Question

what did being free mean to mandela as the different stage of life?

Answer 1

Nelson Mandela is remembered today as the most important personality in the history of Modern South Africa and one of the most well-known Africans on the planet.
For over 3 decades, he fought against the racist government, dominated by White South Africans which landed him in jail for more than 20 years.
His initial struggle wasn't as radical. As a young man, he only asked for equal rights in terms of elections and job opportunities. However, as the government grew more racist, his demands included a complete overhaul of the whole system to provide a government that represented every race, religion, creed, caste in the country.

Answer 2

As a boy, Mandela enjoyed many of freedom. He was not restricted to go anywhere. He used to run freely in the fields and to swim in the stream in his village. For him, freedom at this time was restricted to the freedom of his own. As a student, he wanted freedom only for himself. He wanted the freedom to study, stay away at the night and to have the freedom to go anywhere. The definition of courage for Mandela was to win and attain victory over fear. For him, the absence of fear was not the meaning of being courageous. He considered men to be brave when they had the courage to conquer fear. He does not wanted a condition in the society where the men would be fearless.