The relationship between literature and freedom that the narrative suggests is that they both go hand in hand, It served as a form of escapism to Malcolm from his current situation. While incarcerated he decided to take it upon himself to learn how to read, with all his free time available Malcolm’s curiosity blossomed. He started by learning words individually through the dictionary, he began writing the words down and constantly repeating back to himself until he grasped the meaning completely. Slowly, Malcolm was making progress and once he realized the tool that literature could give him he felt a sense of awakening from all he’s ever known. As Malcolm claims “I knew there in prison that reading had changed my forever the course of my life” as he began to absorb knowledge it was almost as he had been liberated from his years of ignorance as what he learned everyday could be applied to his own life and even guide him as a black man through the obstacles set in place for a black person. Malcolm describes it as “ with every additional book that I read, a little more sensitivity to the deafness…that was affecting the black race in America.” That’s why despite the irony of being locked up in a cell with no connection to the outside world his only glimpse of the real world was literature. It had offered Malcolm all those years of education he had missed out on becoming  a sponge of knowledge because of it, something that couldn’t be taken away from him despite losing his freedom.