The Dust Did Roar

To my great shame, I have never read A Long Walk to Freedom.

Growing up in South Africa, the story of Mandela is so wrapped up in the story of the country itself, reading his biography can feel unnecessary. I thought I knew all there was to know about his life.

That’s why I was surprised when, while attending a Sunday morning service at St George’s Cathedral, I was deeply affected by a detail shared by the presiding pastor.

He mentioned a painting drawn by Mandela after his release, in which he illustrated the view from his jail cell on Robben Island. The pastor described the all too familiar silhouette of Devils Peak, Table Mountain, and Signal Hill, that are shown through the bars. But as the pastor quickly noted, and which I had already realised, this is not actually the view one can see from cell 46664. Having been to Robben Island several times, I knew that this window only looked down into the prison courtyard.

I was truly surprised when I found myself tearing up.

Being born and raised in Cape Town, the site of the mountain has always given me a great sense of comfort and safety. When returning from a trip overseas, I never truly felt at home until I could glimpse those green and grey slopes during the car ride back from the airport.

If you lookup the other drawings in this series by Mandela, they all depict various parts of Robben Island, like the harbour or the chapel, in a relatively realistic fashion. Mandela’s choice to depict the view from his cell window as the distant land that he surely hoped to return to one day, struck me very deeply.

I’ve not made it a secret that this year has been a awful one for me, and I have often caught myself during the course of this year, being unable to look ahead and think about the future. I have been so bogged down in the troubles of the present, I was staring at my feet unable to take the next step along the road.

The thought of Madiba choosing to see this symbol of defiance and freedom rather than the confines and hardships of his prison, effected me greatly.

We might not be given a choice in the windows we are given in life, but we are always free to choose the view we see through them.