Long walk to freedom

Nelson Mandela became the first black president of South Africa after the white dominance rule for about
more than 300 years. It was the first non-racial government. In his speech, he mentioned that on this
beautiful land we will never ever experience oppression.
He pays homage to many political figures who helped and struggled in the freedom fight. They all were
common but full of valor and wisdom to fight against these odds and suppression from the dominance.
Further, he says that if a person can be taught to hate others, so he can also be taught to love and respect
others. He also mentions two important duties that a person is obliged to do first for the family as a common
individual and secondly for the motherland.
Many political figures from several countries had attended the ceremony that took place in the amphitheater
in Pretoria. He addressed them very respectfully and reassured them that there will be no place for
discrimination and racism in the new South Africa. All will lead towards progress together. He vowed to
establish democracy and treat all of them with dignity and equality.
The day was the allegory for him as the people sang two national anthems- Nkosi Sikelel-iAfrika and the
black sang ‘Die stem’, These events going through reminded him of the pain he faced from this suppression
and domination. This all gave rise to inhumane and miserable conditions of the people. He believed that no
person should allow detesting others based on caste, color, or creed.
The apartheid policy had produced great freedom fighters like Oliver Tambos, Walter Sisulus, Chief
Luthuli’s, etc. the country was rich in resources and the greatest resource of all was its people.
From the learned courage and took a risk, gone through torture and learned that courage was not the absence
of fear but the victory over it. Man’s natural goodness is that he can see kindness and love in the prison itself
when pushed to the walls, he felt melted and see the good heart in the guards.
According to his vision, if a person can be taught to hate, he can surely be taught to love as well. He
mentioned that a person becomes bold when he can control his fears. He mentioned two major duties of
every man i.e., towards his family and towards his country and community. After he stated, that black
people were not able to perform their duties because of apartheid. When Mandela crossed her young age, he
realized that if they did not raise their voice against oppression the black-skinned people have become slaves
under the dominance of the white ones.
Black-skinned people were living under the tyranny of white rule. He further told that the oppressor is also
bound by prison as it snatches the other’s freedom. Both of them are denied of their humanity. Brave men
are not those who feel afraid but they are ready to conquer and overcome their fear. Mandela told them to
follow their own obligations and focus on the country’s welfare.
1. What does Nelson Mandela refer to as “an extraordinary human disaster”?
A. Nelson Mandela refers to the heinous apartheid policy of the white race against the black people
as “an extraordinary human disaster”. White people snatched freedom from the colored people of
South Africa to whom the country belonged. The black people were subjected to oppression for long.
They were not even allowed to discharge their obligations to their own families, community and their
country. White people had no compassion for them and oppressed their own people and put them in
prison. If they had some freedom, it was curtailed. The black people lived the life of a slave.

2. What is the moral of Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom?

A. The moral of the story is that the oppressor and the oppressed both lose humanity. One through
hatred and the other through oppression and hence both need to be liberated from these inhumane
prisons. Mandela’s belief that peoples are born free of hatred and learn it later is also a very
enlightening lesson we learn from the chapter. The people learn to hate and therefore they can also
learn to love is a beautiful takeaway from the lesson.
 3. Describe the views of Mandela for the black people who fought and sacrificed their likes for the
country’s political independence?
A. Mandela always said that the political freedom was the result of sacrifices of thousands of the
black people who fought for that. He said that it could not be repaid. He thought himself as the sum
of all of those African patriots. He regretted that he could not thank them. He cursed the policy of
apartheid that wounded the people of his country, which would take centuries to heal. He also said
that the oppression and brutality of the white people produced great freedom fighters like Oliver
Tambo, Walter Sisulu, Luthuli, Dadoo, Fischer, Sobukwe and many more. They were the men of
courage, wisdom and large heartedness. They really suffered a lot for the political freedom of the
country.

4. What does Mandela mean to say that the oppressor and the oppressed alike are robbed of their
humanity?
A. Mandela is right in saying that the oppressor and the oppressed alike are robbed of their humanity.
Both of them are actually the victim of hatred. Everyone is obliged to discharge their duties whether
personal or social but without freedom a man cannot do so. The person who snatches this freedom of
a man is really an oppressor and a prisoner of hatred. He has lack of humanity. But this is the same
with a person who is oppressed by other. Oppression also affects the oppressor. They become
detached from their own humanity, as they are driven by their desire for power and control. They use
their authority to subjugate others, leading them to become insensitive to the suffering of others. This
detachment from their own humanity can lead to a loss of empathy and compassion, making it easier
for them to commit acts of violence, discrimination, and exploitation.
The dehumanization of both the oppressed and the oppressor creates a cycle of injustice and inequality. The
oppressed become resentful and angry, seeking revenge against their oppressors. The oppressors become
defensive and paranoid, seeing their power as necessary for their survival. This cycle of violence and
oppression perpetuates the dehumanization of both parties, leading to more suffering and injustice.

5. Describe the obligations which the author is talking about and also describe his feelings for them
A. In the chapter the author has talked about two obligations for every man. The first obligation is
towards his family, parents, his wife and children. The second is towards his community and his
country. Being a social person, one has to fulfil these obligations.
But being a black colored person in South Africa, a man was not free to perform his obligations and
got punished if he tried to do that. Being a child, the author never thought of such obligations but
after he did so, he fought for the people and the country to be free and enjoy their freedom of
performing their duties personal and social.

6. Describe the value of freedom for the human beings and how it is important for the growth of
civilization and humanism as described in the lesson ‘Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
A. Everybody whether human or other creatures wants to live free as freedom is natural to all living
beings. The value of freedom is better known to that human being who has not tasted it till he gets it.
A person who is chained with the limits and not allowed to perform his duties freely, values freedom
more than anyone else. For instance, the value of freedom is known better to Mandela who remained
behind the bars most of his life. Think about a bird or animal which is caged as they have the habit of
living with full freedom but in the cage, they are not free and their conditions are very pitiable.
Similarly, life becomes a hell if we are deprived of freedom. There is no growth of civilization as it
grows only when one has freedom. Similarly, humanism grows in the atmosphere of freedom.

7. What does Mandela mean when he says “he is simply the sum of all those African patriots” who had
gone before him?
A. Mandela’s hunger for freedom forced him to join the African National Congress to eradicate the
 system of apartheid. Before him thousands of the patriots had sacrificed their lives. Mandela does not
take the entire credit. He calls himself simply the sum of all those African patriots who had laid the
path towards the achievement of success He continued the movement started by them. Mandela
wants to pay his tribute to all the people who had sacrificed their lives for the sake of freedom. He
feels that he is simply the sum of all those African patriots who had gone before him as he only was
carrying forward the baton of the freedom struggle the legacy of leaders of yesteryears who had
paved the path of co-operation and unity for him. They can’t be repaid. He thinks of himself as the
sum of all those who had sacrificed their lives. Now he regrets that he was not able to thank them.
According to Mandela, the policy of apartheid greatly wounded the people. Therefore, he got the
support of his people to be able to come to power to bring equality for his own people. He was only a
part of that movement.

8. Discuss the scene of the inauguration ceremony? Who took the oath in the ceremony? Why is the
inauguration called a historic occasion for South Africa?
A. It was the bright and clear day of 10th May, 1994. The inauguration ceremony took place in the
Union Buildings Amphitheatre in Pretoria. The most famous world leaders and representatives
gathered there. The generals and police officers were also there. They had medals and ribbons on
their chests. South African jets, helicopters and troop carriers roared in perfect formation over the
Union Buildings. First of all, Mr. de Klerk, then Thabo Mbeki and then Nelson Mandela took the
oath.
The inauguration can be called a historic occasion for South Africa as on this day the first democratic
government was installed. At the end of more than three centuries of the white rule Nelson Mandela
became the first Black President of South Africa.

9. What ideas does Mandela have about courage, love and hate?
A. According to Mandela, he learnt the meaning of courage from his comrades. They struggled very
hard for the freedom of the country. They did not care for their lives. They sacrificed everything for
their people and country. They did not break before the brutality of the oppressors. They showed
their full strength So Mandela learned courage from them. To him, courage means not the absence of
fear but the victory over it. The brave man is one who conquers fear. No man is born hating another
man due to color or religion. Love comes more naturally to the human heart than hate. According to
Mandela, both the oppressor and the oppressed are the prisoners of hatred. No one can become happy
after taking away another’s freedom.

10. What differences came in Mandela’s opinion about the meaning of freedom, when he was a little boy
and when he became young?
A. There were many differences in Mandela’s opinion about the meaning of freedom, when he was a
little boy and when he became young. While he was a little boy, the meaning of freedom was to run
in the fields and to swim in the streams.
When he became young, he realized that his freedom was an illusion. When he was a child, he
measured freedom only on limited parameters such as, roasting meals, riding on the backs of slow-
moving bull as a little child, reading whatever he wanted and staying up late at night as a teenager,
but later on, he realized that he was being selfish. He came to know that he and everybody who
looked like him were not free and their freedom was being curtailed, they were facing discrimination
and brutality by the whites. It was then that he realized that his boyhood freedom was just an illusion
and that he had to fight for the collective freedom of his community and his country.
Now he had realized that not only his freedom, but also others’ freedom had been seized. So, he felt a
hunger for freedom now. He wanted all the people of his country to live with self-respect. They must
do what they liked.
 11. Nelson Mandela speaks of ‘twin obligations. Elucidate.
A. In the lesson, Mandela described two obligations that everyone had to perform. One obligation is
for the family, children and wife and second obligation is for the country and community but due to
apartheid policy in South Africa, Mandela was not able to fulfil his obligation. Although men could
fulfil these obligations according to their capacities and abilities. But in South Africa it was
impossible for the blacks. When Mandela tried to fulfil them for his family, he was cut off from his
family. He was forced to live the life of separation. When he tried to serve his country, he was put
into prison. Thus, Mandela was not able to fulfil his obligations.

12. How did Mandela’s hunger for freedom change his life?
A. Nelson Mandela was not born with a hunger to be free. With time and experience he discovered
that boyhood freedom was only an illusion. He found that as a young mem his freedom had already
been taken away from him. His people and community were denied the fundamental right of living a
dignified life.
This made him hungry for freedom. He joined the African National Congress. This desire for
freedom transformed him from a frightened young man into a bold one, a law-abiding person to a
criminal, a family- loving person to a man without a home. This desire forced a life-loving man to
live the life of a monk.

13. 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?
A. Yes, it is true that the depths of oppression create heights of character. Nelson Mandela illustrated
this argument by giving examples of some people of extraordinary courage and wisdom. This period
of struggle to end apartheid produced people like Oliver Tambos, the Walter Sisulus, Bram Fischers
and so on in the soil of South Africa. Nelson Mandela himself was a product of the same conditions.
The hunger for freedom changed his life.
The history of India is full of such characters. Mangal Pandey, Bhagat Singh, Chandra Shekhar Azad,
Mahatma Gandhi, Lala Lajpat Rai and so on were the people of extraordinary courage produced by the
depth of oppression in India.

14. Nelson Mandela was the hero of South Africa’s freedom movement. Comment.
A. Nelson Mandela was a true hero of South Africa’s freedom movement. His conscience
encouraged him to demand a respectful and unique life for all. His soul cleared him about the twin
obligations for everyone. He was always determined to fulfil them. He performed his obligations for
his family as well as for his community. Although he was prevented from doing so, he did not stop
and got discouraged.
He became homeless. In spite of all these difficulties he could not change his decision. He had a soul power
to challenge the racial system of the white. He did not care about the apartheid policy and announced that
this policy had created a lasting wound in the country. He fought against it. At last, he got success. He
became the first black President of South Africa.

The Ball Poem

This poem is written in Blank Verse. This poem is about losing something that you love, and learning to
grow up. It is about a little boy, who, for the first time in his young life, is learning what it is like to
experience grief at the loss of a much beloved possession – his ball. The poet John Berryman through his
poem, ‘The ball poem’ has described the reality of life which everyone has to face one day. He has touched
the topic of how to stand up against the miseries and sorrows of life.
The poem is about a little boy. He loses his ball and watches it bouncing down the street into the water. To
us, the loss of ball is of minor consequence but to the little boy, it was a valued possession. The ball had
been with him for a long time and it was linked to the memories of the days when he played with it. The boy
is very much troubled at the loss of his ball and plunges into grief. He stands stiff and trembling while
staring at his ball. He is upset as he looks into the gloomy water because it has been with him for a long
time. When the ball bounces into the water, all his memories of the childhood days flashes in front of him.
Moreover, the poet doesn’t offer him money to buy another ball because that would be worthless.

The boy cannot find his ball in the gloomy water. This is when he gets his first sense of responsibility. The
poet suggests that from the loss of the ball, the boy is learning what it means to lose something in the world
of possessions, where he will lose things, he will buy some more to replace the ones lost, but would never be
able to buy back the thing that he had lost. The poet, thus, makes the boy understand about his responsibility
as the loss is immaterial. Money is external as it cannot buy memories, nor can it replace the things that we
love, the things that really matter. The poet suggests that from the loss of the ball, the boy is learning how to
stand up in a world of possessions. The boy is learning what it means to lose something. The poet says that
knowing that everyman has to stand up after such losses, the boy too will learn how to stand up and leave
the losses behind as he would have understood the true meaning and nature of loss.
The metaphor of the lost ball is beautifully linked to the loss of sweet childhood. No amount of money can
buy the ball back that has been lost forever. Similarly, no worldly wealth can buy back the lost childhood.
The poet doesn’t want to sermonize on this issue. The boy himself has to learn epistemology or the nature of
the loss. He has to move ahead in life forgetting all the losses he has suffered in the past.
The poet uses imagery when describing how the ball personifies the spirit of the boy’s childish innocence.
Eventually, we visualize how the spirit of this little boy is, sinking into the dark waters of the harbor.
He can bear this loss by understanding the epistemology or nature of the loss. In this world of material
wealth and possessions, it seems that money can buy anything. However, it is a false conception. Money has
its own limitations. Its nature is external. It cannot compensate for the losses that a person suffers
emotionally or internally. No wealth can buy back the ball that has been lost forever. Similarly, no wealth
can buy back the lost childhood. The child will have to move ahead and stand up in life. He has to stop
weeping over his past losses and start living life as it should be lived.
1. A ball is an easily available, inexpensive thing. Then, why is the boy so sad to lose it?
A. No doubt the ball is an easily available and inexpensive item but the ball, the boy has lost is
valuable for him. His memories of younger days are associated with it because he had been playing
with it for a long time. It was not an ordinary but a special ball for him. No other ball could take its
place. As the boy stands watching his ball in the harbor, he realizes that his young days have gone
away with the ball and he can never get them back. So, he is sad to lose it.

2. What is the theme of the poem —’The Ball Poem’?

A. Major theme of this poem is to know loss, how to understand loss and growing up as an
individual. Suffering is inevitable with loss but suffering has its limits. Life moves ahead. Our own
transformation after understanding loss is necessary to grow as an individual. In this world
sometimes we lose things which we love and are attached to. We must not feel disheartened, dejected
and desperate but try to stand up and bear the loss through self-understanding as the boy who lost the
ball he loved was trying to learn.

3. Why did the poet not console the boy?

A. According to the poet, it is useless to console the boy by saying that he can get another ball in
place of the lost one. The boy had a long association with the ball. It was, thus, useless to give him
such a suggestion because he wanted to get back the ball that he had lost. The poet wanted to face the
reality of life beyond the happiness of childhood. He wants his readers to realize that one day people
 will lose their loved ones or the things they love and instead of being desperate or disheartened, he
wants the world to face such dark reality with courage and strength.

4. What is the main idea of the poem?

A. The main idea of the poem is ‘the sense of loss in life’. The loss is a fact of life. The sooner man
learns to tolerate it the better it is. When we lose something for the first time, we feel very sad. But
later we learn to live with our loss. In this poem, the boy loses his ball. He is very sad. The poet can
buy him another hall. But he does not want to do so. He wants the boy must learn the bitter truth of
life that everyone can suffer the loss of something dear.

5. How did the boy react after his ball fell into the water of the harbor?
A. The falling of the ball in the water was quite sudden. Actually, it was an unexpected loss. The boy
was completely shaken but couldn’t even move a step. He stood there fixed to the ground like a
statue. He constantly continued staring at the point where his ball fell into the harbor. It seemed as if
he was thinking of his childhood days which had disappeared forever like the lost ball.

6. Why does the poet say: ‘No use to say ‘O there are other balls?
A. The loss of the ball looks like an ordinary incident. It seems that the boy should not make such a
fuss over it. Boys usually lose such balls and again buy new ones as they are not very costly. But the
boy seems to be inconsolable over the loss. No money can buy the same ball that he has lost forever.
Similarly, no wealth can buy back the childhood that he has lost forever.

7. Why doesn’t the poet want to intrude on ‘him’? What does he consider the safest course?
A. The poet doesn’t want to intrude on the inconsolable boy. There is no gain in telling him that the
ball he has lost costs almost nothing. He can buy a new ball easily in a dime. Instead of sermonizing,
the poet leaves it on the boy to develop a new sense of responsibility. It will help him in bearing the
loss.

8. What is the general rule of this ‘world of possessions? Why is money ‘external’?
A. Getting and losing is a natural cycle. Many more boys before him bought and lost their balls. This
process will go on forever. However, no amount of money can buy back the same ball that has been
lost forever. Money is external and has its own limitations. Wealth can’t compensate such emotional
losses such as the loss of one’s childhood days.

9. How is the boy learning the ‘epistemology of losses from the loss of his ball? What he has to learn?
A. Everything in this world is not constant or permanent. The boy loses his ball with which he had
lots of cherishable memories. As he is a small boy, the ball's loss matters a lot to him. If he could
pass this situation without grieving, facing it easily, then he could win any loses in his life. The boy
has to understand the nature of the loss. He has to understand what it means to lose something. Gain
and loss are the two sides of the same coin. The boy has to learn how to move forward forgetting
everything about the losses he has suffered in the past.

10. What is the message that John Berryman gives to the readers in ‘The Ball poem’?
A. In ‘The Ball Poem’ John Berryman gives a very positive message. Gain and loss, getting and
losing are the essentials in the cycle of life. One should learn epistemology or the knowledge and
nature of the loss. Our childhood with all its attachments and sweet memories has gone forever never
to come back again. We should not weep over the losses that we have suffered. Let us learn to live
and moving ahead in life forgetting all inconsolable losses.

11. Why does the poet say, ‘I would not intrude on him?’ Why doesn’t he offer him money to buy
another ball?
 A. When a person is trying to come over his grief on his own, he is busy making himself understand
certain things if then, someone intrudes or disturbs, and his chain of thoughts is broken. It makes him
irritated. Moreover, self-consolation, realization or understanding is more effective and lasting than
when it is done by an external agency or a person. The poet knows it. So, he does not intrude on him.
His offer of money to buy another ball is useless for the boy wants the same ball he is attached to and
has been playing for a long time. No other ball will be able to take its place.

12. Elaborate the idea that one should learn to accept and let go and not stick to something that we
cannot have.
A. It is important for everyone to experience to accept the loss and be bold and get on with life.
Staying strong in the only way to survive. On should understand that the past is gone and will never
come back. Sometimes loss helps us to grow up and we are able to face hardship like loss. We also
learn to accept and let go and do not stick to something which we cannot have. Staying strong is the
only way to survive. One should understand that the past is gone and will never came back.
Sometimes loss helps us to grow up and we are able to face hardships like loss. We also learn to
accept and let go and do not stick to something which we cannot have. Life is really very short. The
poet realizes that it is very difficult to deal with the loss but it must be done. We should move on as
there is no use in wasting precious time and life.

13. Why is it important for everyone to experience loss and to stand up after it?
A. It is important for everyone to experience loss and to stand up after it in order to be strong and to
get on with life. One needs to stay strong no matter how much it hurts inside. Staying strong is the
only way to survive. Moreover, one needs to learn to accept and let go and not cling to something
that they can never have. One should understand that the past is gone and it will never come back.
Experiencing loss sometimes helps us to grow up and face hardships, like loss. This helps us in
breaking all the boundaries into freedom.

14. Should the boy be allowed to grieve for his ball? If his loss is irreparable or irretrievable then how
should one handle it? What lessons can be learnt?
A. Yes, the boy should be allowed to grieve for his ball, as he had that ball for a long time. He had
many old memories associated with it since his childhood. Moreover, when a person is trying to
overcome his grief on his own, then one should not intrude or disturb him as it may break his chain
of thoughts and may irritate him. One should have self-consolation, and self -understanding in order
to bear the loss. Self-realization and understanding are more effective and lasting than when it is
done by an external agency or a person.

According to the poet, the child is learning how to bear loss. The question concerns the poem 'The Ball'
written by John Berryman. The poem is about the loss of the things that we one cared about and growing up.
He gave a lesson that is full of wisdom through the loss of everyone, must learn to bear the pain associated
with loss. The poet assumes a boy who is playing with a ball. Once the ball bounces out of his control and
consequently falls into the water. The boy became sad. The true theme of the poem is that we should cherish
every moment of life.
The poem uses a good combination of tone, imagery and symbolism. In the beginning, the tone is
depressing. It depicts a scene where a young boy has lost his ball when it is bounced into the harbor. The
loss of the ball symbolizes the loss of innocence and childhood. Like childhood, the lost ball can’t be
retrieved. The tone in the end changes giving an encouraging message that life should be lived as it is and
we should move on with the changing time. The poem is in the free verse as it suits its tone and content.