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Chapter 61
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 learns all the prison regulations and tries to use them against the guards, like when they try to make him take a photo but fail to provide the proper authorization. He only allows one prison photo from a sympathetic journalist, because he believes prison photos can be demeaning. People from as far away as Britain and America come to see the prison and its conditions.
Mandela’s hesitance to being photographed shows how conscious he is about his image, even in dark times like when he’s imprisoned. This consideration about his image shows how Mandela is still thinking about the broader liberation movement, even at a time when he is experiencing his own personal struggles.
Themes
