Malcolm Little

Malcolm Little is the narrator and main character of X: A Novel. This character is based on the author's father, Malcolm X, and the novel spans the years of 1930 to 1948 while Malcolm is 5 to 23 years old. Malcolm has seven brothers and sisters. He is closest to his brother Reginald. During Malcolm's childhood in Lansing, Michigan, several formative events define his life. His father, Earl Little, is murdered by the Ku Klux Klan, and his mother, Louise Little, is institutionalized, seemingly because she is an outspoken racial activist. He is then chastised and disrespected by a teacher when he expresses his ambition to become a lawyer. These incidents result in Malcolm feeling fatalistically defined by his race, believing that he has no potential for legitimate success in his life. Malcolm is intelligent, but he chooses to pursue a life of crime instead of an education because he does...