Long Walk to Freedom All Question Answers Ncert Solutions

 Long Walk to Freedom

All Question-Answers

1. Where did the ceremonies take place? Can you name any public buildings in India that are made of sandstone?
= The ceremonies took place in the sandstone amphitheater formed by the union buildings in Pretoria. some buildings in India which are made of sandstone are Red fort, Parliament House, Rashtrapati Bhavan, The Supreme Court of India etc.

2. Can you say how 10 May is an ‘autumn day’ in South Africa?
= Autumn is the season after summer, when leaves fall from trees, and India is in Northern hemisphere, So the autumn season begin in September. But since South Africa is in the southern hemisphere May falls in Autumn season. Thus,10 May is an 'autumn day'.

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?
= By human disaster Mandela means to state the practice of Apartheid in South Africa. The Blacks were oppressed by the hands of white. They were not free in any way, not free of being able to stay out at night or read what the please and go where they choose, they were even not able to fulfill their obligations for family and country. hence the system of racial discrimination was in no way less than an extra ordinary human disaster.    And the glorious human achievement that he spoke of refers to establishment of the first democratic and non-racial government in South Africa.

4. What does Mandela thank the international leaders for?
= Mandela thanked all the international leaders for giving him the privilege to be the host of the international Nations, since just a while ago South Africans were considered outlaws. But all the international leaders came to celebrate the victory of justice, peace and human dignity, and this was a gesture of international recognition to a newly born free democratic nation.

5. What ideals does he set out for the future of South Africa?
= Nelson Mandela had high expectations for South Africa's future, he set the ideals of liberating people from bondage of poverty, deprivation and suffering. He also dreams of a society where there would be no discrimination based on gender or racial discrimination.

6. What do the military generals do? How has their attitude changed, and why?
= The highest military generals of South African Defence Force saluted Mandela and pledged their loyalty, and their attitudes changed, as previously they might have arrested Mandela under the regime of the Whites, but now they are saluting him, because they were always loyal to the rules of the country, and hence they saluted Mandela as he has become the president of South Africa.

7. Why were two national anthems sung?
= Earlier the Blacks had their own National anthems and The Whites had their own and despised the another's. So to symbolize the equality of blacks and whites and the end of apartheid two National Anthem were sung.

8. 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?
= i) In the first decade of the 20th century the white-skinned Peoples of South Africa patched up their differences and developed a regime of ethnic dominance against the dark-skinned people of their own land, thus creating the basis of one of the harshest and most inhumane societies, the world had ever known.
ii) The previous regime had been permanently overthrown in the last decade of the 20th century and replaced by one that acknowledged the rights and freedoms of all races, regardless of colour of their skin.

9. What does courage mean to Mandela?
= Mandela discovered that bravery does'nt mean the absence of terror, but the victory over it. According to him courageous men need not to be fearless but should be able to conquer fear.

10. Which does he think is natural, to love or to hate?
= For Mandela, love comes more naturally to the human heart than hate, if a man learn to hate, he can easily be taught to love.

11. What “twin obligations” does Mandela mention?

= Mandela mentions that every man has twin obligations. The first is to his family, parents, wife and children and the second is to his community, his people and his country.

12. 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”?

= For Mandela, freedom had different meanings at different stages. As a boy Mandela was not hungry to be free, because he felt he was born free, but he came to know that his boyhood freedom was an illusion, and at first, as a student he wanted those transitory freedoms for himself, such as being able to stay out at night, reading what he liked etc. 

Mandela builds the contrast between these two freedoms by stating that the transitory freedoms he wanted were limited to him, whereas the honourable freedoms had to do more with his and his people's position in the society.

 The basic and honourable freedom included, the freedom of achieving his potential, earning his keep, freedom of marrying and having a family, the freedom not to be obstructed in a lawful life. 

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

= Mandela does not feel the oppressor is free because he thinks an oppressor is a prisoner of hate, trapped behind bars of prejudice and narrow mindedness. The oppressor are robbed of their humanity.

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1. Why did such a large number of international leaders attend the inauguration ? What did it signify the triumph of?

= A large number of international leaders attended the inauguration to show their support and praise the newly born fairly elected government.

 It signified the triumph of tolerance over discrimination, justice over oppression and humanity over barbarity.

2. What does Mandela mean when he says he is “simply the sum of all those

African patriots” who had gone before him?

= By saying that he is simply the sum of all those African Patriots who had gone before him Mandela means the that the courage and sacrifices of those Heroes of past had paved the path of freedom, and the political emancipation of South Africa is a consequence of these heroes' collective struggle against injustice and discrimination. So by saying this he wanted to thank them and pay his tribute to all of them.

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?

= It is definitely true that the depths of oppression create heights of character. Mandela illustrates this by giving examples of great heroes of South Africa who sacrificed their lives, probably the oppression of British rule created men of such characters, Mandela gave some examples as well such as Oliver Tambo, Bram Fischer, Yusuf Dadoo etc. Our country is full of such examples, Gandhiji would not have become a Mahatma if he had not faced the oppression of the British, India had the great characters like Bhagat Singh, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Lala Lajpat Rai, Chandrashekhar Azad and many more, and in today's time when we all are free, It is impossible to find a single political leader of such height of character or quality.

4. How did Mandela’s understanding of freedom change with age and

experience?

= With the age and experience, Mandela understood the real meaning of freedom, as a young boy he thought that he was born free, then as a student he wanted freedom only for himself, he wanted to do everything according to his own will but then he grew older and understood that the transitory freedoms were only limited to him whereas the basic and honorable freedom had to do more with his and his people's position in the society. The freedom from fear and prejudice the freedom not to be obstructed in a lawful life.

5. How did Mandela’s ‘hunger for freedom’ change his life?

= When Mandela observed that he is not alone but the people of his race are also victims of racial discrimination, this made him restless and the hunger for his own freedom turned into the hunger for the freedom of his people. This desire of a non-racial society transformed him into a Virtuous and self-sacrificing man. Thus he joined the African National Congress and this changed him from a frightened young man into a bold man.