Long Walk to Freedom

Long Walk to Freedom

by

Nelson Mandela

Jongintaba is the regent of the Thembu people and is the father of Justice, eventually also becoming a surrogate father figure to Mandela when Mandela comes to live with him. Jongintaba is a just man who helps Mandela get a good education, but he can also be very traditional. This leads to a clash when Jongintaba tries to arrange a marriage for Mandela and Mandela runs away. Not long after, Jongintaba gets sick and dies, leaving Mandela to regret how he handled things with Jongintaba. Jongintaba represents an old way of life in South Africa that managed to survive into the colonial era, but which new apartheid laws seemed determined to crush.

Jongintaba Quotes in Long Walk to Freedom

The Long Walk to Freedom quotes below are all either spoken by Jongintaba or refer to Jongintaba. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Racism and Division Theme Icon
).
Chapter 5 Quotes

My time at Clarkebury broadened my horizons, yet I would not say that I was an entirely open-minded, unprejudiced young man when I left. I had met students from all over the Transkei, as well as a few from Johannesburg and Basutoland, as Lesotho was then known, some of whom were sophisticated and cosmopolitan in ways that made me feel provincial. Though I emulated them, I never thought it possible for a boy from the countryside to rival them in their worldliness. Yet I did not envy them. Even as I left Clarkebury, I was still, at heart, a Thembu, and I was proud to think and act like one.

Related Characters: Nelson Mandela (speaker), Jongintaba, Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa (Mandela’s Father)
Page Number: 36
Explanation and Analysis:
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Long Walk to Freedom PDF

Jongintaba Quotes in Long Walk to Freedom

The Long Walk to Freedom quotes below are all either spoken by Jongintaba or refer to Jongintaba. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Racism and Division Theme Icon
).
Chapter 5 Quotes

My time at Clarkebury broadened my horizons, yet I would not say that I was an entirely open-minded, unprejudiced young man when I left. I had met students from all over the Transkei, as well as a few from Johannesburg and Basutoland, as Lesotho was then known, some of whom were sophisticated and cosmopolitan in ways that made me feel provincial. Though I emulated them, I never thought it possible for a boy from the countryside to rival them in their worldliness. Yet I did not envy them. Even as I left Clarkebury, I was still, at heart, a Thembu, and I was proud to think and act like one.

Related Characters: Nelson Mandela (speaker), Jongintaba, Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa (Mandela’s Father)
Page Number: 36
Explanation and Analysis: