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Chapter 43
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
In October, Mandela then moves on to Liliesleaf Farm in a northern suburb of Johannesburg, where he poses as a caretaker for a house waiting for his master to return. Mandela occasionally has visitors who help him with planning MK. Eventually the White allies Arthur Goldreich and Mr. Jelliman move onto the farm, with Mandela posing as their servant. Mandela generally enjoys his time at the farm. He is, however, haunted by an incident when he tried to prove his marksmanship by shooting a sparrow with an air rifle, and Arthur Goldreich’s young son started crying, saying that now the bird’s mom will be sad.
In some ways the farm is a reprieve for Mandela because it reminds him of his rural childhood. Still, the threat of danger hangs over Mandela’s time at the farm, as his practice with the air rifle suggests. Mandela’s reaction to killing the bird shows that he regrets violence, even when it’s not against a human, once again emphasizing how his role in leading the military group MK is out of reluctant necessity.
Themes
