He gazed at me a long time as if I were a slot machine into which he had, without results, dropped a nickel" . What does the simile reveal about the exchange between the two characters? Help

While in prison, malcolm's introduction to the elijah muhammad's teachings forces him to reflect on his own past experiences. why do those experiences persuade him to join the nation of islam? what, in malcolm's experiences, draws him to an activism more militant than the nonviolent activism of martin luther king jr?