Jharkhand Board Class 10 English Notes | Nelson Mandela : Long Walk to freedom Solutions Chapter 2
―Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela
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Questions on Extract
Read the following passages and answer the questions that
follow each:―
Extract-1. A few moments later we all lifted our eyes in awe
as a spectacular array of South African jets, helicopters and troop
carriers roared in perfect formation over the Union Buildings. It
was not only a display of pinpoint precision and military force,
but a demonstration of the military's loyalty to democracy, to a
new government that had been freely and fairly elected. Only
moments before, the highest generals of the South African defence
force and police, their chests bedecked with ribbons and medals
from days gone by, saluted me and pledged their loyalty. I was not
unmindful of the fact that not so many years before they would not
have saluted but arrested me. Finally a chevron of Impala jets left
a smoke trail of the black, red, green, blue and gold of the new
South African flag. [JAC 2010 (C)]
Q. (a) Why was there such a display of jets, helicopters, troop
carriers etc?
(b) What did the highest generals do?
(c) What could they have done to the author earlier?
(d) What did the smoke trail of Impala jets symbolise?
(e) Find a word from the passage which means 'decorated
with:
Ans.(a) It was there to celebrate the installation of a new govt. in
South Africa.
(b) They saluted the author as the new President to be sworn
in.
(c) They could have arrested him.
(d) It symbolised the new national flag of South Africa.
(e) 'bedecked'.
Extract-2. That is when I joined the African Congress, and
that is when the hunger for my own freedom became the greater
hunger for the freedom of my people. It was this desire for the
freedom of my people to live their lives with dignity and self-
respect that animated my life, that transformed a frightened young
man into a bold one, that drove a law-abiding attorney to become
a criminal, that turned a family-loving husband into a man without
a home, that forced a life-loving man to live like a monk. I am no
more virtuous self-sacrificing than the next man, but I found
that I could not even enjoy the poor and limited freedoms I was
allowed when I knew my people were not free. Freedom is
indivisible; the chains on anyone of my people were the chains on
all of them, the chains on all of my people were the chains on me.
Q. (a) When did the author join the African National Congress?
(b) What kind of freedom did the author want for his people?
(c) How did he look at life before he became a kind of a monk?
(d) Why couldn't he enjoy his freedoms?
(e) Find a word from the passage which means 'changed'.
Ans.(a) When he saw that freedom was taken from him.
(b) It was the freedom to live life with dignity and self-respect.
(c) He loved it very much.
(d) He couldn't enjoy his freedoms because he saw that his
own people were not free.
(e) 'transformed'
Extract-3. A few moments later we all lifted our eyes in awe
as a spectacular array of South African jets, helicopters and troop
carriers roared in perfect formation over the Union buildings. It
was not only a display of pinpoint precision and military force,
but a demonstration of the military's loyalty to democracy, to a
new government that had been freely and fairly elected. Only
moments before, the highest generals of the South African defence
force and police, their chests bedecked with ribbons and medals
from days gone by, saluted me and pledged their loyalty. I was
not unmindful of the fact that not so many years before they
would not have saluted but arrested me. Finally a chevron of
Impala jets left a smoke trail of the black, red, green, blue and
gold of the new South African flag.
Q. (a) Why was there a display of jets helicopters, troop carriers
etc.?
(b) What did the highest generals do?
(c) What could they have done to the author earlier?
(d) What did the smoke trail of Impala jets symbolise?
(e) Find a word from the passage which means 'decorated
with'.
Ans.(a) Such a display was to demonstrate the loyalty to the
installation of a new Government in South Africa.
(b) They saluted Nelson Mandela as the new President to be
sworn in.
(c) Earlier they would have arrested him.
(d) It symbolised the new national flag of South Africa.
(c) 'bedecked'.
Long Type Questions and Answer
Q.1. How does Nelson Mandela describe the scene of the
inauguration?
Ans. Nelson Mandela describes the inauguration very
graphically. It is 10th May-bright and clear. The inauguration is
taking place in the lovely sandstone amphitheatre. It is formed by
the Union Buildings in Pretoria. It is now the site of a rainbow-like
gathering of different colours and nations. There are world leaders
Sitting all around. Great personalities and other freedom fighters
like Mr. Dr. Klerk, Thabo Mbeki are to be swom in. There sit the
highest military and police generals also. They have medals and
ribbons on their chests. Helicopters and jets fly in the sky. They
leave a smoke trail of the black, red, green, blue and gold colours
of a new South African flag. There is thus much hustle and bustle.
Q. 2. The author says that on the day of the inauguration,
he was overwhelmed with a sense of history. What did he think
of the first and last decades of the century?
Ans. The author's mind went to history. He realised that in
the first decade of the twentieth century, the white rulers of South
Africa patched up their differences. They built a system of racial
domination against the blacks of their own land. This became the
basis of the harshest, cruel and inhumane societies of the world.
People were repressed cruelly. In the last decade of this century
such a cruel system was overturned forever. It was replaced by
another system. It recognised the rights and freedoms of all people
regardless of the colour of their skin. The day of political
independence came after many sacrifices of the blacks.
Q. 3. What does the author think of the black people who
fought for the country's political independence ?
Ans. The author says that the country's political freedom is
due to the great sacrifices of thousands of his own people. These
can't be repaid. He thinks himself the sum of all those African
patriots. He regrets that he won't be able to thank them. He states
that the policy of apartheid greatly wounded the people.
Recovering from that was not possible. It would take centuries to
heal. But decades of oppression and brutality produced great
freedom fighters like Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulus, Luthulis,
Dadoo, Fischer, Sobukwe etc. They were the men of courage,
wisdom and large-heartedness. They really underwent great
sufferings for the political independence of the country.
Q. 4. What does Nelson Mandela say about courage, love
and hate?
Ans. Nelson Mandela says that he learned the meaning of
courage from the comrades in the freedom struggle. They risked
their lives for an idea. They stood up to attacks and torture without
breaking. They showed strength and elasticity. These can't be
imagined. He means courage not as the absence of fear but the
victory over it. The brave man is one who conquers fear.
He says that no man is born bating another man due to skin
colour or religion. Love is that emotion that comes more naturally
to the human heart than its opposite. He saw a light of humanity in
the guards when they were tortured in prison. Both the oppressor
and the oppressed are the prisoners of hatred. They take away each
other's freedom.
Q 5. What two obligations is the author talking about?
What does he feel of them ? [JAC 2018 (A)]
Ans. The author says that every man has twin obligations
One obligation is to his family, to his parents, to his wife and
children. The second obligation is to his own people, his
community and his country. In a civil and humane society, a man
Should fulfil these obligations. But it was impossible to do so in
South Africa. There a man who tried to live like a human being
was punished.He was isolated from his family and home.He was
forced to live a life separately. He lived a life of a rebel. In the
beginning the author did not put people above his family. But
when he tried to serve them he was prevented to fulfil his twin
obligations.
Q. 6. How did the author feel for freedom as a boy and as a
student?
Ans. The author says that he was not born with a hunger to
be free. He was born free. He wanted to run freely in the fields. He
wanted to swim, to roast mealies and ride the bulls. As long as he
obeyed his parents and customs of his tribe he was not troubled by
the laws of man or God. But soon he found freedom as an illusion.
He found that freedom had already been taken from him. As a
student he wanted to stay out at night and to read what he pleased.
He yearned for the basic and honourable freedoms of standing on
his own legs. But such a freedom was not given to him. He soon
realised that he was not free.
Q. 7. When did the author hunger for freedom? What are
his views about freedom, the oppressor and the oppressed?
[JAC 2009(S)]
Or, How did Mandela's 'hunger for freedom' change his
life. [JAC 2013(A)]
Ans. When freedom was reduced from the author he felt
much for it. He saw that his brothers and sisters were not free. He
joined the African National Congress. His hunger for freedom
became the greater hunger for the freedom of his people. It was the
desire to live lives with dignity and self-respect. It made him a
man without a home. He was a monk. But he realized that freedom
is indivisible. The chains for his own people were chains for him
also.
The author says that both the oppressor and the oppressed
deserve freedom. The oppressor is a prisoner of hatred. He is locked
behind the bars of hatred and narrow-mindedness. The oppressed
has no freedom. Both need humanity because they are robbed of
it.
Q. 8. How did Mandela's 'hunger for freedom' change his
life?
Ans. Mandela started yearning for the end of oppression and
suffering of his people. This hunger for freedom completely
changed his life. From a frightened man, he became a bold one:
from a law abiding attorncy, he engaged himself into activities
which were considered unlawful by the oppressive white
government.
Mandela was a married man with family, but he started taking
an active part in the struggle to end apartheid. This kept him
away from his family and he lived the life of a monk. It was not
possible for him to do the duties of a brother, a son and a husband.
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