Analysis & Synthesis of South Africa
Based on the 1995 written autobiographical account of Mandela’s own life, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom serves as an inspirational biopic. Filmed on location in South Africa, the film focuses most of its time on Mandela’s early life and transition into adulthood, while dedicating only a small portion to Mandela’s life and political achievements after imprisonment. Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom can be divided into three parts: Mandela’s early life and coming of age, his unfortunate imprisonment, and lastly the effects of his unexpected freedom.
The opening scene of the Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom sets the stage for the first part of not only the film, but also of Mandela’s early life and coming to age. The film begins with a slow motion, mood setting depiction of native life as Xhosa children are shown majestically running and joyfully playing in an open field in the backcountry of South Africa. These young boys seem to quickly age to teens as the film cuts to a Xhosa rite of passage, of which Mandela is seen participating. From just these few minutes at the beginning of the film, it is evident that Mandela is not only a native, but that he will also endure -- and eventually overcome -- the hardships of racial inequalities, apartheid, and Afrikaner controlled South Africa.
During his promising young adulthood, Mandela was an up-and-coming lawyer in Johannesburg who fought, through the courts and use of his speech, for the rights of native South Africans. Serving as a member and later leader of the African National Congress, the film focuses on Mandela’s use of non-violent protest against the Afrikaner South African government. The film lacks depth in this period of Mandela’s life,...
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...theid activist, once said, “In time, we shall be in a position to bestow on South Africa the greatest possible gift -- a more human face.” That time is not now and, based upon interpretations drawn from these films and books, does not appear to be anytime in the near future.
Bibliography
Biko, Steven. I Write What I Like. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002.
Gish, Steven. Alfred B. Xuma: African, American, South African. New York: New York University Press, 2000.
Mandela, Nelson. “Long Walk to Freedom.” Internet Archive, https://archive.org/
stream/LongWalkToFreedom/PBI3231#page/n1/mode/2up.
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. Directed by Justin Chadwick. 2014. Troy, MI: Anchor Bay Entertainment, 2014. DVD.
Plaatje, Sol. Native Life in South Africa. Athens: Ohio University Press, 1991.
Bridge to Freedom provides the historical documentary behind the events that served as the narrative for Selma. Instead of a drama, the viewers receive an actual documentary that shows the confrontations between the marchers and the government. Like Selma, it highlights the violence, the deaths, and the beatings, but also goes further back in time to show society’s treatment of African Americans.
This article proves that even when Mandela was imprisoned, he never gave up or lost hope in himself. Mandela was still able to overcome the pressure of being behind bars for more than a decade. He still did his work even when in dark times.
Curtis, Jerry. "The Role of Nelson Mandela in the Fight against Apartheid in South Africa." Humanities. Humanities, n.d. Web. 06 Dec. 2013.
Nelson Mandela has just gotten out of prison and is speaking to a rally of ANC Supporters in Cape Town urging a continues struggle for racial equality and a government not dominated by any one race, black or white.
This source lets me see the progress that South Africa had gotten to after the demolition of the apartheid. This mainly is a source that lets me compare their hopes with what happened, much like how I compare Paton’s views on what will happen to what actually happened.
Toyin, Falola. “The Power of African Cultures.” Woodbridge, Suffolk, United Kingdom: University of Rochester Press, 2003. Print
Barack Obama has made no secret that over the past three decades Nelson Mandela has been the greatest influence in his life. Coming from an African ancestry, Obama drew inspiration from Mandela’s life and influenced Obama to take himself upon a journey of self-discovery and find his own voice (Obama, 2004). The repercussions of Mandela’s inspirational work caused Obama to become a part of an anti-apartheid divestment movement in college and to shift to focusing on law and politics (Epstein, 2013). Now that Barack Obama has become President of the United States of America, he has consistently quoted Mandela in all his keynote speeches speaking of freedom and equality and his actions and words are inspired by the desire to emulate Mandela’s powerful actions and movements and the examples that he set, in the 21st century (Killough, 2013). Even within the tribute to Mandela, Obama (2013) says “You can make his life’s work your own…It stirred something ...
University of Pennsylvania-African studies center. Inaugural speech, Pretoria (Mandela)- 5/10/94 in Nelson Mandela’s inaugural speech-Pretoria ,May 10 from ancdip@WN.APC.ORG
To understand Mandela’s role in civil disobedience, one must first have the knowledge of his personal life. Mandela was born in the town of Transkei, South Africa into a royal family on July 18,1918 (Klerk). Even though Mandela was born into a royal family, he still noticed the ugly treatment of people in South Africa based on their racial background. Mr. Mandela was educated at the University of Fort Hare and the University of Witwatersrand. Both of these universities are located in South Africa, though Fort Ware is in Eastern Cape while Witwatersrand is located in the capital (Klerk, F). While a student in college Mandela was sent home for protesting against the strict policies of the university with several other classmates. Like many col...
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. Rolihlanla Mphakanyiswa or clan name, Madiba was born on July 18, 1918 in a simple village of Mvezo, which was not accustomed to the happenings of South Africa as a whole. His father was an respected man who led a good life, but lost it because of a dispute with the magistrate. While, his mother was a hard-working woman full of daily choirs. His childhood was full of playing games with fellow children and having fun. In school, Mandela was given his English name of Nelson. After his father's death, he moved to love with a regent, who was a well-off individual and owed Nelson's father for a previous favor. The next several years were full of schooling for Nelson. These schools opened Nelson's eyes to many things, which we will discuss later. He and the regent's son, Justice decided to travel to Johannesburg and see what work they could find. They left on their journey without the regent's permission, but eventually escaped his power and settled down in the town. In Johannesburg, Nelson settled down in a law firm as an assistant and went to University of South Africa and Witwatersrand University to further his law education. Witswatersrand University brought many new ideas to Nelson and awakened a spirit inside of him.
This source is helpful since it really demonstrates the main points of Mandela's achievements. For instance he gave hope to millions of Africans and inspired them. The article strongly states the effect he had on African people which is a crucial part of my essay. It is well organized in terms of chronoligal order and importance which is essential in my essay.
Coster, P., & Woolf, A. (Eds.).(2011). World book: South Africa’s Anti-Apartheid Movement, (pp. 56-57). Arcturus Publishers: Chicago.
Bohannan, Paul, and Philip Curtin. Africa & Africans . Long Grove: Waveland Press, Inc. , 1995.
According to the author of reference.com, “Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years because he was found guilty of conspiracy and sabotage to overthrow the government of South Africa, together with other eight National African Congress Leaders.” In addition, according to upworthy.com, Mandela [“Stood] up against a government that was committing egregious human rights abuses against black South Africans.” This quote explains the reason why Mandela was arrested. Mandela refused to lie down and accept a government that he did not believe in therefore he stood up to them, which landed him in prison. This is important because it ties back into the idea of Mandela being able to impact the world by standing up for what he believed in. During the time Mandela was imprisoned he was faced with many challenges such as being confined to a small cell without a bed or plumbing, compelled to do hard labor in a lime quarry, he also received fewer privileges than the other inmates because of his race, and he was only allowed to see his wife once every six months. Even though he went through the many hardships and watched his fellow prisoners go through the same challenges he went through while being imprisoned, he mentored the fellow prisoners and encouraged them to seek better treatment through nonviolent resistance. Although Mandela was put through
On 1962, Nelson Mandela was arrested for sabotage and treason. He spent 27 years in prison until finally, under the tension of the UN and other nations, the South African government released him, on February 11, 1990. He then changed many of the unfair apartheid laws and created democracy in South Africa.}