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Chapter 49
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
At Johannesburg Fort, the colonel watching over Mandela is less of a hardliner than some of the others in his party. Mandela has heard stories that an American official with CIA connections tipped off the government about Mandela’s return, but despite the CIA’s role in the politics of other countries, Mandela has never personally found evidence of their involvement in his capture. Mandela is eventually transferred to Pretoria. Mandela begins making plans to bail Sisulu out of prison, believing that unlike Mandela, Sisulu worked more behind the scenes and so a bail attempt is more likely to succeed. Mandela himself thinks about escaping, which in addition to benefiting him personally, would also be a publicity blow against the government. Still, Mandela is reluctant to take risks, since a failed escape might be lethal to MK.
Mandela’s calculations about whether or not to try to bail himself out or to try to escape reflect the difficult decisions that he increasingly has to make as a leader. As is often the case, Mandela ends up having to put the good of others before himself, as he notes that Sisulu is more likely to be successfully bailed out and that a failed escape attempt on Mandela’s part could have negative consequences. Whereas Mandela took risks earlier during his first big trial in court, this caution here seems to reflect a growing awareness about the rising dangers in South Africa.
Themes
