Analysis Of Long Walk To Freedom

768 Words2 Pages

In an excerpt from his memoir, Long Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela explains his shifting understanding of freedom based on different stages in his life. His perceptions of freedom evolved from wanting freedom for just himself to fighting for freedom for others. He concludes that denying freedom to others robs the oppressors of their own freedoms. As a child, Mandela felt as if he was always free no matter what. Mandela’s view of freedom was that he was already as free as he could possibly be. He was born free and just had to obey his father and followed the rules of their tribe. He states, “I was not born with a hunger to be free. I was born free—free in every way that I could know. Free to run in the fields near my mother’s hut, free to …show more content…

Mandela explains that not being free impacted his life from childhood to adulthood. As a young man he dealt with just finding out he wasn’t free. As a young man he joined the African National Congress, while he realized that it wasn’t just him that wasn’t free, it was everyone that looked like him. His brothers and sisters not free. In the text, Long Walk to Freedom, it states, “That is when I joined the African National Congress, and that is when the hunger for my own freedom became the greater hunger for the freedom of my people.” This quote explains that he wanted everyone he looked like to be free and to be safe again. Mandela talks about how he, as a child, wanted only himself to be free but after he joined the African National Congress, he wanted everyone to be free and equal again. Another quote from the text to support this is, “Freedom is indivisible; the chains on any one of my people were the chains on all of them, the chains on all of my people were the chains on me.” This quote shows that even if one person gains his freedom, another doesn’t and that that one person that is possibly still there, none of them are free. Nelson Mandela tells in great detail that he progresses from a child to help his country, and to free his …show more content…

As an adult he talks about how when he left prison his job and rule in Africa was to have every one free. Mandela wanted his people free. In the text it states, “When I walked out of prison, that was my mission, to liberate the oppressed and the oppressor both. Some say that has now been achieved. But I know that that is not the case. The truth is that we are not yet free; we have merely achieved the freedom to be free, the right not to be oppressed.” Mandela puts this in his autobiography because it helps show that Mandela after he was released from prison he wanted to help the people and free the people stuck with the apartheid. He said he wanted to free the oppressor. He meant that he had always seen the good in people even in prison and he wanted to help the person stuck doing this. Mandela dealt with this by doing everything he could do to get everyone that were not freed. Another piece of evidence to show this is, “We have not taken the final step of our journey, but the first step on a longer and even more difficult road. For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” This evidence shows that no matter what, he was going to free the people hurt, confused and angry. Nelson Mandela has shown his growth through the main points in his

Open Document