Long Walk to Freedom | Teen Ink

Long Walk to Freedom

August 2, 2012
By Anonymous

Do you like books that are easy to set your mind into, then you should definitely read “Long Walk to Freedom.” This autobiography is relative to our country’s history because not only did his kind of situation happen in Africa but in the United States as well. This man went through it all, he went from having nothing to being wealthy enough to get an education, one in which was very rare back then especially for an African-American.

It was fairly easy to put yourself into Nelson Mandela’s shoes; there are parts in the book where one can see oneself doing the actions he’s doing. Rather it’s playing games he did as a kid or working to improve what he knows best, studying to fight for his rights. The way the book was written it feels like if you’re right there by his side, you can clearly understand and see what’s going on. Yet there are some parts in the book where you just want to drop it. The book gets boring I guess one can say because he talks a lot about laws and how Africa’s government worked. Also they book would go from Nelson doing one thing to suddenly he’s somewhere else doing something else.

Reading about the way he was growing up makes one feel thankful for what they have, it makes one be more appreciative of what one has. You get to also read on who was with him throughout his fight, rather it was someone who had also been banned from places with him or someone who supported him and agreed with him. Each chapter is something new that was happening in Mr. Mandela’s life, from his childhood, family, career, or freedom fights. Not only is it just making one thankful but also making one realize that while one can get a free education they should, because once one has to pay for school, things become a lot tighter.

Due to him being African he does use some words that one is not familiar with, the book itself I feel as if it was written for older people because it had difficult words. Even though the book has tough vocabulary the book has valuable lessons within. I like this book because it’s easy to relate to our very own country, one can easily say that all over the world people have been discriminated due to their skin color.

I think this book should be assigned to students in American History classes during the civil rights section. This book has similar events where Africans had to fight for their rights from the whites, how some would purposely sit in the “whites only” section.

I like this book because it reminds me of our very own history. I personally enjoy books that have realistic events. It will immediately make one thankful and appreciative of what one has, rather it’s a pair of shoes or rights. Not all over the world are their rights for everyone, but people like Nelson Mandela (who wasn’t fighting in our country) make it possible for us.



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