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Chapter 100
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 holds his first press conference, where he talks about his release and continues to say that armed struggle and peaceful negotiations can go hand in hand. He makes clear that White people also have an important role to play in the liberation struggle, promising that anyone who opposes apartheid can join his movement. He spends the night with Winnie at their old address, but he sleeps uneasily due to the loud crowd outside.
Mandela’s statements once he gets out of prison remain consistent with the sorts of things he was saying way back before he first got arrested. Even after his long imprisonment, he remains convinced that unity is possible and the best way forward. The crowd outside the window of Mandela and Winnie’s apartment is a reminder to him of the tremendous pressure on him to be a good leader, given how many supporters he now has. His hope, it seems, has been infectious.
Themes
