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Chapter 42
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
During the early part of his hiding, Mandela lives in a White suburb called Berea with the family of Wolfie Kodesh, a reporter who fought in World War II. He stays inside almost all day, even running in place for an hour for exercise. Mandela leaves after some passersby discover Mandela has left milk out to make amasi (a type of sour milk), since a White person wouldn’t usually make this. Mandela moves on to a doctor’s house in Johannesburg.
Mandela’s mistake with the amasi shows how in hiding, even the smallest actions can have consequences. It also shows how Mandela can’t help being who he is (making the milk that he had as a child), and that for this reason, hiding doesn’t come naturally to him. This once again shows Mandela’s honest nature.
Themes
