The definition of freedom is having the power to speak, act, and do anything, without anyone or anything stopping them. Through literature, Malcolm X feels like he can accomplish the world. Literature isn’t just about reading, it’s about understanding the words and seeing how powerful they are.

When Malcolm saw how intelligent and powerful Bimbi was, he envied him and tried to match his intelligence. Malcolm hated the idea of being ignorant, so he wanted to learn how to read and write. He would spend hours reading the dictionary and writing words down. Through his motivation, he learned how to read books. Now that Malcolm understands what he is reading, he is fascinated with books. Malcolm states that reading has changed his life. “I knew right there in prison that reading had changed forever the course of my life.” [Malcolm X]. Through reading, he feels empowered and sees the world differently. Malcolm spent the majority of his time in prison reading books and felt like he wasn’t even in prison. Malcolm states, “…never had been so truly free in my life”. He had all the time to read and have no worries about what was going on in the real world. Through Literature Malcolm was able to feel free even though he was in prison, all the books he read and the words he learned gave him this power to understand the world around him. This goes to show how literature can change the way you view something and how words can make such an impact on you.

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