1956 Nelson Mandela example essay topic

The autobiography of Nelson Mandela Long Walk To Freedom is a intriguing account of the tribulations that he endured throughout his life time. This is a life work that spans from the childhood of a country kid to the unjust trial and incarceration of a political prisoner. By writing this book Mamba, Nelson's clan name, fulfilled two purposes the first of which was to inform others of the South African struggle for racial equality, and the second was to inspire other to take up the struggle. Nelson began his book by informing his reader of his ethic association with the Xhosa. His merger beginning as a country boy only gave one indicator of the impact he would make as an instigator of change for his people it was his name Rolihlahla which is commonly taken to mean trouble maker. However from the very start Mandela enjoyed an elevated status in life.

He was born to one of the lesser wives of a Chief, whose lineage is some sort of way connected to the Them bu royal house. In those early years Mandela looked to his father for guidance and inspiration naturally as any son he tried to patent himself after the his father. One could say Mandela inherited his rebellious characteristics from his father. It was his challenge of the status quote in the form of that local magistrate; this in turn caused him to be deprived of his chieftainship and fortune. This was the first but by no means the last time in Mandela life where challenging authority would jeopardizes his lively hood.

Also at this point in the Mandela made an very important point that he personally believes "nurture, rather than nature, is the primary molder of personality". While Nelson was yet a laid of nine, when his father died, it is not clear in the book of what but he asked for tobacco points to the possibility of cancer. Although Nelson attended school while his father was alive it was only after his death, when he was sent to live with the regent in Mghekezweni did the modest country boy's life began to be oriented in such away that would bring it into with his freedom fighter destiny It was here that Mandela first meets Justice, the regents son and future heir, together these two would make the transition from adolescences to manhood. At the age of sixteen along with the other members of his "age / gender group", a concept that holds great significances within the Xhosa cultural, Nelson under went minor surgical procedure known as circumcision. This was suppose to mark the end of childhood and the beginning of manhood. However Mandela remarked that "Looking back, I know that I was not a man that day and would not truly become one for many years".

Nelson eventually finished his education and became a practicing lawyer; however it was his work outside the courtroom that would lead to his subsequent imprisonment. Apartheid a phase first coined by Dr. Daniel Malan, stands for the systematic oppression of the majority African's by the minority of whites in South Africa... This was what the movement stood so firmly against. Mandela was no different, equality he felt surly was virtuous enough to fight for. However it was Mandela's influential position as one of the figure heads within the organization known as the African National Congress or ANC which was responsible for him being charged with treason. On December 5, 1956 Nelson Mandela was arrested at his home in front of the children for the crime of High Treason.

A political activist yes but by no uncertain means was Mandela and his fellow comrades, "coincidently" all members of the ANC who held prominent leadership positions within the organization, the ruthless communist who wanted nothing more than power and wealth as the state try and fail to paint them as. By the time the trial had just reached the preliminary stages the arrest count swelled to one hundred fifty-six which encompassed almost the whole executive leadership of the ANC.