Part eight of Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom was titled Robben Island: The Dark Years. Before reading it I had an idea of what life was like in prison, but to my surprise, during and after reading this part, my mind has completely changed to what life was like for Nelson Mandela at Robben Island. It was, in fact, the epitome of dark years.
After the trial, Mandela was in his cell, staring at the ceiling when Colonel Aucamp informed him that he was being transferred “to a place where you will have freedom. You will be able to move around; you’ll see the ocean and the sky, not just gray walls” (Mandela, 381). He was transferred to the iron labyrinth of Pretoria Local along with Walter, Raymond, Govan, Kathy, Andrew, and Elias.
This place was anything but free, liberating, or scenic. During the first few weeks, they were forced to work in utter silence. “Warders walked among us to enforce 
the silence. During those first few weeks, warders from other sections and even other prisons came to stare at us as if we were a collection of rare caged animals” (Mandela, 385).
The detailed descriptions that Mandela portrays in this part are heartbreaking. The warders and authorities gave the prisoners no rights. They strove to make each prisoner’s life miserable. These are the parts that stood out to me the most – the terrible, dire conditions that Mandela and the other political prisoners lived through while at Robben Island.
“Prison is designed to break one’s spirit and destroy one’s resolve. To do this, the authorities attempt to exploit every weakness, demolish every initiative, negate all signs of individuality – all with the idea of stamping out that spark that makes each of us human and each of us who we are” (Mandela, 390).
They were given distasteful, nearly inedible food to eat once every day. The warders gave them short trousers to wear, signifying that they were “boys” and not men. It wasn’t until they united and protested for longer trousers, better food, blankets, and a place to study that the conditions at the prison got any better.
In addition to being treated like animals, “the racial divide on Robben Island was absolute: there were no black warders, and no white prisoners” (Mandela, 387). Racism existed everywhere – outside and inside the prison, Mandela found himself fighting for injustice in every aspect of his life.
Mandela went two years without seeing his wife. He had no physical or emotional contact with Winnie since 
the first time she visited him at the island in 1964. “One wonders: What has happened to my wife and children, to my mother and my sisters?” (Mandela, 400)
This directly relates to South Africa today because there are still prisons today that treat prisoners unjustly. Political prisoners should never be treated the way Nelson and the others were. Although there has been a significant transformation within the South African prison system, there are still prisons that treat the inmates like animals.
I do not believe by any circumstance that political prisoners, who strive for equal rights and stand up for their beliefs should be treated the way they were. I believe that every single person should have equal rights to portray their ideas, beliefs, and values and to fight for those rights without being sentenced to imprisonment.
QU South Africa 