☰
Nelson Mandela - Long Walk To Freedom
How did Mandela’s understanding of freedom change with age and experience?
When Nelson Mandela was a boy, he thought he was free. To him, freedom was doing whatever he wanted to do; to run in the fields near my mother’s hut, free to swim in the clear stream that ran through my village, free to roast mealies under the stars and ride the broad backs of slow-moving bulls etc. He was contented as long as he followed the social norms. As a student, he had percieved freedom differently. He wanted freedom only for himself.
When he discovered that he was a victim of oppression and discrimination, he understood that his perception about freedom was unreal. He could realize the bondages when he was deprived of the basic rights of humans like achieving his potential, earning his keep, marriage and a family. With the sense of reality of his plight, he observed that the people of his own race were the victims of the same oppression. This inflamed his purpose for the collective struggle against the injustice. It gave him the moral strength to become a courageous man.
Sponsor Area
Which does he think is natural, to love or to hate?
What “twin obligations” does Mandela mention?
What did being free mean to Mandela as a boy, and as a student? How does he contrast these “transitory freedoms” with “the basic and honourable freedoms”?
Does Mandela think the oppressor is free? Why/Why not?
Why did such a large number of international leaders attend the inauguration? What did it signify the triumph of?
What does Mandela mean when he says he is “simply the sum of all those African patriots” who had gone before him?
Would you agree that the “depths of oppression” create “heights of character”? How does Mandela illustrate this? Can you add your own examples to this argument?
How did Mandela’s understanding of freedom change with age and experience?
How did Mandela’s ‘hunger for freedom’ change his life?
I. There are nouns in the text (formation, government) which are formed from the corresponding verbs (form, govern) by suffixing -(at)ion or ment. There may be a change in the spelling of some verb – noun pairs: such as rebel, rebellion; constitute, constitution.
1. Make a list of such pairs of nouns and verbs in the text.
|
Noun |
Verb |
|
rebellion |
rebel |
|
constitution |
constitute |
|
|
Sponsor Area
Sponsor Area