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Chapter 99
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Long Walk to Freedom, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Racism and Division
Negotiation, Democracy, and Progress
Nonviolent Protest vs. Violent Protest
The Value of Optimism
Summary
Analysis
Mandela wakes early on February 11, 1990, the day of his release. He is set to be released at 3 p.m., driven in a car with Winnie, and he makes a point of wanting to say goodbye to his warders. Despite some delays, when the time of release finally comes, it’s a triumphant moment, with huge crowds gathered to watch.
Mandela gives lots of specific details in this chapter to illustrate how the day of his freedom still remains so clearly in his mind. The car that Mandela drives out is heavily symbolic because in South Africa’s recent history, it was still rare for a Black person to own a car.
Themes
Mandela and Winnie are driven in the car to Cape Town for a Grand Parade. They stop to visit Dullah Omar, and Mandela gets a phone call from Desmond Tutu. Mandela then leaves and gives a speech to a large crowd about how apartheid must end. Although he criticizes de Klerk, he calls him “a man of integrity,” which he later regrets saying after seeing some of de Klerk’s actions. Mandela would like to take a leisurely trip to Transkei, but the ANC has plans for him first.
The parade that Mandela participates in shows how widespread support for him in the country is—something that the government tried to hide from him while he was in prison. The wave of support that Mandela receives after getting his freedom vindicates his many years of optimism and his idea that, when given the chance, many people will turn out to reject injustice and discrimination.
Themes
