Malcom X - By All Means Necessary

Malcolm X

By All Means Necessary

A Biography by Walter Dean Myers

By All Means Necessary 

Summary
By All Means Necessary is a biography of American Civil Rights activist Malcolm X. The book discusses every aspect of how Malcolm rose to become such an influential figure during the 1960's and 70's. From his roots as the son of a prominent African-American Rights Activist to his rise as the head of the Nation of Islam, Myers touches upon Malcolm's journey of self discovery in a society where people of coloured skin were seen as second class citizens.

Malcolm's Parents
Louise Little and Earl Little

Malcolm X, born Malcolm Little, was the youngest of a family of 5 living in the American South. As a child, Malcolm's family was active in the fight for African-American civil rights. His father, Earl Little, was a prominent Christian Preacher and Activist who also followed of the teachings of Marcus Garvey. This made him and his family a target of racism. The Little family was forced to move frequently due to racism from neighbours and it even went as far as the family having to watch their house burn down in the middle of the night.

During his young adult life he moved to Boston and frequently visited other large American cities such as New York and Philadelphia. It was in these cities that he developed knowledge of "the street" and eventually ran into trouble with the police. He was caught in a house robbery and served eight years of his ten year sentence. It was during his time in prison that he decided to enlighten his mind and was eventually introduced to the "Nation of Islam". It is through this organization that he developed his leadership skill and  became the well known Civil Rights Activist that he is today.

Malcolm X with Eli Muhammad
Head of the Nation of Islam

With the guidance of his mentor, Eli Muhammed, he was able to influence hundreds of thousands of African Americans to join the Nation of Islam and fight for equality. Even though some may disagree with the methods and principles he proposed as to which equality could be attained, it is no question that he is one of the most influential pioneers of African American Civil Rights in the United States.

Malcolm X with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Writing Style
Myers' writing style is simple and easy to digest. He is able to summarize major events into only three or four pages, choosing only the most significant aspects of the story to include within the text. He also uses the odd black and white picture to depict some of the people or events that he describes within his writing.
The book is written in a Third-Person narrative where Myers chronologically states the events of Malcolm X's life. From his childhood in the U.S. Mid-West to his assassination in 1965, Myers is able to retell the major steps in Malcolm X's life.

Effectiveness

By All Mean Necessary effectively retells the journey of Malcolm X's rise to influentially during the period of American Civil Rights. The book does an excellent job of giving just enough detail that the reader can grasp the main idea of the text while keeping it brief and concise. It is structured chronologically and touches upon only the most significant events of Malcolm X's life. Myers effectively references other activists and major events of the time that any reader reader would be able to relate to.

Rating
I would give this book a rating of 3.5 out of 5. I would recommend it to another person in my age group because it discusses the obstacles that the pioneers of African-American Civil Rights faced so that we could live in the equal, yet imperfect, society that we live in today. It gives the readers a glimpse of how life as second class citizens in the United States felt like. It allows readers to see how the origins of the issues of racism and inequality amongst African Americans came about and enables them to connect these issues with the racial injustices that are prevalent in the media today.

Bias
I chose to read this book because I wanted to know about the man behind the infamous name of Malcolm X. I did not know anything about him other than the fact that he fought for the civil rights of African Americans during the same time period as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.. My goal for this book was to learn as much as I could about the a man who has always been shrouded in mystery in my eyes. The only personal bias that I have is my interest in learning about the civil rights movements of several nations and the revolutions that followed suit.

Walter Dean Myers was alive during the time period where Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam were quickly gaining momentum. He lived minutes away from Harlem, the heart of African American culture in New York City. He was able to see first hand the issues that Malcolm X tackled, the many speeches and debates that he was a part of, and he was also able to see the decline of the man who once had tremendous influence over thousands of individuals. He could have very easily added some of his own commentary about Malcolm X in his writing, however, I was not able to see any bias coming from the author anywhere in the text. Myers did an excellent job in stating only the facts about Malcolm X and refrained from using any personal biases that he may have had.

Author Influences

Walter Dean Myers
Author of By All Means Necessary 

Walter Dean Myers was an African-American non-fiction writer. He was born in August 1937 and recently passed away in July of last year. He was alive during the time of the American Civil Rights Movement and lived in Manhattan, New York, minutes away from Harlem, the borough where Malcolm X and most other African Americans lived. Myers was able to experience first hand the racial injustices that were described within the book. He was also able to see first hand the works of the Civil Rights Activists of his day. Myers' background in the non-fiction and young adult fiction genres allows him to skillfully retell the life of Malcolm X whilst keeping his writing interesting and concise.

Connections

Malcolm X giving his famous speech
"By All Means Necessary"

By All Means Necessary touches upon several real-world issues that can still be seen in our society today. Racial segregation, racial profiling and unjust imprisonment are just a few of the issues that are mentioned in the book. Racism was extremely prominent in the United States for hundreds of years. Many notable activist have fought against this grave injustice and Malcolm X is one that who is notable because of his extreme stance on the topic. Though some may not agree with his principles, his goals of abolishing racial injustices is widely accepted. He fought for the equal treatment of African-Americans within the United States.
It is true that over the past few decades, there have been major strides in the issue of equality in the United States, however, some of the injustices that were present in 1960's can still be seen in our so-called "forward thinking" society today. A slew of recent protests turned riots in the United States have too frequently been recurring headlines in the news. Names such as Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown have become household names. The stories of their questionable deaths are hot topics amongst the news and social media. Movements such as #BlackLivesMatter, the Ferguson Protests and the Baltimore Protests are the results of people fighting for their deaths and many are once again questioning the racial equality in the United States. Even though events such as these are unfortunate, they begin a conversation on topics that are too often pushed aside and they bring awareness to masses about the injustices that are still alive today.

Messenger

Messenger by Lois Lory

The second book of The Giver Series 

Summary

It is lead by a man name Leader, the original founder of Village. It takes place about five to ten years after the ending of Gathering Blue. Matty is now an adolescent male living with Kira's father, a blind man named Seer. He has matured and has been appointed the role of Messenger within Village, carrying notes and memo's that are to be relayed from one person to another.

Leader's arrival to Village as a young man

As the story progresses, Village's welcoming and friendly atmosphere slowly begins to fade away as the darkness within the people of Village slowly reveal themselves. At an event known a Trade Mart, goods are usually traded for other goods by the Village people. Recently, however, the Trade Mart has become a place where secrets are traded and valued more than goods. The people of Village slowly begin to become affected by the darkness that Trade Mart has brought. 

People start becoming more selfish and a petition regarding the closure of Village to newcomers is brought up by Mentor. After a Village-wide meeting, the petition is granted and work to close of Village begins. Seer realizes that he only has a limited amount of time to get his daughter to move to Village before it closes its doors for good. He sends Matty to the weeklong journey to persuade Kira to come to Village. Leader gets word of Matty's journey and uses his gift to try and connect with Kira. When Leader uses his gift of seeing Beyond to see Kira's village, he points out that Forest is beginning to thicken and is becoming more hostile, even to Matty who it has never been affected by Forest's attacks. He sends off Matty wishing him well secretly knowing that Forest is preparing to destroy him and Kira on their way back. The novel concludes with the perils that the pair had to overcome to be able to get through Forest. 

Writing Style

Similar to The Giver and Gathering Blue, Lois Lowry once again incorporates a distinct use of language in the third novel of The Giver Quartet, Messenger. An example of this would be certain places, events or objects being called what they are, without the use of the word "the". For example, the village where Matty lives is referred to simply as Village, not The Village. The forest surrounding Village is known as, Forest and not The Forest. It is the same case with the "Gaming Machine", "Beyond" and "Trade Mart".In the third instalment of Lois Lowry's The Giver Quartet, the story is focused on Matty, the young male companion of Kira in the series' previous book, Gathering Blue. The story is set in Village, a place where people from all over the region are welcome and where their differences are celebrated. It is a sanctuary for all individuals seeking a new beginning. A place where they can forget about the trials and tribulations of their previous homes and establish a new life free from worry and fear. A place where no secrets are kept and people aren't afraid to be who they really are.

Another example of Lorwy’s distinct writing style would be the practice of giving true names. In Village, once an individual is deemed of age, they are given their “true name”, reflecting their personality or role within the community. Jean's father is known as Mentor because he is the teacher of community. Kira's father was given the name Seer because despite his physical blindness, he is able to see through people and interpret them for who they truly are. These names are given to the people of Village by Leader after years of being observed by his watchful eyes and their ability to see Beyond. 

The Giver Quartet, a four-part
 book series by Lois Lowry

Effectiveness

The novel's effectiveness is greatly tarnished by its many supernatural aspects. Throughout the entire Giver Series, the common issues of dystopian societies are touched upon. In each novel, there is also the presence of gifts or specific powers possessed by certain individuals. I found that Messenger contains the most supernatural aspects of all of the four novels in the series. The other three are terrific examples of dystopian literature that is both realistic and exciting to read. Messenger is quite an exciting book to read with all of the obstacles that duo faces within Forest but the realism is not present. I cannot picture  It may be just my opinion but I find that the focus on the gifts of Leader, Kira and Matty take away from the overall effectiveness of the novel.

Evaluating Bias

As a young man Leader was known as
Jonas, the protagonist of The Giver

I am able to make connections and deduce conclusions that other readers may not because of the fact that I have now read three of the four novels of The Giver Quartet. An example of this would be when Leader is introduced in the novel Messenger. The narrator describes him as a middle aged man with blue eyes who arrived to Village in a sled when he was just a young man. He came from a place where his people's feeling were suppressed by their leaders and he has the gift of seeing Beyond. This information is enough for me to be able to realize that Leader is the same character as Jonas, the protagonist in the first novel, The Giver. 

Rating

I give Lois Lowry's Messenger a rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars. The novel is a great read regardless of the rating, however, some aspects of the novel made it, in my opinion, less enjoyable than it could have been. The novel's increase in supernatural behaviour and vagueness of important topics are the major factors as to why I gave Messenger a rating of 3.5 out of 5.

One of the aspects that I am referring to is the more pronounced presence of the supernatural within the novel. The personification of Forest and it's destructive nature do not do the novel any favours in my opinion. The fact that Forest is able to control on demand the foliage and the climate within its ecosystem make the novel less serious and take away it's validity as a piece of dystopian literature and makes it seem more like a teen-fiction novel.

Another factor that led to my 3.5 rating of the novel is the vagueness that surrounds Trade Mart. The novel speaks about how Trade Mart used to be a jolly place of commerce where one person's goods are traded for another's. It also touched upon how it has changed over the years and became a place where "secrets are traded". When Matty participates in Trade Mart himself, he states that there are no longer any goods, rather Trademaster stands on stage with a booklet of paper and one by one people whisper what they want and what they are willing to trade it for. The novel doesn't really specify how or what people trade for their new possessions or in Mentor's case, physical enhancements. I find that the vagueness of such a prominent topic within the novel is a mistake on the author's behalf and it leaves some readers having to guess about what really occurs at Trade Mart and why it has such a great effect on Village.

I give Messenger a rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Author's Influences

Lois Lowry, author of Messenger

Lois Lowry is known for her Newbery Award winning novel, The Giver. Though she has written a few novels, she mostly authors children's stories. This may be the reason as to why she included the aspect of gifts to certain characters within The Giver Quartet. Her roots in writing children stories may have led her to include a somewhat magical aspect to her novels. The supernatural powers of Leader, Kira and Matty would appeal to a younger audience. The significance of their gifts is especially prominent in Messenger because it is the force that saves the protagonists from imminent death and brings for the falling action of the story. These supernatural forces attract a broader, though younger audience, even though they may detract from the realism and seriousness of the story.

Connections

The novel touches upon the darkness inside of everybody. People act a certain way because they choose to. Deep inside every individual there are evil desires. These desires rarely seem to rear their ugly heads, however, they are present and may sometimes influence an individuals' actions. Lust, greed, envy and pride are just some examples of the natural evils within every human being.

Messenger points out that civilization is just a thin veil that can easily be removed once people's desires cloud their judgement. The once blissful and welcoming Village was easily diluted by the secrets and ill intentions shared at Trade Mart. Once the people's desires for materialistic goods, physical beauty and selfish views towards Village's resources began to outweigh their desire to help the Newcomers, Village's sense of community began to fall apart. Mentor's desire and lust for Stocktender's wife distracted him from his love of teaching. Ramon's gloating about his parent's newly acquired Gaming Machine led to his prolonged sickness. The people's decision to close off Village to Newcomers is rooted in the selfishness that they have within them. These evil desires were felt by Forest and they led to its "thickening" and the perilous journey of Matty and Kira through Forest.