Long Walk to Freedom

Long Walk to Freedom

by

Nelson Mandela

Robben Island Symbol Analysis

Robben Island Symbol Icon

The prison on Robben Island symbolizes the South African government’s goals with apartheid: to isolate Black South Africans, sow division, and in doing so, deprive them of any power and agency. Robben Island is the first of the three prisons where Mandela serves his over-27-year sentence. The island is physically cut off from the rest of the country by water, showing how Mandela’s imprisonment is an attempt not just to punish him but to remove him from the nation’s political scene. Within the prison, the authorities go even further to isolate Mandela, limiting the times when he can talk to his fellow prisoners and transferring him once he gets too influential among one group of prisoners.

What the prison authorities do to Mandela and other Black prisoners is similar to what South African authorities are doing to the country in general under apartheid, with life in the prison often being a microcosm for life in South Africa at large. For example, just as they receive slightly preferential treatment outside the prisons, Indian and Coloured prisoners have slightly better diets than Black prisoners, and they’re also allowed to wear long trousers. The Robben Island prison thus symbolizes the cruel tactics that the South African government used to isolate activists like Mandela and attempt to sow division among them—but it also ends up highlighting the strength of Mandela’s character, and his firm belief that apartheid will only end if people can come together and work toward a common goal.

Robben Island Quotes in Long Walk to Freedom

The Long Walk to Freedom quotes below all refer to the symbol of Robben Island. 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 59 Quotes

That first week we began the work that would occupy us for the next few months. Each morning, a load of stones about the size of volleyballs was dumped by the entrance to the courtyard. Using wheelbarrows, we moved the stones to the center of the yard. We were given either four-pound hammers or fourteen-pound hammers for the larger stones. Our job was to crush the stones into gravel.

Related Characters: Nelson Mandela (speaker)
Related Symbols: Robben Island
Page Number: 385
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 63 Quotes

In jail, all prisoners are classified by the authorities as one of four categories: A, B, C, or D. A is the highest classification and confers the most privileges; D is the lowest and confers the least. All political prisoners, or what the authorities called “security prisoners,” were automatically classified as D on admission. The privileges affected by these classifications included visits and letters, studies, and the opportunity to buy groceries and incidentals—all of which are the lifeblood of any prisoner. It normally took years for a political prisoner to raise his status from D to C.

Related Characters: Nelson Mandela (speaker)
Related Symbols: Robben Island
Page Number: 398
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 66 Quotes

For me, hunger strikes were altogether too passive. We who were already suffering were threatening our health, even courting death. I have always favored a more active, militant style of protest such as work strikes, go-slow strikes, or refusing to clean up; actions that punished the authorities, not ourselves. They wanted gravel and we produced no gravel. They wanted the prison yard clean and it was untidy. This kind of behavior distressed and exasperated them, whereas I think they secretly enjoyed watching us go hungry.

Related Characters: Nelson Mandela (speaker)
Related Symbols: Robben Island
Page Number: 423
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 69 Quotes

The High Organ was the source of some controversy because of its ethnic composition: all four permanent members were from Xhosa backgrounds. This was a matter of coincidence rather than design; the senior ANC leadership on the island, the only four to have served on the National Executive Committee, happened to be Xhosa. It would not have been proper to take a less senior comrade and put him on the High Organ simply because he was not a Xhosa. But the fact that the High Organ was Xhosa-dominated disturbed me because it seemed to reinforce the mistaken perception that we were a Xhosa organization.

Related Characters: Nelson Mandela (speaker), Walter Sisulu
Related Symbols: Robben Island
Page Number: 442
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 78 Quotes

One day, Kathy, Walter, and myself were talking in the courtyard when they suggested that I ought to write my memoirs. Kathy noted that the perfect time for such a book to be published would be on my sixtieth birthday. Walter said that such a story, if told truly and fairly, would serve to remind people of what we had fought and were still fighting for. He added that it could become a source of inspiration for young freedom fighters. The idea appealed to me, and during a subsequent discussion, I agreed to go ahead.

Related Characters: Nelson Mandela (speaker), Walter Sisulu, Ahmed “Kathy” Kathrada
Related Symbols: Robben Island
Page Number: 477
Explanation and Analysis:
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Robben Island Symbol Timeline in Long Walk to Freedom

The timeline below shows where the symbol Robben Island appears in Long Walk to Freedom. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 54
Racism and Division Theme Icon
The Value of Optimism Theme Icon
One night in late May, Mandela learns that he’s being transferred to the Robben Island prison. The guards at the new prison all seem to take pride in being strict... (full context)
Chapter 59
Racism and Division Theme Icon
Nonviolent Protest vs. Violent Protest Theme Icon
...he’ll probably be out in a couple years anyway. The van takes them all to Robben Island , the prison Mandela was at before. When Mandela gets to his cell, he finds... (full context)
Chapter 69
Racism and Division Theme Icon
Negotiation, Democracy, and Progress Theme Icon
...hears of Luthuli’s death, which leaves an even bigger leadership void. The ANC members on Robben Island form a leadership body that they call the High Organ, and it includes Mandela, Sisulu,... (full context)
Chapter 71
Negotiation, Democracy, and Progress Theme Icon
Conditions on Robben Island slowly improve, although there are still setbacks. Prisoners are eventually allowed to attend religious services.... (full context)
Chapter 76
Negotiation, Democracy, and Progress Theme Icon
Robben Island becomes known as the University due to how much the prisoners there study. During downtime... (full context)
Chapter 78
The Value of Optimism Theme Icon
Birthdays aren’t a big deal on Robben Island , but around Mandela’s 57th birthday in 1975, some prisoners start making plans for his... (full context)
Chapter 80
Racism and Division Theme Icon
Negotiation, Democracy, and Progress Theme Icon
Nonviolent Protest vs. Violent Protest Theme Icon
...16, 1976, after some of the young people arrested in the uprising end up at Robben Island . A group of 15,000 schoolchildren came to Soweto to protest the policy of teaching... (full context)
Chapter 81
The Value of Optimism Theme Icon
In 1977, after two years of a go-slow strike by prisoners in the quarry, Robben Island finally ends manual labor. Mandela is happy to devote himself more to studying and even... (full context)
Chapter 87
Racism and Division Theme Icon
...suburb. Mandela is disoriented and believes that authorities are trying to stop ANC’s influence in Robben Island by removing him. Despite this downside, the food at Pollsmoor is better, and Mandela has... (full context)
Chapter 95
Negotiation, Democracy, and Progress Theme Icon
The Value of Optimism Theme Icon
...swimming pool. His cook is a White man who once worked as a warder on Robben Island . He is even able to procure wine for when people like his lawyer, George... (full context)
Chapter 98
Racism and Division Theme Icon
Negotiation, Democracy, and Progress Theme Icon
...October 10, 1989, de Klerk announces that Sisulu and several other of Mandela’s allies from Robben Island will be going free. Mandela sends a letter to de Klerk similar to the one... (full context)
Chapter 105
Racism and Division Theme Icon
Negotiation, Democracy, and Progress Theme Icon
...to Qunu and see where his mother is buried. A month later, he goes to Robben Island and tries to convince some MK political prisoners to accept a government amnesty deal. In... (full context)