27 pages • 54 minutes read
Nelson MandelaI Am Prepared to Die
Nonfiction | Essay / Speech | Adult | Published in 1964A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Key Figures
Nelson Mandela (The Author)
After spending 27 years in prison for his opposition to apartheid, Nelson Mandela became the first democratically elected president of South Africa. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for his work in ending apartheid, and he is known world-wide for his philosophy of peace.
Mandela was born in 1918, in the Eastern Cape province. He proudly mentions a bit of autobiography in his speech, explaining that he was inspired by his elders’ stories of his ancestors’ wars. He, too, wanted to play his part in the African freedom struggle, although it would look different than that of his ancestors, as he would have to leave the village and a likely chieftaincy to fight oppression on a larger scale.
Mandela also clarifies, at the start of the speech, that he holds a Bachelor of Arts degree and has practiced as an attorney. This accomplishment is especially remarkable given that higher education and skilled professions were largely inaccessible to Black South Africans during Mandela’s early life. He joined the ANC in 1943 and helped to create its Youth League not long thereafter. After the 1960 Sharpeville massacre, Mandela founded Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation), a paramilitary branch of the ANC whose intention was to use force when necessary to protect Black South Africans against the violent oppression of the South African state.
Mandela was released from prison in 1990 as part of negotiations to end apartheid and stop an impending civil war in South Africa. He was South Africa’s acting president from 1994-1999. Also in 1994, he released his best-selling autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom. This book details his freedom struggle and his life in prison, including descriptions of the inhumane treatment he suffered on Robben Island.
Mandela made a peaceful transition possible and advocated for reconciliation in the new “Rainbow Nation.” He passed away in 2013, at age 95.
Oliver Tambo
Oliver Tambo was a key figure in the ANC, and a close ally of Nelson Mandela. He is mentioned in the second paragraph of the speech, as Mandela notes their working partnership of many years. Alongside Mandela and Walter Sisulu, he created the ANC Youth League in 1944, right before the advent of apartheid.
Tambo is one of very few active members of the ANC mentioned in the speech. Several ANC members were on trial on the same charges, including Sisulu himself, and Mandela likely intended to avoid providing evidence against any other ANC members, as his speech does not deny the charges of sabotage.
Tambo was notably the last acting president of the ANC before Mandela took over in 1991, after his release. Tambo acted in the role for 24 years (since 1967), making him a prominent figure in the ANC and the freedom fighting movement.
Like many political opponents, Tambo was banned by the apartheid government, and he was forced into exile to continue his opposition against the government and gather international support. His own return to South Africa coincided with the year of Mandela’s release, as the government declared that the ANC was no longer an illegal organization. Tambo died of natural causes in 1993, right before the country’s first democratic elections. Notably, Johannesburg’s international airport, O. R. Tambo International Airport, is named after him.
Arthur Goldreich
Arthur Goldreich is one of the names that Mandela mentions most frequently in his speech. Goldreich was a Jewish anti-apartheid activist and artist, and he allowed Mandela and other ANC organizers to use his property, Lilliesleaf farm, as a clandestine meeting place. The farm—where Mandela and others were ultimately arrested—is located in the northern suburb of Johannesburg known as Rivonia, which is why the trial is referred to as the Rivonia Trial.
At the point of his capture, Mandela had been hiding from the authorities for years, covertly moving in and out of the country to drum up support from other African nations. When Mandela returned to South Africa, Goldreich offered up the farm as a hide-out spot. Mandela notes that he was living as an outlaw during this time. He wore a disguise and went by the name David Motsamayi.
Despite hiding on Goldreich’s farm, Mandela insists that he and Goldreich had no political association, and that the farm did not act as a headquarters for the ANC or Umkhonto. However, some suggest that Goldreich was an active member in Umkhonto and assisted in the strategic attacks (“Arthur Goldreich.” South African History Online, 22 Jan. 2021). After Mandela was detained, Goldreich had to make his own escape, fleeing to Israel. He was able to return to South Africa in 1994 for a reunion at Lilliesleaf farm, which has since become a museum.
Related Titles
By Nelson Mandela
