A Long Walk to Freedom

Final Blog Post

After reading the incredible novel by David peltzer, The Child Called “It”, I decided I wanted to take a look at an international role model and freedom-fighter, Nelson Mandela. The novel takes place in Southern Africa during the age of apartheid. Apartheid was the segregation of people due to race. It allowed the white people to receive several opportunities that the blacks would never have in their entire lifetime. They were constantly segregated; the blacks even had to use their own restrooms. Everything the blacks had was significantly worse in quality when compared to what the whites had. What angered the native South Africans most, was that they were being degraded and deprived of rights in their own land. This was their country, and yet they weren’t allowed to vote for their own leader.

In his novel, A Long Walk to Freedom, Madiba (meaning “leader” as the people of South Africa call him) explains the struggles he faced as he stayed in the Robben Island prison for 27 years. The Robben Island prison was the most secured prison in all of South Africa and the nature of it was very similar to Alcatraz in that it was completely isolated from continental South Africa.  Mandela was put into this prison because of apparent treason to South Africa when he only desired to improve relations between the blacks and whites and end apartheid.

Madiba describes the challenges he faced and the living hell that he was put through in his time in the Robben Island prison. After he had been released from prison, he had felt furious. His entire life as a young man had been wasted as he rotted in a prison for trying to fix the evil that had been prevalent in southern Africa. Mandela had spent about four years after his time in prison isolated, as he was so angered. He had been looked up to by most of the native South Africans, as he was fighting for their rights. So, when he was released from prison, he was continuously asked to take over the position as president of South Africa. He describes how he would wait until his time was over, and how he would attempt to instill in the prisoners an idea that peace takes precedence over violence and reason takes precedence over impulse. This idea was extremely odd to many of the black prisoners as they feel that they should have revenge on the individuals who had done them so much harm. They felt that violence and rage was the only way to deal with the injustice that they faced on a day to day basis simply because of the color of skin they were born with. Mandela instituted the ANC(African National Conference) after his release from the Robben Island prison which was composed of black men who desired freedom from discrimination. He became President of South Africa in 1994, at the age of 76.

Madiba’s incredible story can inspire a generation. His death was a loss to all but that does not mean his legacy will not live on.

A sign segregating the whites and blacks by assigning them specific lavatories.

A Child Called "It"

A Child Called "It"

      This week I decided to pick up the nonfiction autobiography, A Child Called "It" by David Pelzer. It was actually a fantastic novel, as I was able to finish the book over the course of this week. It is quite a short novel, yet it is equally as heartbreaking as a lengthy text like Romeo and Juliet (lol). The novel stars David Pelzer himself, and shows readers his childhood life. It takes place in California, and young David has two incredibly unstable parents. His mother was an abusive drunk who treated her son cruelly. She physically and emotionally abused him, she starved him, and she did unspeakable and horrifying things that a young child should never have to go through. She didn't think of him as her son, she thought of him as her slave. She was unpredictable and cruel, and the only thing that kept him alive was his unfaltering hope for someone to love him.

     He was never able to tell anyone about his problem at home, as it required an enormous amount of courage and strength to do so. So when he was able to announce his unfortunate story to an officer, it was a major event. He had spent his entire childhood being hit and starved and burnt and yet he still loved his mother with all of his heart. At one point, he was staying with his aunt, and he ran away from her home because he missed his mother. He truly loved her, although she practically put her own son's arm in an oven. Thinking about this child's treatment is excruciating, it's so horrible that such an innocent young boy was forced to live his life as a boy who wanted nothing more than to be loved.

     In general, the novel was quite inspiring yet very heartbreaking. The fact that a pure young child like David was forced to be afraid of his mothers voice, proves that we should all be so grateful for what we have. We constantly ask for new clothes, or electronics, or whatever it is that has momentarily caught our attention, when there are kids who want nothing more than a warm meal every now and then. It shows that humanity becomes greedy; the more we are given, the more we want. However, we shouldn't be materialistic and obsessed over something as simple as a new pair of shoes. We should all think the way David thinks, that very little is required to make one happy. Love induces happiness, and we should always remember that.

Abuse can be both physical and emotional. It's quite horrifying what someone can do to a young child.