Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom Question Answer Chapter 2 Solved PDF

'Apartheid' is a political system that separates people according to their race. Can you say which of the three countries named below had such a political system until very recently?

(i) United States of America
(ii) South Africa
(iii) Australia

Answer: (ii) South Africa

Have you heard of Nelson Mandela?

Answer: Yes. Nelson Mandela fought against apartheid through the African National Congress. He spent many years in prison and later became the first Black President of South Africa.

In this extract from his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, Mandela speaks about a historic occasion, 'the inauguration'. Can you guess what the occasion might be?

Answer: The occasion was the inauguration of Nelson Mandela as the first Black President of South Africa in 1994.

1. Where did the ceremonies take place? Can you name any public buildings in India that are made of sandstone?
Answer: The ceremonies took place in the sandstone amphitheatre formed by the Union Buildings in Pretoria. Some public buildings in India made of sandstone are the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House and Red Fort.

2. Can you say how 10 May is an 'autumn day' in South Africa?
Answer: South Africa is in the Southern Hemisphere, where the seasons are opposite to those in the Northern Hemisphere. Therefore, 10 May falls in autumn there.

1. What do the military generals do? How has their attitude changed, and why?
Answer: The military generals and police officers saluted Nelson Mandela and pledged their loyalty to the new democratic government. Their attitude had changed because earlier they had supported the apartheid system and would have arrested Mandela instead of saluting him.

2. Why were two national anthems sung?
Answer: Two national anthems were sung to represent the unity of black and white South Africans. Whites sang Nkosi Sikelel-iAfrika, while blacks sang Die Stem, the old anthem of the Republic.

3. How does Mandela describe the systems of government in his country (i) in the first decade, and (ii) in the final decade, of the twentieth century?
Answer: In the first decade of the twentieth century, South Africa had a system of racial domination in which white people oppressed the dark-skinned people. In the final decade, that system had been overturned and replaced by a democratic system that recognised the rights and freedoms of all people, regardless of their colour.

4. What does courage mean to Mandela?
Answer: For Mandela, courage is not the absence of fear but the triumph over fear. A brave person is one who feels fear but conquers it.

5. Which does he think is natural, to love or to hate?
Answer: Mandela thinks that love is more natural than hate. People learn to hate, and therefore they can also be taught to love.

1. What "twin obligations" does Mandela mention?

Answer: Mandela mentions two obligations: his obligation to his family — his parents, wife and children — and his obligation to his people, community and country.

2. What did being free mean to Mandela as a boy, and as a student? How does he contrast these "transitory freedoms" with "the basic and honourable freedoms"?
Answer: As a boy, freedom meant being able to run in the fields, swim in the stream, roast mealies under the stars and ride bulls. As a student, freedom meant being able to stay out at night, read what he pleased and go where he chose. Later, he understood that these were only transitory freedoms. The basic and honourable freedoms meant having the opportunity to achieve his potential, earn his living, marry, have a family and live a lawful life without obstruction.

3. Does Mandela think the oppressor is free? Why/Why not?
Answer: No. Mandela does not think the oppressor is truly free. A person who takes away another person's freedom becomes a prisoner of hatred and prejudice. The oppressor and the oppressed are both deprived of their humanity.

1. Why did such a large number of international leaders attend the inauguration? What did it signify the triumph of?
Answer: A large number of international leaders attended the inauguration because it was a historic occasion marking the birth of a new democratic and non-racial South Africa. Their presence signified the triumph of justice, peace, human dignity and democracy over apartheid and racial oppression.

2. What does Mandela mean when he says he is "simply the sum of all those African patriots" who had gone before him?
Answer: Mandela means that his achievement was not his alone. He represented the sacrifices, courage and struggles of the many African patriots who had fought against apartheid before him. Their efforts made his achievement possible.

3. 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?
Answer: Yes. Severe oppression can sometimes produce people of great courage, strength and determination. Mandela illustrates this by describing the African patriots who faced suffering, torture and sacrifice but continued their struggle for freedom.

4. How did Mandela's understanding of freedom change with age and experience?
Answer: As a child, Mandela thought freedom meant enjoying simple activities such as playing, swimming and running. As a student, he wanted personal freedoms such as staying out at night and choosing what to read. Later, he understood that true freedom meant living with dignity, achieving one's potential and having equal rights. He eventually realised that his freedom was connected with the freedom of his entire people.

5. How did Mandela's 'hunger for freedom' change his life?
Answer: His hunger for freedom transformed him from a frightened young man into a bold person. It led him to become involved in the struggle against apartheid. He gave up his comfortable family life and spent years fighting for the freedom and dignity of his people.

1. Mr Singh regularly invites the Amitabh Bachchans and the Shah Rukh Khans to his parties.
Answer: It means Mr Singh invites people like Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan, especially famous personalities of their kind.

2. Many people think that Madhuri Dixit is the Madhubala of our times.
Answer: It means many people consider Madhuri Dixit to be a person comparable to Madhubala in her time.

3. History is not only the story of the Alexanders, the Napoleons and the Hitlers, but of ordinary people as well.
Answer: It means history is not only about great or powerful people like Alexander, Napoleon and Hitler, but also about ordinary people.

1. I was not unmindful of the fact
Answer: I was aware of the fact.

2. When my comrades and I were pushed to our limits
Answer: When we felt that we could not endure the suffering any longer.

3. To reassure me and keep me going
Answer: To help me continue to live in hope in a very difficult situation.

4. The basic and honourable freedoms
Answer: The fundamental freedoms necessary for a dignified life.

5. Earning my keep
Answer: Earning enough money to live on.

1. It requires such depths of oppression
Answer: to create such heights of character.

2. Courage was not the absence of fear
Answer: but the triumph over it.

3. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid
Answer: but he who conquers that fear.

4. If people can learn to hate
Answer: they can be taught to love.

5. I was not born with a hunger to be free.
Answer: I was born free.

1. For decades the Union Buildings had been the seat of white supremacy, and now ...
Answer: it was the site of a rainbow gathering of different colours and nations for the installation of South Africa's first democratic, non-racial government. Contrast word: and now

2. Only moments before, the highest generals of the South African defence force and police ... saluted me and pledged their loyalty. ... not so many years before they would not have saluted
Answer: but arrested me. Contrast word: but

3. Although that day neither group knew the lyrics of the anthem ..., they would soon
Answer: know the words by heart. Contrast word: although

4. My country is rich in the minerals and gems that lie beneath its soil,
Answer: but I have always known that its greatest wealth is its people, finer and truer than the purest diamonds. Contrast word: but

5. The Air Show was not only a display of pinpoint precision and military force, but
Answer: a demonstration of the military's loyalty to democracy, to a new government that had been freely and fairly elected. Contrast word: but

6. It was this desire for the freedom of my people ... that transformed
Answer: a frightened young man into a bold one, that drove a law-abiding attorney to become a criminal, that turned a family-loving husband into a man without a home. Contrast words: transformed into / drove to become / turned into

1. The bandage was wound around the wound.
Answer: wound = wrapped; wound = an injury

2. The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
Answer: desert = leave/abandon; dessert = sweet dish eaten after a meal; desert = a dry, sandy region