Invictus

Invictus: impossible to defeat, unconquered, in the sense "you can beat someone physically, but you can never break what they think is true."

27 years in a tiny cramped cell, working long hours in hard work every day. How can that not break your spirit? People would go insane, wouldn't they? But then, why didn't Nelson Mandela? There is an obvious answer, he ,quite simply, really wanted to change South Africa. But still, I don't think that anyone could ever survive for 27 years like that. Perhaps it was the poem that he always kept with him, that made everything seem possible. The poem to him, was probably a sign of hope- and a sign that no one could break his spirit. Without the idea that anyone could break his mind, he could continue living normally in a place where everything was hopeless.

So does that mean that your mind is only broken if you think it can be? The key to not giving up is not thinking it is possible to give up? Or is it merely a sense of hope, that your dream might suddenly turn around and go your way? Or does Mandela's poem symbolize something completely different to him?