i. The book ends with a chapter named Mandela's Gift, which delineates what Stengel took from Mandela the man, after having worked with him so closely. What do you take from the book, in terms of your own life?
I usually value to a great extent those virtues which I lack. Nelson Mandela was indeed a man of virtue, but I had to underline three of them, I would choose:
1. Love of the Mankind
Mandela must not be considered the father of the black people, but the fighter for equality. He accomplished the death of the racial segregation in his country. In some ways, he spent almost 28 years in prison for this, but I do not think it was something that hurt him. Stengel said that he left his own family aside. However, he can be portrayed as an incarnation or messiah, who had to be an aid for those in difficulty. The concept ubuntu, a person is a person through other people, has its personification in Nelson Mandela.
2. Trust me
Mandela was a man with no folds. He was the person he seemed to be. I remember being 7 years old, the first time I saw him on Informe Semanal. I had not ever heard of him, but I immediately knew he was a great person. When you behold a picture of him, you become aware of the kindness. I do not remember a person with such a captivating, but, at the same time, simple smile. He must have been the friend everyone would like to have.
3. The Measured Man
In hundreds of situations he could have got on his nerves due to harsh events happening to him. Nevertheless, he seemed calm all the time, as in a kind of Zen state. This feature would him the possibility to see difficult questions from other angles and lead to the best solutions to them. I wonder how many Mississippis he did count during his entire life!
Saturday 11 January 2014
MANDELA'S WAY
c. Choose, out of the fifteen chapters of the book, the three ones that interest you more and explain why.
The chapters 8 (Know your enemy), 9 (Keep your rivals close) and 14 (It's always both) are the ones I have enjoyed the most.
First, it is narrated how Mandela tried to understand and discover his political opponents' weaknesses. Being imprisoned, Mandela learned the language of his oppressor, the Afrikaans, and the history of the Afrikaners. He would say that on addressing an enemy, you have to go beyond the rational and, literally, "you go straight into their hearts." It was both an act of persuasion and, at the same time, he converted some enemies into his allies. The parallelism he drew, in Afrikaans, between the submission of the Afrikaner to the British during the Boer war and the apartheid in front of the South African president, P. W. Botha, was awesome and resulted in the release of Walter Sisulu. Being the first South African president elected democratically, he turned to sports, specially rugby, as way of healing the nation. He wanted to convey that South Africa would be one, that there would be justice for the black minority and that there would not be any revenge and so the white population did not have to be scared.
In second place, Mandela was said not to lose track of his opponents, even his friendly ones. He did not make a god out of loyalty. That is what happened to Mandela's relation to Bantu Holomisa and Chris Hani. They were immature and visceral. Mandela behaved as a father for them, teaching them to make decisions on the head rather than the blood. The Zulu leader Mangosuthu Butelezi is portrayed as an ally to become an enemy. Therefore, Mandela, when appointed South African president, invited him into first cabinet as minister of home affairs as he was so dangerous for Mandela that he needed to "keep an eye on him."
Last but not least, Mandela the answer to optional questions was almost always both. In a dilemma all explanations might be true. A "both" or a "maybe" is closer to the truth than a "yes" or "no". When he was released, he tried to solve a problem reconciling both sides. Sometimes it was not possible to make everyone happy. For instance, in his negotiations for the country's first government, he made compromises in order to come to an agreement, that is, a unity government with the National Party, in which F. W. de Klerk was vice president in spite of knowing that he had been a traitor to him several times.
In all, Mandela constantly had to tolerate a lot of people who meant to do harm to him; however, he gave them back kindness and confidence. That is for most people impossible. It is an act that requires, according to Richard Stengel empathy and imagination. But the reward is something that can fairly be described as wisdom.
The chapters 8 (Know your enemy), 9 (Keep your rivals close) and 14 (It's always both) are the ones I have enjoyed the most.
First, it is narrated how Mandela tried to understand and discover his political opponents' weaknesses. Being imprisoned, Mandela learned the language of his oppressor, the Afrikaans, and the history of the Afrikaners. He would say that on addressing an enemy, you have to go beyond the rational and, literally, "you go straight into their hearts." It was both an act of persuasion and, at the same time, he converted some enemies into his allies. The parallelism he drew, in Afrikaans, between the submission of the Afrikaner to the British during the Boer war and the apartheid in front of the South African president, P. W. Botha, was awesome and resulted in the release of Walter Sisulu. Being the first South African president elected democratically, he turned to sports, specially rugby, as way of healing the nation. He wanted to convey that South Africa would be one, that there would be justice for the black minority and that there would not be any revenge and so the white population did not have to be scared.
In second place, Mandela was said not to lose track of his opponents, even his friendly ones. He did not make a god out of loyalty. That is what happened to Mandela's relation to Bantu Holomisa and Chris Hani. They were immature and visceral. Mandela behaved as a father for them, teaching them to make decisions on the head rather than the blood. The Zulu leader Mangosuthu Butelezi is portrayed as an ally to become an enemy. Therefore, Mandela, when appointed South African president, invited him into first cabinet as minister of home affairs as he was so dangerous for Mandela that he needed to "keep an eye on him."
Last but not least, Mandela the answer to optional questions was almost always both. In a dilemma all explanations might be true. A "both" or a "maybe" is closer to the truth than a "yes" or "no". When he was released, he tried to solve a problem reconciling both sides. Sometimes it was not possible to make everyone happy. For instance, in his negotiations for the country's first government, he made compromises in order to come to an agreement, that is, a unity government with the National Party, in which F. W. de Klerk was vice president in spite of knowing that he had been a traitor to him several times.
In all, Mandela constantly had to tolerate a lot of people who meant to do harm to him; however, he gave them back kindness and confidence. That is for most people impossible. It is an act that requires, according to Richard Stengel empathy and imagination. But the reward is something that can fairly be described as wisdom.
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