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Chapter 26
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
There is a new election in 1958, where 3 million White people can vote but 13 million African people still can’t. ANC tries to organize a strike around the election, but it fails to come together. The Nationalist Party wins more votes than they did in the previous election. In the aftermath, some wonder whether ANC should have tried more aggressive tactics, but Mandela is skeptical, believing that support is weak if you have to force it.
Mandela cites the population by race of South Africa in order to emphasize how a small group of South Africa’s people is ruling a much larger group who have no say. Mandela is a big believer in democracy, and these numbers help to demonstrate how South Africa’s supposed democracy is really anything but.
Themes
