9th Run: On Nelson Mandela, Autobiography and Uniformity

We read about Nelson Mandela, just an excerpt from his diary.

By the way, his diary can be found online. Full version.

The spesific extract was The Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, Part Eight: Robben Island: The Dark Years.

There is something worth pursuing in South Africa; breaking up the White hegemony, the Arpatheid. There is something powerful about this narrative. Yes indeed, it is seen through only from one perspective; Nelson Mandela's. But there is something unique to see from his perspective. It isn't because he's automatically deemed to be a honest, trustworthy narrator (as how readers will do question whether a character is trustworthy or not) or not but the power in describing the details and other people. That made him a unique narrator of his autobiography.

You see, compared to other autobiographies, Nelson Mandela's autobiography has a special flavour which one will rarely see in other autobiographies. It is the quality of perception, having perceiving eyes (and mind).

In autobiographies, people and personas have the natural tendency to put themselves automatically in the position of the protagonist. Others are automatically vilified, or having tendency to be villified.

Nelson Mandela doesn't put himself that way. He acknowledges that before he fought for an anti-apatheid system, he was challenging the system by seeking a replacement through another racial system. He acknowledged that he has changed, and this change brought forward his conviction that South Africa must be freed from any form of racist government (be it segregative or discriminative in nature), and that makes his autobiography a good insight about his mind and thought processes.

But in this chapter, one very interesting theme was about the dressing and uniform. To sum up, Nelson Mandela demanded that every prisoners should have a pair of long trousers. When he was finally offered one, he turned it down when he learnt that others have not been given the same treatment. That was because the uniform that he had will make him different. To be different would mean he'll be 'special'. And being 'special' doesn't always necessarily mean a good thing.

In this part of the world, often leaders wear, eat, and live differently from other common folks. But Nelson Mandela insisted that he should be treated equally. Note, he wasn't entirely all out angsty about every white warden. He was sympathethic to some few who where equavalently sympathethic to him.

He does not easily vilify others, or allow others to break his spirit. That alone is good enough to indicate why he is a good leader. And from his narrative, he manages to have me reading from that perspective; irregardless that how others are, we must strive to give the benefit of neutrality.