This narrative suggests that the relationship between literature and freedom is that they both have to do with ignorance. Without knowledge of literature many are portrayed as ignorant. Ignorance avoids freedoms. Malcolm X feels as though he was free from ignorance while being in jail due to the amount of free time he had in his hands to learn and study. He had the ability to invest his time into literature. The books he read give him more knowledge and more freedom in a sense. The more he read, the more free he was. “Literacy Behind bars” states “Where else but in a prison could I have attacked my ignorance by being able to study intensely sometimes as much as fifteen hours a day.”  Malcolm X was battling the white man. Malcolm X wanted to just his studies to help the next black man. To pass on the “freedom” that he attacked his ignorance with, which was literature. Malcolm X talks about real world distractions. He explains that we have our freedoms taken away for use because of the many distractions in this world. Bening isolated in his prison cell made him think, read, and study. Reading for about fifteen hours a day, he would only sleep four to six hours each night. Prison changed Malcolms view of everything. Although he was away he was away studying to understand texts that he didnt understand before. He studied words he never said before. Malcolm X influenced the world and he showed many that knowledge is the key to freedom. To know what is on paper is knowing what you are most capable of.