Malcolm X Novel Vs. Movie

In my opinion, Alex Haley’s novel and Spike Lee’s interpretation were both good representations of Malcolm X’s life and ideals. Both were very detailed and entertaining in their depiction. Alex Haley’s portrayal of Malcolm X’s life as told by Malcolm, shares the same perception as the movie, but what Alex provides in the book many of Malcolm’s various interactions with “white folks”, and each interaction Malcolm gained something from it, some positive while others negative. For Example, while in middle school, Malcolm is first in his class, and class representative. All is well, but when Malcolm confronts his English teacher and tells him he wants to be a lawyer, the English teacher sees him as a carpenter. From this situation, Malcolm realizes that whites are content with Blacks succeeding as long as it does not affect their order of society.

When Malcolm moves to Harlem he takes on the criminal life, participating in robberies and burglaries. He also began associating with white women, which was a crime at this time. Eventually he gets arrested and sentenced