Class – X

Book- First Flight

Lesson- Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Summary

Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom is an extract from the autobiography of Nelson Rolihlahla
Mandela that describes the struggle for freedom of black people in South Africa. On 10th May 1994,
Nelson Mandela took the oath as South Africa’s first Black President after more than three centuries
of White rule. His party had won 252 out of the 400 seats in the first democratic elections in the
history of South Africa.
Many dignitaries and political figures from several countries had attended the inauguration ceremony
that took place in the Union Buildings amphitheatre in Pretoria. In his speech, Mandela addressed all
dignitaries respectfully and assured his fellow countrymen that his country would never experience
similar suppression by one group over another. While taking his vow as the first black President, he
established democracy in the country and said there would be no discrimination of people,
irrespective of caste, colour, creed or race. He assured that the government would always treat all the
people of the country with due respect and equality.
The lovely day of inauguration was symbolic for Mandela as the South African people sang two
national anthems – the vision of whites sang ‘Nkosi Sikelel –iAfrika’ and the blacks sang ‘Die Stem’,
the old anthem of the Republic. All these events reminded Mandela how the black-skinned people
were exploited by the white people earlier. He deeply felt the pain of his race and said that this type of
suppression and racial domination of the white-skinned people against the dark-skinned people on
their own land gave rise to one of the harshest and most inhumane societies the world had ever seen
or known. He strongly believed that no person is born to hate the other person on the basis of skin
colour, background or religion. Although people must learn to hate initially, because if they learn to
hate, they can be taught to love as well, as love comes more naturally to humans than hate. He also
mentioned how a person becomes brave, not because he does not feel afraid, but because he knows
how to conquer his fears.
Furthermore, Mandela stated that every man in life has two major obligations. The first one being
towards his family i.e, parents, wife and children and the second obligation towards his motherland,
countrymen and his community. Everyone is able to fulfil those obligations according to his own
interests and inclinations. However, it was difficult to fulfil both these obligations as a black man in a
country like South Africa before the democratic wave took over the nation by storm. When Mandela
became an adult, he realised that freedom was merely an illusion and temporary in nature for the
black-skinned people of his country. He felt that they were treated as slaves of exploitation and all the
people of his race were treated unfairly by the white-skinned people.
According to Mandela, freedom was indivisible for all. But the people of his colour and race were
bound in chains of oppression and tyranny. He knew that the oppressor must be liberated just like the
oppressed because a person who snatches another’s freedom is also a prisoner of similar
oppression. Thus, the oppressor is not free too and feels shackled in the chains of oppression
himself.

ORAL COMPREHENSION CHECK

(Page 18)
Question 1. Where did the ceremonies take place? Can you name any public buildings in India that
are made of sandstone?
Answer: The ceremonies took place in the lovely sandstone Amphitheatre. It was formed by the
Union Buildings in Pretoria. These are: the Red Fort, Jama Masjid, North and South Blocks,
Parliament House etc.

Question 2. Can you say how 10 May is an ‘autumn day’ in South Africa?
Or
Why is 10th May 1994 important for South Africa?
Answer: It is because of weather and the dawning of freedom after about 300 years of white rule. It is
also important because of the freedom.

Question 3. At the beginning of his speech, Mandela mentions ‘an extraordinary human disaster’.
What does he mean by this? What is the ‘glorious … human achievement’ he speaks of at the end?
Answer: By this he means the white rule in South Africa over the blacks. It lasted very long. It was
really a disaster of white men ruling over the black.

‘The glorious…human achievement’ is getting political independence from the white rule by the black
natives.

Question 4. What does Mandela thank the international leaders for?

Answer: He thanks the international leaders for coming to take possession with the native people of
South Africa. It is a common victory for justice, peace and human dignity.

Question 5. What ideals does he set out for the future of South Africa?
Answer: He sets out the ideals of liberating his people from various bondages. These are of poverty,
deprivation, suffering, gender and other discriminations.

ORAL COMPREHENSION CHECK

(Page 21)
Question 1.What do the military generals do ? How has their attitude changed, and why?
Answer: The military generals discharge their duties. They owe allegiance to their country. They do
their duties as per the military provisions.Their attitude has now changed. They care more for
personal gains than their true duties as per the defence rules.

Question 2. Why were two national anthems sung?

Answer: Two national anthems were sung as there were two main communities or races. One was of
the whites and the other of the blacks. Secondly, the anthem of the whites was the anthem of the old
republic.

Question 3. How does Mandela describe the systems of government in his country
(i) in the first decade, and (ii) in the final decade, of the twentieth century?
Answer: (i) In the first decade of the twentieth century the whites of South Africa patched up their
differences. They built a system of racial domination against the black people of their own land.
(ii) In the last decade their system had been overturned forever. It was replaced by another. It
recognised the rights and freedoms of all people regardless of their skin colour.

Question 4. What does courage mean to Mandela?

Answer: By courage Mandela means not the absence of fear but the triumph over it.
Question 5. Which does he think is natural, to love or to hate?
Answer: He thinks that love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite hate.

ORAL COMPREHENSION CHECK

(Page 24)
Question 1. What ‘twin obligations’ does Mandela mention?
Answer: He mentions the twin obligations. One- obligations to his family, his parents, his wife and
children. Second- obligations to his people, his community and his country.

Question 2. 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’?
Or
What did ‘being free’ mean to Mandela as a boy and as a student?
Answer: As a boy Mandela meant by being free to wander in the fields near his hut. It was to swim, to
run through the village. Also it was to roast meals at night and to ride the bulls.

As a student he meant to be free to stay out at night. It was to read what he pleased to read and to go
where he chose. It was also to be as per his potential.

These were the ‘transitory freedoms’. But the “basic and honourable freedoms’ were the freedoms for
the people. These were to live with dignity and self-respect.

Question 3. Does Mandela think the oppressor is free? Why/Why not ?

Answer: Mandela thinks that the oppressor is not free like the oppressed. A person who takes away
another man’s freedom is a prisoner of hatred. He is locked in prejudice and narrow-mindedness.

THINKING ABOUT THE TEXT

(Page 24)
Question 1. Why did such a large number of international leaders attend the inauguration? What did it
signify the triumph of?
Answer: A large number of international leaders attended the inauguration to pay their respects. It
signified the triumph of human freedom and democracy. It also signified the importance of political
independence.

Question 2. What does Mandela mean when he says he is ‘simply the sum of all those African
patriots’ who had gone before him?
Answer:
The author means that like those patriots he also felt the great need of political independence of the
country. Like them he also underwent tortures by the whites in his own country.

Question 3. 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?
Answer: It is a fact that the more one is oppressed, the more one becomes strong in character.
Mandela says that the decades of oppression and brutality produced many patriots. They were like
Oliver Tambos, Walter Sisulus, Chief Luthulis, Yusuf Dadoos etc.
More examples from my own side sire here. These are of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal – Nehru,
Sdrdar Patel, Lokmanya Tilak, Subhash Chander Bose, Bhagat Singh etc.
Question 4. How did Mandela’s understanding of freedom change with age and experience?
Answer: First Mandela thought of personal freedom like doing what one liked. But as he grew up he
started understanding freedom as indivisible. It is also of his own men. He thought of freedom for all
his own people more important than anything else.

Question 5. How did Mandela’s ‘hunger for freedom’ change his life?
Answer: Mandela’s ‘hunger for freedom’ changed him into a great man, a statesman and a visionary.
He worked day and night for it. He underwent physical and mental tortures. It was for obtaining
freedom for his own people.

Extra Question- Answer

Long Answer Type Questions

Question 1. What does Nelson Mandela refer to as “an extraordinary human disaster”?
Answer: Nelson Mandela refers to the apartheid policy of the white race against the black people as
“an extraordinary human disaster”. White people snatched freedom from the coloured people of
South Africa to whom the country belonged. The black people were subjected to oppression for long.
They were not even allowed to discharge their obligations to their own families, community and their
country. White people had no compassion for them and oppressed their own people and put them in
prison. If they had some freedom, it was curtailed. The black people lived the life of a slave.

Question 2. Describe the views of Mandela for the black people who fought and sacrificed their likes
for the country’s political independence?
Answer: Mandela always said that the political freedom was the result of sacrifices of thousands of
the black people who fought for that. He said that it could not be repaid. He thought himself as the
sum of all of those African patriots. He regretted that he could not thank them. He cursed the policy of
apartheid that wounded the people of his country, which would take centuries to heal.
He also said that the oppression and brutality of the white people produced great freedom fighters like
Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu, Luthuli, Dadoo, Fischer, Sobukwe and many more. They were the men
of courage, wisdom and large heartedness. They really suffered a lot for the political freedom of the
country.

Question 3. Describe the value of freedom for the human beings and how it is important for the
growth of civilisation and humanism as described in the lesson ‘Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to
Freedom’.

Answer: Everybody whether human or other creatures wants to live free as freedom is natural to all
living beings. The value of freedom is better known to that human being who has not tasted it till he
gets it. A person who is chained with the limits and not allowed to perform his duties freely, values
freedom more than anyone else. For instance the value of freedom is known better to Mandela who
remained behind the bars most of his life. Think about a bird or animal which is caged as they have
the habit of living with full freedom but in the cage they are not free and their conditions are very
pitiable. Similarly, life becomes a hell if we are deprived of freedom. There is no growth of civilisation
as it grows only when one has freedom. Similarly, humanism grows in the atmosphere of freedom.