A Comparison Of Tale Of Malcolm X And James Baldwin

The phrase ‘Coming of Age’ refers to the process of growing up or entering into adulthood. In these three coming of age tales of Barack Obama, Malcolm X and James Baldwin they all share a component in their lives with each other as they tell their tales of their dark pasts. Baldwin’s story is about how he becomes aware of himself and who he is as a person. Baldwin also shares a component with Obama because they both suffered from psychological loss of innocence of the protagonist between the ages of 10 to 20. The components Malcolm X has are both acquiring knowledge and he was accepting of the complexities and ‘greyness’ of the world.
Baldwin’s story is about how he becomes aware of himself and who he is as a person. James Baldwin never knew

who he was as a person he never had a sense of identity or belonging. He lacked a sense of home and the knowledge of where he came from. In ‘Meet the Author:James Baldwin’ he states, “I could see where I came from very clearly...” He began to understand where he came from and how his past gv ave him a sense of belonging. He also states, “...I carried myself which is my home with me.” He knew where his home was, he finally knew who he was in his heart and he’d finally realized that he couldn’t let anyone take that sense of home and belonging away from him. “The civil rights movement was hostile to homosexuals. The only known gay men in the movement were James Baldwin...” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Baldwin) James baldwin in his quest to find himself also aided in the quest of others finding themselves. He helped others find their sense of home and belonging. No matter the obstacles he’d faced helping others he did not allow those against him to take his home away from him and he helped many others realize that as well.
Baldwin also shares a component with Obama because they both suffered from psychological loss of innocence of the protagonist between the ages of 10 to 20. “Baldwin's novels and plays fictionalize fundamental personal questions and dilemmas amid complex social and psychological pressures thwarting the equitable integration not only of African Americans, but also of gay and bisexual men, while depicting some internalized obstacles to such individuals' quests for acceptance.”(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Baldwin) James Baldwin’s novels helped him portray this image of himself that only those who either knew him or understood his novels and could relate to him. His novels showed the acceptance that he wanted from his family, from his biological father and his stepfather. In ‘Meet the Author:James Baldwin’ he states, “...Baldwin never knew his biological father and had a strained relationship with his stepfather, a domineering, bitter man...” Baldwin’s stepfather was never accepting of him he always treated Baldwin and his family with such harshness that could take away one's innocence and make a one person in a crowd of people feel so alone because of his words and the power of truth that he held behind him. In Obama’s story on pages 3 and 26 he states, “He had left Hawaii back in 1963...Their stories didn’t tell me why he had left...my father became a prop to someone else’s narrative.” Obama had issues with his father which developed into abandoned Barack at a young age that took him a while to get over. Due to his dad’s absence he was never able to understand why he left. He waswas never able to know the real reason behind why his father had abandoned him and why his father left and never came back. Obama was left to wonder the reasons as to why his father had left him and his mother. Whether it was because his father had developed into this image of himself that he didn’t like or was it because his father had grown to love the image of himself that he’d begun to develop into and began to despise them because relieved they weren’t up to his personal standards.
Malcolm X’s coming age tale began with him acquiring knowledge.

In the tale of Malcolm X it states, “It really began back in the Charlestown Prison, when Bimbi first made me feel envy of his stock of knowledge.” While he was in prison he began to realize that as his friend Bimbi began to talk he and take control of conversations that he wasn’t as educated as he believed himself to be. Also he’d begun to realize that being dumb and uneducated isn’t as cool as it seems when you begin to have a conversations with those who’re more educated than you are. In his tory he also states, “...nearly all of the words that might as well have been in Chinese...I saw that the best thing I could do was get hold of s dictionary-to study, to learn some words.” He felt the need to acquire the knowledge due to the fact that he wanted to understand his friend and have the knowledge to hold a conversation with Bimbi. Malcolm X wanted to expand his knowledge and his vocabulary.“Under Bembry's influence, Little developed a voracious appetite for reading.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_X) His original goal for obtaining education as for the purpose of understanding hi friend Bimbi and due to that need to acquire more knowledge it lead to him discovering more about the complexities and ‘greyness’ along with the deafness and blindness that was affecting the people of America more specifically the black community in

America.
Malcolm X was accepting of the complexities and ‘greyness’ of the world.

In his tale Malcolm X states, “I saw how the white man never has one among the non-white peoples bearing the cross in the true manner and spirit of Christ’s teachings.” He began to realize that as he read more and learned more about the world that he began to see that although europeans bore the cross of Christ that they were ever really and truly christians they just developed this image of christians in order to have the ‘pagans’ convert to christianity. He also stated in his coming of age tale, “...with every additional book that I read, a little bit more sensitivity to the deafness, dumbness and blindness that is afflicting the black race in America.” He’d finally began to realize what the white community was doing to the people in the black communities whether they’re hispanic or african-american and his intention was to change what was

happening.
When you hear the phrase ‘Coming of Age’ you refer to a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult or even certain age at which this transition takes place changes in society, as does the nature of the change. It can even be referred to as a simple legal convention or can be part of a ritual or spiritual event, as practiced by many societies.These three coming of age tales tell the stories of Barack Obama, Malcolm X and James Baldwin along with how they all share a component within their lives with each other as they tell their tales of their dark pasts. These stories delve deeper into their pasts as they discover who they are and make their decisions as they transition from a young adult into adulthood. Baldwin’s story is about how he becomes aware of himself and who he is as a person and takes control of this identity that he has discovered for himself. Baldwin and Obama also share the component of a psychological loss of innocence of the protagonist between the ages of 10 to 20 because they both suffered from the lack of a steady father figure who was constantly present and caring in their lives. The components of Malcolm X derived from both his need to acquire more knowledge and due to his acquired knowledge he learned to be accepting of the complexities and ‘greyness’ in the world as it began surrounding him.