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Chapter 72
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 and the others try to resist Badenhorst. They meet with him, and he says he’ll take their complaints into consideration. After a prisoner is severely beaten, Mandela speaks on behalf of all the prisoners at a meeting with some judges. After this, Badenhorst seems more restrained, and within three months, he’s transferred away. Mandela is absolutely shocked when, before he leaves, Badenhorst says he wishes Mandela good luck and seems sincere. Mandela believes that Badenhorst only acted brutally because he was part of a brutish, inhuman system.
Mandela’s final conversation with Badenhorst helps to illustrate why Mandela remains so determined to negotiate and find common ground with people, even those who seem like mortal enemies. Mandela’s belief that systems are more at fault for oppression than people is yet another example of his optimistic attitude. He sees his enemies as fellow humans and blames their flaws largely on the situation they live in.
Themes
