written by Himadri Das
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Long Walk To Freedom
Here is a little introduction to the prose piece ‘Long Walk To Freedom’ along with a detailed paragraph wise analysis of the text. Once you finish reading this go through short question answer on Long Way to Freedom. Also read analysis and explanation on A Letter to God.
Introduction
The prose piece ‘Long Walk to Freedom’ by Nelson Mandela is an extract from his autobiography which is also titled ‘Long Walk to Freedom’.
In this extract Nelson Mandela talks about the occasion of the swearing-in ceremony of the members of the first democratically elected government of South Africa. The installation of the first democratically elected government marked the ouster of the racial government on South African soil and the end of the ‘Apartheid’ era as a political system.
It was a significant event in the history of South Africa as it marked the end of an oppressive, political system commonly known as ‘Apartheid’. It was solely based on racial prejudices and propagated the notion of white supremacy over coloured and black people. The end of ‘Apartheid’ triggered a new beginning for South Africa as a nation. Its journey as a democratic country began on 10 May,1994.
Nelson Mandela, the author of this prose piece, had played a significant role in ushering in a welcome change in the political system of the country. He could achieve so only after spending a significant period of his life in prison. He sacrificed a lot.
His sacrifice did not go in vain. After a period of prolonged fight, his African National Congress came to power through a democratically held election.
‘Long walk to Freedom’ is a prose piece where he shares his feelings on a changed scenario he suddenly finds himself in. He reflects upon what he has gone through during the years of political struggle.
This prose piece reflects upon several crucial issues such as the following -
oppression and its effect upon humanity,
struggle for political emancipation
highest level of self-sacrifice which is the cost of it,
transformation of the author at a personal level in the path of political struggle,
well-being of both the oppressor and the oppressed for the ultimate restoration of humanity and so on.
Line: Tenth May dawned bright and clear………….The inauguration would be the largest gathering………leaders on South African soil
Tenth May happened to be an auspicious day for the author and for the people of South Africa. As the prose piece is an extract from the autobiography titled ‘Long Walk to Freedom’, the author uses first person narrative denoted by personal pronoun ‘I’.
On the grand occasion of the installation of South Africa’s first democratic non-racial government, Nelson Mandela, the author, was surrounded by dignitaries and leaders from all over the world. The author met dignitaries and world leaders and expressed his feelings using the phrase ‘pleasantly besieged’. The adverb ‘pleasantly’ summarises how the author felt being surrounded by dignitaries and world leaders. He is evidently happy in their company.
The purpose of the dignitaries was to ‘pay their respects before the inauguration.’ The question is - pay respect to whom or what? Dignitaries came to pay their respect not to any individual; but to an idea, a value that upheld the concepts of freedom, equality, and fraternity thereby championing the cause of humanity.
Line: The ceremonies took place in the lovely sandstone amphitheatre formed by the Union Buildings in Pretoria…… the installation of South Africa’s first non-racial government.
The sandstone amphitheatre in the Union Buildings in Pretoria stood witness to the ceremonies that marked the installation of South Africa’s first democratic non-racial government. The amphitheatre stood witness to a moment of transition in the political system of South Africa. The age-old system of white supremacy was replaced by a rainbow gathering of different colours and nations. This outward change was on the surface level. But at the deeper level, a change in the prejudiced approach was the need of the time to sustain the change visible at the surface level.
Line: On that lovely autumn day I was accompanied by my daughter Zenani…….to devote myself to the well-being of the Republic and its people.
Nelson Mandela, the author, attended the swearing in ceremony with his daughter Zenani. The author describes the day as lovely. The day was, indeed, lovely on many accounts. When we refer to the day as lovely, we may easily keep aside the fact that the day was lovely on account of the weather.
The day was lovely because the day was historic. The day was historic because it formally marked the end of an age-old political system that humiliated humanity by discriminating against people on the basis of their skin colour.
So the day was really lovely. Mr.de klerk was first sworn in as second deputy president followed by Thabo Mbeki(as the first deputy president) and the author himself.
Line: Today, all of us do, by our presence here.........all humanity will be proud.
This very paragraph forms the opening words of Nelson Mandela’s speech on the occasion of swearing in ceremony of the office holders of South Africa’s first democratic, non-racial government.
He begins in a mode of address to a gathering of people. He uses the pronoun ‘we’ instead of the personal pronoun ‘I’ thereby he avoids the egotistic self and gets inclusive and unified with the audience.
He talks about conferring glory and hope to newborn liberty. The phrase ‘newborn liberty’ is an interesting one. The adjective ‘newborn’ is applied to describe the noun ‘liberty’.
Liberty is perceived as a newborn baby. The imagery of a newborn baby makes the phrase really touching. This is a metaphor in which liberty is compared to as a newborn baby. The comparison is relevant and meaningful. A newborn baby is helpless and depends on others to survive in a challenging world. The same can be said about the newly acquired political liberty for the people of South Africa. Just like a new born baby, it was weak, immature, and required support from all corners to survive initial challenges and to thrive later on.
The author hoped that the experience of an extraordinary human disaster would help give birth to a society which would make all humanity proud of it.
The word ‘must’ speaks of the determination of the author. A society must be born to make all humanity proud. In other words, the author is determined to be an active agent in ushering in such a society. Amidst ‘extraordinary human disaster that lasted too long’, he sounds extremely optimistic in rising up from the ashes of humanity to build a kingdom where finer human values reign supreme.
Line: We, who were outlaws not so long ago,.....……a common victory for justice, for peace, for human dignity.
Designation and status change with time. The outlaws of yesteryears were entrusted with the duties of running the government and hosting leaders across the world. This changed role of the outlaws marked a shift in the political dynamics in South Africa.
The freedom achieved by the people of South Africa from the shackles of the racial political system was rather a victory for justice, peace, and human dignity. It was ultimately a victory for humanity.
The author also pointed to this larger aspect when he, in his speech, thanked the international community for ‘having come to take possession’ with the people of South Africa of the victory. This victory is neither his personal victory nor the victory of his people. This is something with greater implications.
Take note of the word ‘possession’. When we possess something, we have it as our own. The author recognises political liberty as a common victory for justice, peace, and human dignity and considers it a collective achievement of the international community.
Line: We have, at last, achieved our political emancipation. .......deprivation, suffering, gender, and other discrimination.
Political emancipation is not all and everything. Quality living requires a lot of other criteria to be fulfilled. Political freedom is meaningless without poverty eradication. It takes us to the issue of economic upliftment of the masses.
Freedom from political bondage is useless without achieving economic upliftment. Bondages are many and are in different forms.
Apart from political bondages, there are bondages formed by various types of discrimination and deprivation - gender discrimination, social discrimination and so on.
Freedom from these discriminations are complimentary to political freedom. The victory of humanity is incomplete without achieving freedom on all fronts.
Line: Never, never, and never again shall it be that this ………one by another.
In this paragraph, the author expresses his vision for South Africa. His vision for South Africa is one that is free from oppression of one by another; he envisages a South Africa that is well aware of the finer human values and one that knows how to uphold the values of humanity.
The author is quite determined not to allow the soil of his motherland to witness the oppression of one by another. The repetition of the word ‘Never’ thrice in the opening line of the paragraph is a testimony to his determination.
The author’s emotional exuberance is also manifested in this repetition and also in the word order used in the sentence. Ex: ‘shall it be that this’, “Never, never and never again.’
Line: The sun shall never set on so glorious a human achievement.
The setting of the sun marks the end of the day. In his wish that ‘the sun shall never set on such glorious human achievement,’ the author means that the human achievement i.e. the political emancipation from the clutches of an oppressive racial system is glorious as it champions the cause of humanity and therefore shall never come to an end. The sun shall always fall on it brightly and dispel all the darkness.
Any danger to its existence is ultimately a danger to humanity. So the sun shall never set on such a glorious human achievement.
Line: Let freedom reign. God bless Africa!
The author appears to be an advocate of freedom. Freedom nurtures humanity. Freedom on several fronts is required. Freedom from the bondage of poverty, illiteracy, superstitions, social discriminations must be attained along with political freedom. When various types of freedom start complementing one another, it marks the beginning of an era of justice and equality.
The author uses an optative sentence in which he expresses his supreme faith upon freedom. Freedom is the only hope for the betterment of South African society and people. He concludes his speech by praying to God for the well being of his country and region. His altruism is evident from his prayer.
Line: A few moments later we all lifted our eyes in awe as a spectacular array of South African jets………..to a new government that had been freely and fairly elected.
Jets, helicopters, and troop carriers roared in over the Union Buildings where the swearing in ceremony took place. Military jets, helicopters, and troop carriers symbolise brute force. What purpose do they serve on the occasion of the swearing in ceremony of a democratic government?
The military force and democratic system are contrary to each other. They are poles apart. On one hand, democratic systems cannot be managed by military force, on the other hand, the military is not always governed by democratic values.
People’s will is the essence of democracy. A democratic government draws its inner strength from people. But it is protected by military force when challenged by external powers. But that does not mean that the military establishment should exploit the situation. It should be loyal to the democratic government and its systems.
The display of military force, according to the author, is a symbolic gesture of such loyalty. The message we draw is that democracy believes not in force but in people’s spontaneous participation and awareness of the democratic values; but it also requires the loyalty of military force to grow and stay protected in the long run.
Line: Only moments before, the highest generals of the South African defence Force and police………….black, red, green, blue, and gold of the new South African flag.
The author was saluted by the highest generals of the South African defence force and police. Everything changes with time. With the ouster of the old government and its bosses and with the swearing in of a new government having new bosses in post, the military generals and police switched their loyalty in no time.
The author noticed that the generals and police who saluted him still donned medals and ribbons conferred upon them by the rulers of the yester years. This phenomenon may indicate two interesting factors or possibilities. These are as follow-
The military generals and the police are opportunistic. They lack principles. They switch sides and loyalty in no time without slightest hesitation.
Military might is subservient to democratically elected civilian governments.
The author admitted that he did not forget that during the tenure of the previous government, how rough these generals and the police were in treating him. But in a mature democratic system, the military establishment never considers itself a matching replacement of a democratically elected civilian government. Here lies the beauty of a mature democratic system.
Line: The day was symbolised for me by the playing of our two national anthems….…..know the words by heart.
The author points out that the day of South African presidential inauguration in Pretoria was symbolised by the playing of the two national anthems. The curious case of South Africa having two different national anthems at the same time has its roots in the historical reality of white dominance over the black people of the land.
The two songs represent two conflicting traditions in the socio-political sphere of South Africa and when these two songs are placed side by side and bestowed with equal status, the whole exercise becomes symbolic. It becomes symbolic of national harmony, equality, and peaceful coexistence of the opposite extremes. It speaks of unity in diversity; it becomes symbolic of the equitable participation in nation building. It also becomes symbolic of the inclusive policy of the newly elected democratic government of South Africa.
The author mentions a very important fact that the two groups of the whites and the blacks did not know the lyrics of the anthem of the other group till that day. Yet they hated what they did not even know. This is a classic instance of prejudiced mindset. They are prejudiced against each other.
The author concludes the paragraph by expressing a hope that the playing of the two national anthems one after another marks the beginning of a new era in which the whites and the blacks would start knowing the words of the anthem of the other by heart.
We may, therefore, come to the conclusion that the playing of the two anthems during the swearing in ceremony builds a congenial atmosphere for a much needed cultural exchange between the two conflicting groups.
Line: On the day of the inauguration, I was overwhelmed with a sense of history.……….system of racial domination against the dark-skinned peoples of their own land.
The inaugural ceremony was indeed historic. It was a remarkable milestone in South Africa’s history. History is a continual process. History is being created relentlessly. The author had the knowledge of the past events that ultimately culminated in the events he mentioned as ‘inauguration’ (i.e. inauguration/swearing in of the democratically elected non-racial government of South Africa.)
The events that culminated in the inauguration mentioned by the author ultimately dates back to the first decade of the 20th century. The English and French locked their horns in what was known as the Anglo-Boer war in history. But it did not take long to strike a marriage of convenience between the conflicting groups of ‘white peoples’. In the face of feuds and differences, their skin colour came to their rescue. They suddenly discovered common interest and mutual benefit in the collective exploitation of the dark-skinned peoples of the land. The white colour of the skin, most unfortunately, was the basis of a vicious coalition between groups of ‘white peoples’ in conflict. The inauguration of the democratically elected non-racial government marks the end of this system.
Line: The structure they created formed the basis of one of the harshest, most inhumane societies………….regardless of the colour of their skin.
He appears to be straightforward in his approach in criticising the system put in place by the white people to govern South Africa. The political structure they created gave birth to a rogue society characterised by deep chasm within.
In the words of the author, this was one of the ‘harshest, most inhumane societies the world has ever known.’ The use of superlative degree of the adjective ‘harsh’ brings out the disdain the author harbours against the said political system. The author, here, sounds a bit hyperbolic when he claims this political system to be the most inhumane the world has ever known.
The author concludes the paragraph by declaring that the system had finally been overturned by a government that recognised freedom, equality, and justice. And with this declaration, the paragraph ends with a note of solace and an assertion that evil, how powerful it appears to be, must get defeated and good must emerge victorious
Line: That day had come about through the unimaginable sacrifices of thousands of my people,.....…….courage can never be counted or replied.
Freedom is not a gift. The oppressor does not present it to the oppressed with a smiling face. Freedom cannot be begged for . Rather, it should be earned. People earn political freedom through struggle and sacrifice. The swearing in ceremony provided an occasion for the author to acknowledge the supreme contribution of innumerable people towards the political emancipation of their men and the day also offered him an opportunity to pay his tribute to all whose suffering and courage made freedom a reality.
The author acknowledges the sacrifice of the people of South Africa by using the adjective ‘unimaginable’. Unimaginable sacrifices were made by people whose identity will never be known to anybody. Their suffering and courage will never be repaid or counted. The truth is that the suffering undergone and courage shown for the sake of freedom from injustice and oppression can never be paid back by any means.
Line: I felt that day, as I have on so many other days, .............they were not able to see what their sacrifices had wrought.
It is true that sacrifice cannot make a big difference to the scheme of things. But sacrifices of such kind ultimately give birth to a leader of stature who creates history. No great thing can come up from out of nowhere. Vacuity produces vacuity. The long history of sacrifice, patience, and perseverance of South African patriots is instrumental in creating a congenial atmosphere that gave birth to great leaders who fought for freedom, justice, and equality.
The author sees in himself a continuity of the African patriotic tradition. He considers himself a representative of ‘those African patriots who had gone before’ him.
He refers to a long tortuous journey towards political emancipation of the masses from oppression and injustice. In this long march towards emancipation, he himself represents a point, a milestone brightly pointing out that the desired destination is not far away.
The author finds it disturbing not to be able to express his gratitude to those patriots who came before him. A lot of them sacrificed their entire life and departed. They knew not what their sacrifices had achieved. The pain the author experienced arose from a sense of helplessness that the people who contributed towards freedom so selflessly could not be given their due recognition. It is not that they hoped for any reward. But their absence and the author’s inability to follow what his conscience told him to do triggered disappointment and a sense of vacuity in him.
Line: The policy of apartheid created a deep and lasting wound in my country and my people. ………if not generations, recovering from that profound hurt.
The policy of apartheid was not at all a unifying one for the people of South Africa. It was rather a dividing one. It divided people on the basis of colour. Discriminatory approach during apartheid created ‘a deep and lasting wound’ in the minds of the people. A mental wound is always more profound than a physical wound. It takes more time to heal. It is invisible yet much more lethal than the physical wound.
Line: But the decades of oppression and brutality had another, unintended effect,...…………men of such extraordinary courage, wisdom and generosity that their like may never be known again.
The author here talks about the unintended effect of the decades of oppression and brutality. Oppression incurred protest and struggle that produced leaders of great calibre such as Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulas, Chief Luthalis, Yusuf Dadoo, Bram Fischer, Robert Sobukws and so on. This is a blessing in disguise. Great leaders are produced only when a person goes through a lot of difficulties and overcomes them. More intense the challenge, more memorable the emergence of the leader. The era of apartheid was an era of upheavals. Out of this tumultuous political situation, emerged the most prolific leaders of the nation.
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