Review of The Autobiography of Malcolm X, by Malcolm X and Alex Haley

Ragged Dick: Or, Street Life in New York with the Boot Blacks, by Horatio Alger

Reviewed by Bruce Lesh

Many characteristics describe adolescent students, but none as prominent as change. Physically, emotionally, and intellectually middle and high school students are constantly transforming. Although these transitions often present challenges for the classroom teacher, they also bestow a tremendous opportunity to connect students to one of the most dynamic forces in history: change. In many instances, literature—often seen as the exclusive purview of English teachers—can facilitate students’ investigation into a personality, time period, or idea and strengthen their understanding of the forces transforming the landscape of the past. Two books, one fiction, another non-fiction, allow students to investigate a time period in history through the lens of dynamic characters undergoing personal transitions, thus connecting the transforming teenager to the past.

Any of the more than 100 novels written by Horatio Alger provide insight into the power of change as an historical force. On such choice is Ragged Dick: Or, Street Life in New York with the Boot Blacks. Through the eyes of a young bootblack, students are quickly drawn into turn of the twentieth century industrial and urbanized New York City. Dick, a poor, uneducated, down-on-his-luck orphan, traverses the social and economic difficulties of the emerging American metropolis. The temptations of gambling, stealing, drinking, and intemperate language (all issues confronted by teenagers today) are placed in the context of the time period. In addition, the novel provides some texture for the political, economic, and social realities of the newly industrial America. Issues such as child labor, immigration, the Protestant work ethic, urbanization, industrialization, and even the accuracy of the “The Gilded Age” as a title for the time period can be explored through the fictional adventures of the novel’s hero.

Set almost one hundred years after the travails of Ragged Dick, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, presents students with another opportunity to explore the transformation of one of the most dynamic figures of the rights revolutions of the mid-twentieth century. The protagonist’s transition from Malcolm Little, to Detroit Red, and from Malcolm X to el-Haijj Malik el-Shabazz allows students to witness the impact of the intersection of race and class in post-World War Two America. The tangible impact of racism, both de jure and de facto, move from the sometime generalized classroom examples to the flesh and bones of Malcolm X.

Both books are extremely readable and lend themselves to division into sections for more reluctant readers. After reading the respective portions of either book, students can create timelines of the beliefs, actions, accomplishments, and challenges faced by both characters during each phase of their life. These timelines can be created on butcher block paper, overhead sheets, or notebook paper. Deeper examination of these historical sources can be achieved by analyzing the degree to which both sources reflect the realities of the past. Dick’s transformation from street urchin to respectability allows students to investigate the concepts of class and social mobility, and can be contrasted with the lives of Andrew Carnegie or John D. Rockefeller. Utilizing statistics on social mobility and job distribution changes, elected conclusions drown from Robert Lynd’s Middletown: A Study in Modern American Culture, Stephan Ternstrom’s Poverty and Progress: Social Mobility in a Nineteenth Century City, or Herbert Gutman’s article “The Reality of the Rags-to-Riches Myth: The Case of the Paterson, New Jersey, Locomotive, Iron and Machinery Manufacturers” students can compare the rise of Ragged Dick to the historical realities of the time period. In contrast, the life of Malcolm X, allows students to draw conclusions about the manner in which he has been depicted by Hollywood, how he should be remembered historically, and the relationship between the Black Power Movement and the efforts of the non-violent element of the Civil Rights Movement as exemplified by Martin Luther King, Jr.

Novels, often ignored because of their length, placement in the English/Language Arts curricula, or teacher unfamiliarity, are outstanding sources for historical investigations. By facilitating not simply reading, but evaluation of the book as an historical source, students are pushed to expand their knowledge of a particular event, person, idea, or time period, and to broaden their utilization of historical thinking skills. Both Ragged Dick and the Autobiography of Malcolm X invite students’ interest and provide the flexibility necessary in order to utilize a source with a variety of students.

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