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Chapter 65
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Long Walk to Freedom, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Racism and Division
Negotiation, Democracy, and Progress
Nonviolent Protest vs. Violent Protest
The Value of Optimism
Summary
Analysis
Mandela learns that the warder in his particular section of the prison has more of a direct impact on his life than any higher-ranking prison official or politician. While most warders still think of the prisoners as beneath them, some are fair and even willing to listen to prisoners. In general, communication in the prison is highly restricted, although Mandela and his allies find way around this, like using coded script on toilet paper.
Once again, this passage shows how prisoners are resourceful and manage to make the most of things that might seem worthless, like toilet paper. Mandela’s ability to find ways to communicate with fellow prisoners even in an environment with such heavy surveillance shows his ingenuity as well as how important communication is to him.
Themes
Word gets to Mandela about a hunger strike in the prison in July 1966, protesting the poor conditions. To Mandela’s surprise, he soon hears that the warders are also striking—not in support of the prisoners but to protest their own conditions. The prison authorities negotiate with the warders, then agree to meet with some representatives from the prisoners, which Mandela considers a success. Mandela himself had advocated for more aggressive strikes, like stopping work, but he went along with the hunger strikes after he was outvoted.
Mandela’s thoughts on the hunger strike are another development in his ongoing thoughts about violent versus nonviolent forms of protest. On the one hand, Mandela has a lot of admiration for other leaders who have used hunger strikes, like Gandhi. Still, Mandela also carefully considers how his own political situation may be different and how a different situation may require a different form of protest.
Themes
