Book Review On Long Walk to freedom Written By NELSON MANDELA (Part 6-11)

 1. Introduction

“Long Walk to Freedom” is the 1994 autobiography of Nelson Mandela, detailing his ascent from an anti-apartheid activist and Robben Island-jailed terrorist, to ANC leader and a cultural icon. The only memoir published during Mandela’s life, the book is a testament to the greatness of the first black president of South Africa.

In this autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, South African freedom fighter and author Nelson Mandela describes his trajectory from a Xhosa boy in a small village in the Transkei, to a revolutionary anti-apartheid resistance fighter, to a political prisoner held for 27 years in prison, and finally to South Africa’s first black President. 

1.1 About the book "Long Walk to Freedom"

The book "Long Walk to Freedom" was published in 1994 and portrays Nelson Mandela's autobiography from the day he was born to the date of his inauguration as president of South Africa in 1994. All these 76 years are described on the basis of his memoirs, reminiscent of important events with an incredible wealth of details.

There are also details about his life, education and the moments in which he remained in prison. In addition, it portrays the political advance and the arduous struggle to rebuild the segregated society of the country, causing him to gain international recognition.

All the content is very light and pleasant, causing an approximation and engagement of the reader.

1.3 Key Facts About the Text of Long Walk to Freedom

There are total 11 parts and 115 sub-parts in the book. Before going into the details of the themes and linguistic devices used by Nelson Mandela, the key facts about the text of Long Walk to Freedom were collected through the use of Concordancer AntConc.

1.4 Main theme of the book

The lesson pays tribute to those black heroes and patriots who waged a relentless struggle against the apartheid or the racist regime of South Africa. Nelson Mandela gives a message of peace and unity to mankind. He foresees a new regime that will be based on the equality of men and women. He hopes that in the new regime there will be no exploitation of man by man. There will be no room for racialism and segregation in the new order.

Ø  The lesson pays tribute to those black heroes and patriots who waged a relentless struggle against the apartheid or the racist regime of South Africa.

Ø   Nelson Mandela gives a message of peace and unity of mankind.

Ø   He foresees a new regime that will be based on the equality of men and women.

Ø   He hopes that in the new regime there will be no exploitation of man by man.

Ø   There will be no room for racialism and segregation in the new order.

Ø   Freedom from racism is the central theme of the lesson.

1.5 Importance, significance and relevance of the book

The word “Long” in the title shows the struggle, hardship and sacrifices made by these freedom fighters against the apartheid regime. The adjective in the title “long” signifies many connotations attached with the word as it hits clearly towards the efforts and suffering he endured in his slow ‘walk’ towards freedom. It stretches the journey of life into a long span of time.

The Significance of the title–Long: Time and Space: The adjective in the title “long” signifies many connotations attached with the word as it hits clearly towards the efforts and suffering the nation endured in its slow ‘walk’ towards freedom. It stretches the journey of life into long span of time. It implicates his attitude and philosophy towards life. “It was during those long and lonely years that my hunger for the freedom of my own people became a hunger for the freedom of all people.” (P-751). Freedom didn’t come that easily to Nelson Mandela and South Africa, it wasn’t revolution which happened in a short span of time but it was a prolonged journey. He says, “I have walked that long road to freedom” (P-752). The autobiography of Nelson Mandela is not just a book of fascinating story but it is the epic story of the man and nation who attained their common goal of freedom and justice. The story told by the subject itself is not only fascinating but also very true and realistic. The story of the struggle is the central theme of the autobiography. It doesn’t remain personal story but goes on to become a document of struggle and humanism. (Shinde, 2018). An epic of an individual's and a nation's struggle to bring an end to the discriminatory and dehumanizing practices of the apartheid regime, the book should be of interest to persons in diverse fields. I found information in the areas of human diversity, human behavior and the social environment, and micro-social work practice. There is abundant material for those interested in social policy, legislation, and community organization as well. His view of the white man as a benefactor becomes a view of the white man as an oppressor.

1.6 Biasness of the author

He talked to many Africans without proper education, who contained more knowledge and better social skills than many Africans with education. 

But, he still persisted in acquiring his B. A. Wits University brought his life to new extents. He was also talking to Indians, Colored, and whites for the first time in his life and Becoming friends with many more prominent African individuals.

Nelson Mandela in his book, Long Walk to Freedom argues through the first five parts that a black individual must deal, coop, and grow through a society that is hindering their lives with apartheid and suppression of their rightful land. 

For all that it contained, also notable was the lack of inclusion of some of Winnie's involvement in less-than-savory activities. But Mandela glossed it over without a detailed description, and attributed it to her basically "falling in with a bad crowd." It is possible to love someone while acknowledging their faults, but here they seem to be ignored in favor of, "She was my wife and stood by me while I was imprisoned, so how can I not support her in turn?"

There were places where it seemed to drag. The beginning was dry as it dealt with histories of different tribes and Mandela's own inauspicious early childhood. There were times he described meeting people for the first time, and went into in-depth descriptions of where they attended school and what degrees they had. It can be assumed he did this to show that the other men involved in the struggle against apartheid were educated men, not "commoners," but it felt forced and inauthentic.

Mandela was also suspicious of Whites’ intent, particularly White Communists, who he believed “were intent on taking over our movement in the guise of joint action” (p. 108). He also had an Africentric skepticism of the relevance of Marxist analysis to the African liberation struggle. His belief at this time in his life was that “it was an undiluted African nationalism, not Marxism or multiracialism, that would liberate us” (p. 108)

1.7 Introduction of the author

Nelson Mandela comes from a low-income family, but he has noble origins. He was born on 18 July 1918, 95 years later Africa’s greatest politician, philanthropist, and freedom fighter died on 5 December 2013.

After spending 27 years in a prison cell, Nelson Mandela deservedly became South Africa’s first-ever black president from 1994 to 1999.

Nelson Mandela won the 1993 Nobel peace prize. He was inaugurated in 1994 and became the first freely-elected president of South Africa.

Ø  Nelson Mandela was born in Transkei, South Africa, on 18 July 1918. He joined the African national congress in 1944 and was engaged in resistance against the ruling national party’s apartheid policies after 1948 before being arrested in August 1962. In November 1962 he was sentenced to five years in prison and started serving his sentence at Robben Island prison in 1963 before being returned to Pretoria, where he was to later stand in the Rivonia trial. From 1964 to 1982, he was again incarcerated at Robben Island Prison and then later moved to pollsmoor prison, during which his reputation as a potent symbol of resistance to the anti-apartheid movement grew steadily.

Ø  Released from prison in 1990, Mandela won the Nobel peace prize in 1993 and was inaugurated as the first democratically elected president of South Africa in 1994. He is the author of the international bestsellers long walk to freedom and conversations with myself.

Ø  Nelson Mandela was a great hero who gave freedom to the blacks in South Africa.

Ø  He fought against the ‘apartheid’ regime of South Africa which believed in racialism.

Ø  He became the first black president of South Africa when his party came to power in democratic elections in 1994.

Ø  This passage forms a part of the autobiography of nelson Mandela titled long walk to freedom.

Ø  It is a saga of the glorious struggle that the blacks of South Africa waged against the apartheid regime to gain freedom.

1.8 Why is he famous?

•      Fighting against the anti-apartheid government.

•      Fought for human rights and a better future.

•      The first black president of South Africa.

•      He and F. W. de Klerk shared the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating South Africa’s peaceful transition to multiracial democracy.

•       Worked to ease racial tensions, court foreign investment, and provide services to the victims of ‘Apartheid’.

1.9 What are some words to describe Nelson Mandela?

– He was a man of peace.
– He had a powerful presence and disarmed enemies with his smile.
– He showed the world what forgiveness looks like.
– He was positive, thinking about what could be.
– He was a visionary and could see the big picture.

2. Components of the Subject Matter

2.1 Brief description of the main subject matters of the book

The subject matter of the book can be categorized under two broad categories, namely:

(i) Personal struggle of Nelson Mandela Against Apartheid.

(ii) Resistance of people to the segregating policies of the White minorities.

The story revolves around the theme of getting freedom after a very long struggle due to the courage of all the people who sacrificed so much for equality and peace in the country, much like Bangladesh’s own freedom struggle. The celebration when a country gets its freedom is also shown in the story.

2.2 Structural arrangement of the discussed subjects

Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom is divided into 11 distinctive sections which symbolize distinct important phases in his life. His labeling of those life experiences signifies the importance and approach towards those events. Following are the chapter which has been assigned to cover.

2.2.1 Chapter 6 – The government targeted Mandela as well as the other ANC leaders as the matter became worse.

On the 5^th of December, 1956, Mandela was arrested at his house. The warrant for his arrest was hoogverraad, the Afrikaans word for High Treason. He’d long anticipated the government to make a huge move against the ANC, and now it had eventually taken place.

The government asserted that they had proof that Mandela had orchestrated violent acts in the Defiance Campaign. Also, they arrested almost every one of the Campaign’s other leaders.

It was obvious from the beginning that the prosecution’s case was feeble. Solomon Ngubase was the star witness, a man who was sentenced for fraud. He asserted that he went to an ANC meeting where the leaders had chosen to send Walter Sisulu to the Soviet Union in order to get weapons for an armed fight.

During Ngubase’s interrogation, the defense proved that he wasn’t an ANC member neither was he a university graduate, as he’d stated. This was an extreme setback to the prosecution.

As the court case continued, the struggle fumed outside. The severity of the matter seriously hit home on the 26^th of March 1960, when a misfortune happened in the town of Sharpeville.

There, a lot of Africans had come together around a local police station, showing against the “pass laws,” which needed every Africans to hold their passbooks when they left their designated area. The police were terrified and opened fire on the crowd without any caution. A minimum of 69 people was murdered, with the majority being shot in the back as they attempted to escape.

More than 50,000 people assembled in Cape Town to protest the shootings. Riots occurred and the government confirmed the State of Emergency, pending habeas corpus.

But, the court case improved. Though the state had offered thousands of pages of material, the judge ruled that the proof of a violent plot was inadequate and every of the accused was innocent.

2.2.2 Chapter 7 – The ANC’s struggle moved underground at the end of the trial and Mandela established the MK.

While Mandela together with his friends was in prison waiting for their trial, they decided that it was high time to move things underground.

Mandela was aware that there was no time to celebrate after his release; the ANC had to fight back immediately and they had to change their schemes.

In the ANC, the debate on violence had already been ongoing for a few years. In 1961, during a secret executive meeting, Mandela asserted that the state had left the ANC no other choice.

However, the ANC leadership agreed that the party would keep an official policy of non-violence; Mandela, but, could firm a militant organization within it. The new, militant wing of the ANC was named Umkhonto we Siswe which means “The Spear of the Nation.” The short form was called the MK.

The MK began by utilizing sabotage. Mandela had never shot a gun at someone in his life; however, he started studying everything he could about guerrilla warfare, sabotage and revolution.

Also, he relocated to a small suburb of Johannesburg the Liliesleaf Farm in Rivonia, which had been acquired by the movement. Liliesleaf Farm functioned as a safe house and training field for the MK, and that was where Mandela learned his shooting and learned how to make use of explosives.

He as well as other MK members decided to make use of sabotage first, as it had the lowest risk of injury and needed less manpower. Therefore, in December of 1960 in Johannesburg, they exploded homemade bombs at a number of government buildings and power. Also, they started spreading a manifesto announcing the MK’s arrival.

The government was surprised about the explosions, which, scheming retaliation, increased its efforts too.

2.2.3 Chapter 8 – Mandela was persecuted by the government as the fight become really serious.

At that point, the government was eager to do anything possible to catch Mandela, who’d turned to an iconic person in the movement.

On the 5^th of August, 1962, they eventually arrested him while he was returning to Liliesleaf Farm after a secret MK meeting. They took him to prison, where he was joined by Sisulu, who’d also been arrested.

During the first day of Mandela in court, he, together with his wife and a lot of the spectators wore leopard-skin karosses, traditional Xhosa attire. He mentioned in his first address that he planned to put the government on trial and he didn’t feel morally assured by the laws, because they were enacted by a parliament he couldn’t vote for.

He then narrated numerous cases where the government had declined the ANC’s efforts to handle their problems through official means. The ANC had no other choice than violence.

The key evidence of the prosecution was a six-page action plan gotten from Liliesleaf Farm that implicated Mandela as well as the others for their planning of the MK. It was clear in the document that they’d be found guilty.

The trial gathered a huge deal of international attention and quotes from the speech Mandela said on the day of the judgment were published in a lot of newspapers. Vigils were done in cities across the world.

On the 12^th of June, 1964, Mandela was proven guilty of all the charges; however, international pressure on South Africa assisted in saving his life. For instance, a group of UN experts recommended that amnesty be given to every person that opposed apartheid. The charges against Mandela would’ve typically had a death penalty; however, instead, his last sentence was life in prison. 

2.2.4 Chapter 9 – Mandela together with his prisoners maintained their resistance in prison.

Mandela was sent to Robben Island after the trial, where he’d use the following 20 years of his life.

Daily life was really ugly on Robben Island. Stones that were the size of a volleyball were thrown into the prison courtyard every day and the prisoners had to break them into gravel with small hammers. The weather was boiling hot.

Mandela was part of the class of prisoners that were retained under the sternest control. He was just permitted to be visited by one visitor and only one letter every six months. Also, his correspondence was seriously censored; he could hardly read the letters he got from his wife, Winnie.

Solitary confinement was the worst aspect of the prison was, in which prisoners could be provided with the smallest infractions. Only failing to get up in your cell when a guard got in was enough.

The prison was made to emotionally break them; therefore, they maintained the spirit of resistance to survive through their days. When every one of the prisoners apart from Indians was provided shorts to wear, Mandela requested to see the warden of the prison, since he believed it wasn’t decent for an African man to put on shorts.

After two weeks of protest, the guards surrendered. The win was little; however, it was essential.

The prisoners experienced a lot of other difficulties too. It was hard to access books and magazines, and any other thing related to politics or news was sternly prohibited.

Luckily, the guards weren’t particularly bright. One prisoner was able to get a copy of The Economist since the guards believed it was about economics.

Afterward, in 1966, the prisoners agreed to go on a hunger strike to protest the prison’s living situations. Ultimately, the guards took part in the strike. The prison authorities understood the strike was a lot for the prison; therefore, they accepted the requests of the prisoners’. The insurgency had shown to be contagious.

2.2.5 Chapter 10 – Mandela together with his co-African freedom fighters had extensive backing from the international society, which pressured the South African government.

As time went on, the guards at Robben Island slowly became less strict with the prisoners; however, the matter outside only got worse. But, there were also indications of hope.

During the 1970s, there was an increase in group protests around Africa and a new, more militant generation of freedom fighters started to arise.

Mandela, as well as other prisoners, had restricted access to the news; however, they were able to get information on an uprising in 1976.

During June of that year, fifteen thousand schoolchildren had assembled in Soweto an urban region in Johannesburg to protest legislation needing schools to teach half of their courses in Afrikaans, a language the majority of African children didn’t want to learn.

Once more, the police opened fire on the mass without cautioning them, murdering a 13-year old Hector Pieterson together with a lot of other people. Also, two white men were stoned to death. The incidences generated riots and protests all through the country.

A lot in the new generation of South African freedom fighters were very aggressive and militant. Those who were sentenced and taken to Robben Island saw Mandela and the other Rivonia prisoners as moderates.

A lot of the young freedom fighters belonged to the Black Consciousness Movement. They assumed that the black man had to release himself from his feeling of inferiority to whites for him to free himself from oppression. Mandela liked their militancy; however, he believed their sole focus on blackness wasn’t mature.

The uprisings in South Africa during the late 1970s were fully covered by the international media, and people across the world became more furious about apartheid. “Free Mandela” campaigns and incidences were coming up worldwide.

The Johannesburg Saturday Post published a story in 1980 with the headline FREE MANDELA, together with a petition the readers could sign. The article ignited a debate in the country on Mandela’s freedom.

2.2.6 Chapter 11 – The South African government and freedom fighters eventually started to negotiate when they both acknowledged that the violence was a lot.

By the early 1980s, the fight was just becoming bloodier. What would be the end? The violence looked to be increasingly out of control, drawing society down with it. Something needed to be done.

In 1981, the South African Defense Force invaded the ANC’s offices in Maputo, Mozambique, murdering thirteen people. The MK, who’d turned out to be really violent at then, reacted. In May 1983, as retaliation, they exploded a car bomb outside a military facility, murdering nineteen people.

Mandela understood that, without negotiations, the matter would become very chaotic. The ANC had stated that they wouldn’t negotiate with the racist government; however, Mandela began to see that it was essential.

In 1986, after the government affirmed the State of Emergency again, Mandela asked for a meeting with Kobie Coetsee, the Minister of Defense. Shockingly, his request was accepted and he was taken to Cape Town to the minister’s private home.

Coetsee questioned Mandela what it would need to keep the ANC from using violent methods. That was the first step in negotiations.

In May of 1988, Mandela and a committee of state officials started having a lot of secret meetings. In December of the next year, Mandela saw the new president, F. W. de Klerk. de Klerk was devoted to promoting peace and paid attention to what Mandela had to say.

February of 1990, de Klerk declared that he would cancel the ban on the ANC, which was still officially an illegal organization (that had extensive support all over the country). Also, he accepted to release every political prisoner that had been jailed for nonviolent activities. On the same day, de Klerk met with Mandela and said to him he’d be set free.

Chapter 12 – Mandela was set free in 1990, got the Nobel Peace Prize and kept on with his political work.

On the 11^th of February, 1990, Nelson Mandela was set free. But, for the people of South Africa people, freedom was still a long way off.

Since 1988, Mandela had been detained in a low-security prison outside Cape Town. He had his personal living space there, which functioned as a type of halfway house between freedom and prison.

On the day of his release, Mandela was meant to be taken from the house to the front gate by car; however, a television presenter told him to walk the last part of it. While he moved toward the gate with his wife standing next to him, he lifted up his fist and the crowd shouted.

Later on, during that day, he delivered a speech from a City Hall balcony, before a huge crowd. He shouted out the word “Amandla,” which is the Xhosa word for “power,” and the crowd responded “Ngawethu,” meaning “to us.”

The next afternoon, Mandela said to the reporters that he’d do anything the ANC considered appropriate. He didn’t see any conflict of interest between supporting ANC’s militant fight and progressing with negotiations. The ANC would react to peace with peace.

But, the relationship between the government and ANC was still tense. In 1992 December, the ANC executives chose to have a series of secret bilateral talks with the government. Firstly, it was decided that every party that got above 5% in the general election should have proportional representation in the cabinet. That signified that the ANC would need to work together with the National Party, which activated controversy within the ANC.

On the 27^th of April 1994, the first non-racialized election happened in South Africa. The ANC got 62.6% of the votes. In a moment before that, Mandela was given the Nobel Peace Prize.

2.3 Structural and physical get up of the book

The parts of Nelson Mandela’s autobiography Long Walk to Freedom (2013 [1994]), as separated by the leader himself, are linked to the years of his life as shown below:

·         Chapter one: ‘A Country Childhood’ (pp 3-56) 1918 to 1941

·         Chapter two: ‘Johannesburg’ (pp 59-85) 1941 to 1942

·         Chapter three: ‘Birth of a Freedom Fighter’ (pp 89-130) 1942 to 1952

·         Chapter four: ‘The Struggle Is My Life’ (pp 133-182) 1952 to 1956

·         Chapter five: ‘Treason’ (pp 185-248) 1956 to 1961

·         Chapter six: ‘The Black Pimpernel’ (pp 251-315) 1961 to 1962

·         Chapter seven: ‘Rivonia’ (pp 319-362) 1962 to 1964

·         Chapter eight: ‘Robben Island: The Dark Years’ (pp 365-430) 1964 to 1969

·         Chapter nine: ‘Robben Island: Beginning to Hope’ (pp 433-493) 1969 to 1982

·         Chapter ten: ‘Talking with the Enemy’ (pp 497-543) 1982 to 1990

·         Chapter eleven: ‘Freedom’ (pp 547-611) 1990 to 1994

Author	Nelson Mandela
Cover artist	Allan Tannenbaum
Country	South Africa
Language	English
Subject	Autobiography
Publisher and publication Date	Little brown, 1994
Media type	Print (hardback and paperback)
Audience	General
No. Of pages	784
Dimension & weight	20.0 x 13.0  x 5.5 (cm), 0.64 in kg
ISBN	9780349106533
Genre	Non-fiction, autobiography

 

3. Success and failure of the author in describing the subject matter of the book

3.1 Success and strength of the book

Long Walk to Freedom attains success on many levels. At various stages of his turbulent life, Mandela inspired fear and loathing, adoration, and awe. But Long Walk to Freedom, although made with rigor and intelligence, is largely content to print the legend and tidy the tensions. To misquote John Huston in Chinatown, "Ugly buildings, whores and Nelson Mandela – they all get respectable if they last long enough."

3 high-level lessons from his biography, here they are:

1. Your best bet at finding true freedom is education.
2. If you want to be remembered, you must learn to challenge authority.
3. It’s most important that you don’t give up right after your biggest setback.

In addition, the content is for you who seek example of values, endurance, integrity, resilience and determination, contemplating practical examples of all the struggles and achievements of a great South African leader.

 3.2 Failure and criticism of the book

•      It often hard to follow.

•      Lack of illustrations and historical evidence

•      Lack of inclusion of some of Winnie's involvement in less-than-savory activities

•      There were places where it seemed to drag.

•      The beginning was dry as it dealt with histories of different tribes and Mandela's own inauspicious early childhood.

•      There were times he described meeting people for the first time, and went into in-depth descriptions of where they attended school and what degrees they had.

•      I can only assume he did this to show that the other men involved in the struggle against apartheid were educated men, not "commoners," but it felt forced and inauthentic.

•      “If blacks were offered a multiracial form of struggle, they would remain enamored of white culture and prey to a continuing sense of inferiority” (Mandela, 1994, p. 100).

 

 

3.3 Reasons for recommendation to read

The content of the book "Long Walk to Freedom" is ideal for you who likes great biographies that are responsible for influencing millions of people.

In addition, the content is for you who seek example of values, endurance, integrity, resilience and determination, contemplating practical examples of all the struggles and achievements of a great South African leader.

3.4 Conclusion

Although the Defiance Campaign did not succeed in its goal of eliminating apartheid laws, it was successful in increasing communication between and determination within South Africa’s many freedom organizations. In 1955, Mandela helped lead the Congress of the People, The Freedom Charter was brought which demanded equality and democratic representation for everyone.

His hardship through legal harassments and violence practiced by the supremacist white government strengthened his resolve and made a better leader out of him, which helped him to lead to ultimate triumph.

References

1.     Mandela Nelson, Long walk to freedom, Longman Publication, 1994.

2.     The New York Times Upfront, Vol. 142, April 19, 2010.

3.     Freda, 1975. South Africa: A Historical Introduction. Penguin Book. London.

4.     Daleep Singh, 2010. From Dutch South Africa to Republic of South Africa 1652-1994. Allied Publishers Pvt. Ltd. Delh

5. Shinde, D., 2018. Long Walk to Freedom: A Document of Humanism. International Journal of Reviews and Research in Social Sciences, 6(4), pp.492-494.