated individual would feel free, but Malcom X by saying he feels free is emphasizing the accessibility and acknowledgement he once didn’t have. What he learned was out of reach to him as some point and with dedication he was able to gain freedom and openness to literacy. This narrative suggest that literature can give a person freedom by exposing them to new material, new language, and new understandings.

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