Class 10 English First Flight Chapter 2 Nelson Mandela : Long Walk to Freedom

Thinking about the Text

Question 1.Why did such a large number of international leaders attend the inauguration ? What did it signify the triumph of?

Answer: To be part of the inauguration, international leaders expressed solidarity with the international community for the idea of an end to apartheid. It was the significance of the victory of good over evil and a tolerant society without discrimination..

Question 2.What does Mandela mean when he says he is “simply the sum of all those African patriots”, who had gone before him ?

Answer: By saying that he is only the sum of all those African patriots, Mandela would like to pay his tribute to all those who laid down their lives for freedom. He says that he is grateful to those who went before him because those heroes of the past paved the way for him to cooperate and unite. Therefore, he could try to come to power to bring equality with the support of his people.

Question 3.Would you agree that the “depths of oppression” create “heights of character”? How does Mandela illustrate this? Can you add your own examples to this argument ?

Answer: I agree with the statement that the depth of oppression builds the heights of character. Nelson Mandela exemplified this by citing great heroes of South Africa such as Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu and others who were inspired to sacrifice their lives in the long war of independence.

India is full of such examples, we had a galaxy of leaders of great character during our freedom struggle and the suppression of British rule created and encouraged people of great character like Mahatma Gandhi, Lala Lajpat Rai, JL Nehru, Chandrashekhar Azad, Sardar Bhagat did. Singh and many others. If we compare them with the quality of political leaders of India today, Nelson Mandela seems to be quite right;

Question 4.How did Mandela’s understanding of freedom change with age and experience?

With age and experience, Mandela understood the true meaning of freedom. As a young boy, he thought he was born free and believed that as long as he obeyed his father and followed the customs of his tribe, he was free in every possible way. As he grew older, the freedom to raise a family and the freedom to earn a living began to dominate his thoughts. Slowly he realized that he was selfish in childhood. He gradually understood that it was not only his freedom, but that the freedom of all blacks was being curtailed. It was freedom from fear and prejudice. Age and experience broadened his vision of freedom.

Question 5.How did Mandela’s ‘hunger for freedom’ change his life?

Answer: Mandela realized in his youth that it was not just his freedom, but that the freedom of all blacks was being curtailed. It turned a fearful man into a fearless rebel.

He sacrificed the comforts of an orderly family life to fight for a greater cause. He joined the African National Congress and it changed him from a fearful young man to a courageous young man who fought against racial prejudice.

Thinking about Language

Questions 1. There are nouns in the text (formation, government) which are formed from the corresponding verbs (form, govern) by suffixing – (at)ion or ment. There may be change in the spelling of some verb – noun pairs ; such as rebel, rebellion; constitute, constitution.
Make a list of such pairs of nouns and verbs in the text

Noun	Verb
Rebellion	Rebel
Constitution	Constitute

Question-2. Read the paragraph below. Fill in the blanks with the noun forms of the verbs in brackets.

Martin Luther King’s _____________(contribute) to our history as an outstanding leader began when he came to the _______________(assist) of Rosa Parks, a seamstress who refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger. In those days American Blacks were confined to positions of second class citizenship by restrictive laws and customs. To break these laws would mean____________(subjugate) and _____________(humiliate) by the police and the legal system. Beatings, _______________(imprison) and sometimes death awaited those who defied the System. Martin Lither King’s tactics of protest involved non-violent____________  (resist) to racial injustice.

 

Ans: Martin Luther King’s contribution (contribute) to our history as an outstanding leader began when he came to the assistance (assist) of Rosa Parks, a seamstress who refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger. In those days American Blacks were confined to positions of second-class citizenship by restrictive laws and customs. To break these laws would mean subjugation(subjugation) and humiliation(humiliation) by the police and the legal system. Beatings, imprisonment(imprison) and sometimes death awaited those who defied the System. Martin Luther King’s tactics of protest involved non-violent resistance (resist) to racial injustice.

3. Match, the italicised phrases in Column A with the phrase nearest meaning in Column B.
(Hint: First look for the sentence in the text which the phrase in column A occurs.)

A		B
1. I was not unmindful of the fact.	(i)	had not forgotten : was aware of the fact
	(ii)	was not careful about the fact
	(iii)	forgot or was not aware of the fact
2. When my comrades and I were pushed to our limits	(i)	pushed by the guards to the wall
	(ii)	took more than our share of beatings
	(iii)	felt that we could not endure the suffering any longer
3. To reassure me and keep me going	(i)	make me go on walking
	(ii)	help me continue to live in hope in this very difficult situation
	(iii)	make me remain without complaining
4. The basic and honourable freedoms of… earning my keep…	(i)	earning enough money to live on
	(ii)	keeping what I earned
	(iii)	getting a good salary

Answers:

1. Ans:

Noun	Verb
Rebellion	Rebel
Constitution	Constitute
Formation	Form
Government	Govern
Obligation	Oblige
Transformation	Transform
Discrimination	Discriminate
Deprivation	Deprive
Demonstration	Demonstrate
Oppression	Oppress
Imagination	Imagine