INTRODUCTION:

Nelson Mandela’s autobiography fulfills all the distinctive features of the genre. It tries to point out some of the integral features of the genre. The form needs to possess and display in its content as well as expressions. The title ‘Long Walk to Freedom’ has been reinforced with the subtitle The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela. The title clarifies its literary stance. The autobiography is in prose form of writing and it is factual than fiction.

He dedicated the book to his long list of lovable blood clans, he dutifully adds, “to all my comrades, friends and fellow South Africans whom I serve and whose courage, determination and patriotism remain my source of inspiration.”(P-1, Mandela, 1994) Nelson Mandela assimilates two families, the first his personal family and the other is the entire nation South Africa as family and gratifies his love towards all–love which was the soul principle of his life and duty.

Nelson Mandela wrote this autobiography at the age of 80’s after becoming the President of South Africa. It is the ‘stand point’ he chose to finalize his autobiography. This was very crucial and vital issue because he wanted to personify his journey from ‘rags to riches’, from ‘literally nothing to becoming everything’. He wanted to take review of his life from highest point of his life. He could see the life backward from the highest point of his life. As an autobiographer, Nelson Mandela chose the time when his dream was accomplished. He had dismantled apartheid government and established people’s government in S.A.

The very act of writing down a life storyin the form of an autobiography constitutes an attempt on the part of the writer to justify one’s life and implicit it in every act of autobiography. It is the judgment by himself that his life story. It is an example in his autobiography. He had achieved the highest point of his life. Nelson Mandela in his acknowledgement claims that “I began writing it (autobiography) clandestinely in 1974 during my imprisonment on Robben Island.”(P-2) alike Mahatma Gandhi, who started his autobiographyduring his imprisonment. Jail seems to be an ideal place for political autobiographers. Solitude seems a necessary factor for all political personalities as they all fall short of time and being busy and surrounded with people all the time. Martin Luther King Jrattempted to write his autobiography titled as ‘Stride towards Freedom’ but could not complete it in his short span of life simply for “want of time’. Nelson Mandela admits “since my release, my schedule has been crowded with numerous duties and responsibilities which have left me little free time for writing.” (P-1)

The form of ‘Long Walk to Freedom:

Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom is divided into 11 distinctive sections which symbolizes distinctly important phases in his life. His labeling to those life experiences manipulates the importance and his approach towards those events. The style of his narration is formal yet sensitive as it takes the reader into confidence and sways him the real picture of the self. The consistency in narrative style is maintained throughout its length. He gives importance to the direction of achieving the effect on the reader by joining smaller incidents into a unified whole.

The Significance of the title–Long: Time and Space:

The adjective in the title “long” signifies many connotations attached with the word as it hits clearly towards the efforts and suffering the nation endured in its slow ‘walk’ towards freedom. It stretches the journey of life into long span of time. It implicates his attitude and philosophy towards life. Martin Luther King’s planned autobiography which never came into realitywhich was titled as Stride towards Freedom. The example of writing autobiography by Dr. KingJr was different than Nelson Mandela’s ‘walk’ towards freedom. Nelson Mandela metaphorized the term long walk because he did not walk it alone. The entire South Africa walked with him and all his colleagues, family members and all supporters walked along with him. Nelson Mandela connoted many meaning associated with the word-Long. The longer geographical size of South Africa might be one important implication as it is 25^thlargest country in the world. The geographical size makes the country as longer than many other nations of Africa. All the provinces of the country are intermingled into the story with some reference and the setting involves entire nation, the vast, desert land of South Africa where walking is really difficult and tiresome.

The autobiography depicts the minute details of the land “Qunu village” that was situated in a narrow, grassy valley crisscrossed by clear streams and over looked by green hills.” (P-9). He was rooted in his village and its customs. The village was the starting point of his life journey. He very minutely described the childhood memories related with place, people and time. Thevivid description of his mother land, the different places he had been, and the journey he undertook to visit many countries across, all becomes the part of his descriptions.

The African continent magnified his length of the journey.

Secondly ‘Long’ also means the historical past and its distance from the present. Colonialism, began in South Africa in 1652 followed by the Slavery and Forced Labor Model in 1652, Jan van Reinbeck set up a refreshment location in what is now Cape Town, and requested slaves. (Freda, 1975:41) The black history of oppression and colonialism had been a “long” and unforgettable memory for every black South Afrikaner. The past was gloomy with it’s humiliations, discrimination and slavery. Obviously, there was no resistance from any quarter because this group was considered as traders as the earlier European visitors’ (Daleep Singh, 2010:4). This was, the beginning of the Dutch colonization of South Africa which lasted 144 years (1652-1802) followed by British rule of 187 years (1806-1993). The Cape of Good Hope passed into the hands of Britain in 1795. The British victory of 1795 against the combined Franco-Dutch forces in Europe helped in capturing the Cape. ‘It was however handed back to Holland in 1803, temporarily though and the Britain took it over again in 1806 permanently. The population of the Cape then reached to 75,302 consisting of 20,000 hottentots (Khoi), 25757 white colonists and 29,545 slaves mainly from Madagascar’ (Leo Marguard, 1968:117)

“At the end of 1950, there were just four independent nations in Africa-Egypt, Ethiopia, Liberia, and South Africa, which was ruled by a white minority. By the end of 1960, there were 27, with 17 gaining their independence that year alone, as Britain, France, and Belgium all but dismantled their colonial empires in Africa.” (The New York Times Upfront, Vol. 142, April 19, 2010).

This shows how South Africa struggled a lot than its neighboring countries for itsfreedom. It’s the longest struggle which symbolizes painful historical memory. “It was during those long and lonely years that my hunger for freedom of my own people became a hunger for the freedom of all people.” (P-751). Freedom didn’t come that easily to Nelson Mandela and South Africa, it wasn’t revolution which happened in a short span of time but it was prolonged journey. He says, “I have walked that long road to freedom” (P-752) The time accounted in achieving the freedom was like a dark night of South African history.

On 24th May 1994 the parliament was officially opened by Nelson Mandela, the new President of country and the ANC framed a democratic written constitution the guaranty of the basic rights for the South African people. The transitional constitutional document was drafted in 1993 and the revised document adopted by the Constitutional Assembly in May 1996. Overall, the period of colonialism had shown the brutal and non-human face in the history of South Africa. The practice of apartheid was the second cruel phase in the world history i.e. the first was Nazism of Hitler. The cruelty of Germany and apartheid doctrine in South Africa had killed the thousands of innocent people only to show their pseudo superiority on the earth. The apartheid practice of South Africa had turned Mohan Das Karamchand Gandhi to Mahatma Gandhi; a non-violent leader that had produced another non-violent leader in the history of South Africa, the Mandela. Nelson, the world leader continues Gandhian philosophy even after the independance of South Africa and ruled the country only for five years to spread peace, equality and fraternity among South African black, white and Coloureds. Nelson Mandela came to power with the goals to establish the real rainbow nation, console the souls of sufferers and show the right path of progress to the younger generation. This idea of ANC carried forward in the consequent chapters as well.

CONCLUSION:

The autobiography of Nelson Mandela is not just a book of fascinating story but it is the epic story of the man and nation who attained their common goal of freedom and justice. The story told by the subject itself is not only fascinating but also very true and realistic. The small boy from a remote tribal village of South Africa came across his way towards the basic problem of the country that was racial discrimination. He thought beyond himself and became the part of the struggle which had no destiny. The mighty military rule was too powerful to combat but he with his organization stood against the notorious apartheid. It wasn’t a simple and easy. He took on the battle. The story of the struggle is the central theme of the autobiography. It doesn’t remain personal story but goes on to become a document of struggle and humanism.

REFERENCES:

1. Mandela Nelson, Long walk to freedom, Longman Publication, 1994.

2. The New York Times Upfront, Vol. 142, April 19, 2010.

3. Freda, 1975. South Africa: A Historical Introduction. Penguin Book. London.

4. Daleep Singh, 2010. From Dutch South Africa to Republic of South Africa 1652-1994. Allied Publishers Pvt. Ltd. Delhi

5. Leo Marguard, 1968. The Story of South Africa. London.

6. SunitaPareek, ANC in Post Apartheid South Africa: A study of its role in non racial nation building since 1994, Published thesis, University of Delhi 2013

Received on 27.08.2018 Modified on 07.09.2018

Int. J. Rev. and Res. Social Sci. 2018; 6(4): 492-494 .

DOI: 10.5958/2454-2687.2018.00048.5