Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom Grade: 10

Important Questions and Answers

Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom Extra Questions and Answers Short Answer Type

Question 1. Where did the oath-taking ceremony take place?

Answer: The oath-taking ceremony took place in Union Buildings of Pretoria.

Question 2.What ideals did Mandela set out for the future of South Africa in his speech?

Answer: Mandela set out ideals for the future of South Africa because he had deep feelings for his
country and countrymen. He pledged to liberate all the people from poverty, deprivation and
discrimination.

Question 3.How, according to Mandela, had apartheid policy affected South Africa?

Answer: Apartheid policy had affected South Africa deeply. It had created a deep and lasting wound
in the country and its people. It will take a long time to heal this wound.

Question 4. What did Mandela think about the oppressor and the oppressed?

Answer: Mandela thought about the oppressor and the oppressed that both are robbed equally. A
mail who takes away another man’s freedom is a prisoner of hatred. In the same way, if his freedom
is taken away, they both are without freedom. So both of them must be liberated.

Question 5.What according to Mandela, is ‘true-freedom’?

Answer: According to Mandela, true freedom means freedom not to be obstructed in leading a
lawful life.

Question 6.How did ‘hunger for freedom’ change Mandela’s life?

Answer: In the beginning of his life, Mandela was not aware about freedom. Later, Mandela found
that his freedom had been taken away from him. As a student, he wanted freedom only for himself
but slowly his own freedom became the greater hunger for the freedom of his people. This changed
him completely.

Question 7.What are the ‘twin obligations’ referred to by Nelson Mandela?

Answer: According to Nelson Mandela, every man has two obligations in life. The first obligation is to
his family, to his parents, wife and children. Secondly, he has an obligation to his country, people,
and community.
Question 8.Could a man. according to Mandela, fulfil these twin obligations in a country like South
Africa?

Answer: No, these twin obligations could not be fulfilled by a man, in a country like South Africa,
according to Mandela. It was because a man of dark colour who attempted just to live as a human
being was punished and isolated in the country.

Question 9. What is the meaning of courage to Mandela?

Answer: According to Mandela, courage was not the absence of fear, but triumph over it. The brave
man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear. Mandela learned the true
meaning of courage from his comrades in the struggle.

Question 10. What was unique in the inauguration ceremony?

Answer: The inauguration ceremony took place in the amphitheatre formed by the Union Buildings
in Pretoria. For decades, this had been the seat of white supremacy. Now it was the oath taking
ceremony day for South Africa’s first democratic, non-racial government. It was really a unique
occasion.

Question 11. Describe the inauguration ceremony in simple words?

Answer: It was the day of 10th May, 1994. The first democratic, non- racial government was to be
installed. Dignitaries from different countries participated in the ceremony. South African men,
women and children of all races were present there.

Question 12.What promises did Mandela make to his people in the oath-taking speech?

Answer:In the oath-taking speech, Mandela promised that the country shall not again experience
the oppression of one by another.

Question 13. What did Mandela say about the future of the country in his speech?

Answer: In his speech, Nelson Mandela said, “I see a bright future of the country. Now no one will
experience the oppression by another. It will make much progress. All people shall be free to do
what they like.”

Question 14. How did South African jets, helicopters and troops demonstrate?

Answer: It was a very special day for all. South African jets, helicopters and troop carriers roared in
perfect formation. They flew over the Union Buildings. It was a show of military’s loyalty to the
country and its democracy.
Question 15. What did the generals and police officers do on that day?

Answer: The generals and police officers were also there. They were in their uniform. They had
ribbons and medals on their chests. They saluted Mandela with great respect. Mandela was the first
black President of South Africa. Although, many years ago, they might have arrested him.

Question 16. What were the two anthems sung on the day of oath-taking ceremony?

Answer: On the day of oath-taking ceremony, the two anthems were sung. ‘Nkosi Sikelel-i-Afrika’
was for the whites and ‘Die stem’ was for the blacks. ‘Die stem’ was the old anthem of the country.

Question 17. Whose names were particularly taken by Mandela in the inauguration ceremony?

Answer: In the inauguration ceremony, Mandela announced the names of Oliver Tamboo, Walter
Sisulus, Chief Luthuli, Yusuf Dadoo, Bram Fisher and Robert Sobukwes. These men were of
extraordinary courage and wisdom.

Question 18. What is the greatest wealth of a nation in Mandela’s opinion?

Answer:In Mandela’s opinion, the greatest wealth of a nation is not minerals and gems but its good
and honest people.

Question 19. 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 Union Buildings amphitheatre in Pretoria. Hawa Mahal in
Jaipur and Fatehpur Sikri are the buildings in India made of sandstone.

Question 20. Can you say how 10 May is an ‘autumn day’ in South Africa?

Answer: Tenth May, being an autumn day, in South Africa has a symbolic meaning. In the season of
autumn, all the old leaves fall from the tree and give birth to new ones. In the same way, old racial
government had given way to the new anti-racial democratic government in South Africa. It was the
beginning of a new era.

Question 24. At the beginning of his speech, Mandela mentions “an extraordinary human
disaster”. What does he mean hy this? What is the “glorious human achievement” he speaks of at
the end?

Answer: At the beginning of his speech, Mandela mentions “an extraordinary human disaster”. It
was the policy of apartheid in South Africa. People were the victim of racial discrimination. Now they
had achieved freedom. They will never be oppressed. It was the end of the most inhuman system of
the government. He calls it a glorious human achievement.

Question 25. What does Mandela thank the international leaders for?

Answer: Mandela thanks the international leaders for their support for the people of South Africa.

Question 26. What ideals does he set out for the future of South Africa?

Answer:

Nelson Mandela sets out many ideals for the future of South Africa. He says that all the people will
be free from poverty, deprivation and discrimination. They will never experience oppression by
others.

Question 27. What do the military generals do? How has their attitude changed, and why?

Answer: They obey their masters. They acted under the orders of the whites so far. Today they had
shown their loyalty to the democracy. Earlier they arrested Mandela. Today they showed their
loyalty to him by saluting him. There was a change in system. The newly elected non-racial
democratic government had changed their (military generals) attitude. Now they were not the
servants of the whites. They were now in the service of their own people.

Question 28. Why were two national anthems sung?

Answer: It was an occasion of installing the first democratic non-racial government which was
formed by both the whites and the blacks. Both had their different anthems. In order to give equal
honour and recognition both the national anthems were sung.

Answer: In the first decade of the 20th century, the whites erected a system of racial discrimination
against the blacks. They set up the most inhumane system of apartheid where the blacks were
denied the fundamental right of freedom. In the last decade of the twentieth century, the system
was overturned. The policy of apartheid was uprooted from the land and a new non-racial
democratic government was installed to ensure equal rights and freedom to all the people of South
Africa.

Question:30. What does courage mean to Mandela?

Answer: Courage means to Mandela the triumph over fear. A brave man is not he who does not feel
afraid, but he who conquers that fear.
Question 33. 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: Freedom had different meanings for Mandela at different stages. As a boy, freedom for him
meant to run freely in the fields and to swim in the stream. As a student he wanted freedom to stay
out at nights, to read what he liked, later he realised that this freedom was an illusion. He found that
all the black brothers and sisters were in chains. There was no freedom for a respectful life. Their
freedom was curtailed at every stage. He wanted the basic and honourable freedom of achieving his
potential of earning his keep, of marrying and having a family. He believed that freedom is
indivisible. Everyone has to be free.

Question 34.Does Mandela think the oppressor is free? Why/why not?

Answer: According to Mandela both the oppressor and the oppressed must be liberated. Both of
them are robbed of their freedom and humanity.

Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom Extra Questions and Answers Long Answer Type

Question 1. Discuss the scene of the inauguration ceremony? Who took oath in the ceremony?
Why is the inauguration called a historic occasion for South Africa?

Answer: 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. It was an end of more than three centuries of the white rule.

Nelson Mandela became the first Black President of South Africa.

Question 2. What were Mandela’s opinions about the first and last decades of the twentieth
century?

Why does he say on the day of the inauguration that he was overwhelmed with a sense of history? .

Answer: On the day of the inauguration, the speaker’s mind went back to history. He remembered
the first decade, when the whites ruled over South Africa and they made a discrimination against the
blacks. They built a system of racial discrimination against the blacks. Their behaviour was full of
cruelty. They meted out inhuman treatment to the blacks. But now in the last decade of this century,
this cruel system was overturned. Now a new system replaced it. It was the first democratic
government of South Africa. Now there will be no discrimination on the basis of colour.

That is why, on the day of the inauguration, he was overwhelmed with a sense of history.
Question . What ideas did we get about freedom, the oppressor and the oppressed from this lesson?
How did Nelson Mandela get hunger for freedom?

Answer: According to Mandela, both the oppressor and the oppressed need freedom. Not only the
oppressed is without freedom, but also the oppressor. He is the prisoner of hatred, only his level of
thinking encourages him to snatch others freedom. It is all due to his narrow mindedness. It is an
obvious idea that the oppressed has no freedom. Nelson Mandela had hunger for freedom, when he
knew that his freedom had been snatched. His idea for freedom was an illusion. He saw that his
brothers and sisters were without freedom. His hunger for freedom encouraged him to join the
African National Congress.

Question 3. What differences came in Mandela’s opinion about the meaning of freedom, when he
was a little boy and when he became young?

Answer: 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 realised that his freedom
was an illusion. Now he had realised that not only his freedom, but also others freedom had been
seized. So he felt a hunger for freedom now. He wanted that all the people of his country should live
with self-respect. They must do what they liked.

Question 4. What are two obligations that Mandela described in this lesson? What was the reason
that he was not able to fulfil those obligations?

Answer: 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.

Question 5. India is a country of unity in diversity—there are different languages, traditions,

dresses, castes and cultures. Do you find any sort of discrimination in India?

Answer: India is a very big country. It has different languages, traditions, dresses, castes and
cultures. Even then India has unity in diversity. Its Constitution gives equality to every citizen. There
is no place for colour prejudice in it. In India everyone has a right to get education to appear in
competitions and to live at any place. There is no discrimination among Indians on the basis of caste,
creed and colour. Indians can live in any state and they can marry in any caste. There is no colour
discrimination in India.

Question 6.“I was not born with a hunger to be free.” What was the result of his hunger for
freedom?
Answer: When Nelson Mandela was a young boy, he didn’t know anything about freedom. His
hunger for freedom began when he saw his people being punished under the policy of apartheid. It
was clear to him that his boyhood freedom was just an illusion. Then he had come to know that he
and his countrymen had no freedom.

They could not say anything freely. Now Mandela’s hunger for freedom had increased. Although, as
a student, he wanted freedom only for himself but after growing up, he started to think maturely
about the freedom. He saw that in South Africa everybody’s freedom was curtailed. Thus the result
of his hunger for freedom was the freedom of the country.

Question 7. 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 installation ceremony of

first^democratic non- racial government in South Africa. It was the end of apartheid in South Africa.
It was a common victory for justice, for peace and for human dignity. The international community
supported the cause of South Africa. It signified the triumph of humanity against oppression, fear
and discrimination. Both the oppressor and the oppressed were liberated.

Question 8. How did Mandela’s understanding of freedom change with age and experience?

Answer: Mandela’s understanding of freedom changed with age and experience. When he was a
boy, freedom for him was to run freely in the fields, free to swim in the stream and ride the broad
backs of slow- moving bulls. Later on he realised that his boyhood freedom was an illusion. He
discovered as a young man that his freedom had been taken away from him.

As a student he wanted freedom only for himself which were: freedom to stay out at night, freedom
to read what he wanted and so on. As a young man he yearned for the basic and honourable
freedom of achieving his potential, of earning of marrying and having a family. With the
advancement of age and experience, he felt that not only his freedom but also the freedom of
everyone was curtailed. Now he wanted freedom for all his people.

Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom Extra Questions and Answers Reference to
Context

Read the following passages and answer the questions that follow:

Question 1.TENTH May dawned bright and clear. For the past few days I had been pleasantly
besieged by dignitaries and world leaders who were coming to pay their respects before the
inauguration. The inauguration would be the largest gathering ever of international leaders on South
African soil. The ceremonies took place in the lovely sandstone amphitheatre formed by the Union
Buildings in Pretoria. For decades this had been the seat of white supremacy, and now 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.
(i) Who is T in the passage?

(ii) Where did the ceremony take place?

(iii) Why did the dignitaries and leaders come there?

(iv) Where was the occasion?

Answer:

(i) Nelson Mandela is T in the passage.

(ii) The ceremony took place in an amphitheatre formed by the Union Buildings in Pretoria.

(iii) The dignitaries and world leaders came there to pay their respects to the first democratic non-
racial government.

(iv) The occasion was the inauguration ceremony of Nelson Mandela as South Africa’s first Black
President in the Union Building in Pretoria, South Africa.

Question 2.

On that lovely autumn day I was accompanied by my daughter Zenani. On the podium. Mr de Klerk
was first sworn in as the second deputy president. Then Thabo Mbeki was sworn in as the first
deputy president. When it was my turn, I pledged to obey and uphold the Constitution and to devote
myself to the well-being of the Republic and its people. To the assembled guests and the watching
world, I said: Today, all of us do, by our presence here… confer glory and hope to newborn liberty.
Out of the experience of an extraordinary human disaster that lasted too long, must be bom a
society of which all humanity will be proud.

(i) Who is Zenani?

(ii) Who was sworn in as the first deputy president?

(iii) Who was sworn in as the second deputy president?

(iv) What was the pledge taken by T?

Answer:

(i) Zenani is the daughter of Nelson Mandela.

(ii) Thabo Mbeki was sworn in as the first deputy president of South Africa.

(iii) Mr de Klerk was sworn in as the second deputy president of South Africa.

(iv) Nelson Mandela pledged to obey and uphold the Constitution. He pledged to serve the people of
his country.
Question 3.

“We, who were outlaws not so long ago, have today been given the rare privilege to be the host to
the nations of the world on our own soil. We thank all of our distinguished international guests for
having come to take possession with the people of our country of what is, after all, a common
victory for justice, for peace, for human dignity. We have, at last, achieved our political
emancipation. We pledge ourselves to liberate all our people from the continuing bondage of
poverty, deprivation, suffering, gender and other discrimination. Never, never, and never again shall
it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another. The sun shall
never set on so glorious a human achievement. Let freedom reign. God bless Africa!

(i) Who does ‘we’ refer in the first line of the passage?

(ii) What is the privilege that has been explained here?

(iii) What did the people of South Africa achieve at last?

(iv) The word ‘bondage’ means in the passage.

Answer:

(i) ‘We’ refer to the people of South Africa in the first line of the passage.

(ii) South Africa has been given the rare privilege to be the host to the nations of the world.

(iii) The people of South Africa achieved their political emancipation.

(iv) The word ‘bondage’ means slavery in the passage.

Question 4.

The day was symbolised for me by the playing of our two national anthems, and the vision of whites
singing ‘Nkosi Sikelel – iAfrika’ and blacks singing ‘Die Stem’, the old anthem of the Republic.
Although that day neither group knew the lyrics of the anthem they once despised, they would soon
know the words by heart. On the day of the inauguration, I was overwhelmed with a sense of
history. In the first decade of the twentieth century, a few years after the bitter Anglo-Boer war and
before my own birth, the white-skinned people of South Africa patched up their differences and
erected a system of racial domination against the dark-skinned people of their own land.

(i) How was the day symbolised?

(ii) What was the national anthem for the blacks?

(iii) What was specific about that system?

(iv) – How was the new system different?

Answer:

(i) The day was symbolised by the playing of their two national anthems—‘Nkosi Sikelel – ‘iAfrika’
and ‘Die Stem’.

(ii) The national anthem for the blacks was ‘Die Stem’.

(iii) The system had formed the basis of one of the harshest, most inhumane, societies the world has
ever known.

(iv) The new system recognised the rights and freedom of all people regardless of the colour of their
skin.

.Question 5.

In life, every man has twin obligations—obligations to his family, to his parents, to his wife and
children; and he has an obligation to his people, his community, his country. In a civil and humane
society, each man is able to fulfil those obligations according to his own inclinations and abilities. But
in a country like South-Africa, it was almost impossible for a man of my birth and colour to fulfil both
of those obligations. In South Africa, a man of colour who attempted to live as a human being was
punished and isolated. In South Africa, a man who tried to fulfil his duty to his people was inevitably
ripped from his family and his home and was forced to live a life apart, a twilight existence of secrecy
and rebellion. I did not in the beginning choose to place my people above my family, but in
attempting to serve my people, I found that I was prevented from fulfilling my obligations as a son, a
brother, a father and a husband.

(i) What are the obligations that every man has in life?

(ii) Why was it impossible for a coloured man to fulfil his obligations?

(iii) How were the people who tried to fulfil the obligations, treated in South Africa?

(iv) What is required to fulfil these obligations?

Answer:

(i) Every man has two obligations, one is to his family and second to his community and country.

(ii) In South Africa if a coloured man tried to fulfil his obligations, he was punished and isolated.

(iii) Those who tried to fulfil these obligations were ripped from their families and were forced to live
a life of isolation and rebellion.

(iv) A civil and humane society is needed to fulfil these obligations.

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