Metaphor of Self : Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom

Abstract

An Autobiography reflects the historical and cultural milieu of the writer’s times. However, when the author happens to be Nelson Mandela, the autobiography takes on more significance because it becomes an indispensible historical document of South Africa’s long struggle with apartheid. The character which is represented here is “iconic” as well as “indexical” and is a metonymic representation of the national character. Nelson Mandela’s inspiring life, contained in his Long Walk to Freedom, bears testimony to his epic struggle to free his countrymen from the shackles of dehumanization, humiliation and disillusionment at the hands of white supremacy. But, most important, it also embodies the evolution and spiritual progress of a man, who had been mythologized as an anarchist and a revolutionary, into one of reconciliation and compromise and who used his experiences in prison to learn the “ true secrets of leadership” (Sampson). The book contains the essential ingredients of autobiographical writing but what makes it different from other books of its kind is that it combines nation and narration.