At the end of the first paragraph, Mandela writes: "As a Xhosa, I count my years as a man from the date of my circumcision." Yet, at the end of the last chapter, he says, "Looking back, I know that I was not a man that day, and would not become one for many years." Here, Mandela seems to contradict himself. He says he became a man that day and that he did not become a man that day. This apparent contradiction creates an ambiguity in the text, where we are not quite sure what the writer means, and we have to interpret. So what do you think? Is Mandela just contradicting himself? Did Mandela forget what he wrote at the beginning of the chapter? Or is there a way these two statements can be understood so there is no contradiction? Explain your reasoning.