Nelson Mandela and “The Lord of the Flies”

I vividly remember Mandela’s election in 1994; in the 70s and 80s, I was aware that he was in prison for his activities opposing apartheid, but I did not know a great deal about him. Consequently, I have listened over the past week with special interest to details of his life before he became president. I was struck by the comments made about him by a fellow prisoner, who said that during the 27 years Mandela was incarcerated he never lost the dignity that was characteristic of him. The man said that prison hardened or coarsened, or made slovenly or apathetic, most inmates, but not Mandela — that Mandela always maintained his own high standards of cleanliness, dress, and behavior, and that he never lost his self-respect or respect for others. Of course, we all know that he came out of prison not with a heart filled with hatred but with a willingness to forgive the people who had oppressed him and his people and who had taken years of his liberty from him. He worked tirelessly for freedom, democracy, and reconciliation.

“The Lord of Flies” suggests that we are all capable of a darkness of the heart, and I believe that is truly part of human nature. But Mandela shows me that we are not all the same, either; that we can make a choice to resist our corruption. Mandela famously declared in his later years that he was no saint, unless, he said, by “saint” you mean a sinner who keeps trying. The brutality of apartheid and prison did not destroy Mandela’s humanity, leaving him angry or vengeful. Score one for humanity.