mandela effect

In his piece, “The Things They Carried”, O’Brien writes “They were signed Love, Martha, but Lieutenant Cross understood that Love was only a way of signing and did not mean what he sometimes pretended it meant.“ Cross acknowledges the superficiality of Martha’s signature, therefore he is reminded repeatedly of the lack of love Martha feels for him. In other words, the perspective in which Cross viewed the letter is how he will remember Martha.

The Nelson Mandela monument from one side appears to be a number of random steel columns vertically standing up, but from the front an outline of Mandel’s profile emerges. However, these are only the physical aspects of the monument.

A significant figure in the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, Nelson Mandela fought the government’s racist policies with nonviolent defiance. The monument was constructed to commemorate the fifty year anniversary of Mandela's arrest. There are exactly fifty steel plates planted into the ground, representing the years since his incarceration. Mandela himself is a symbol of the fight for equality in South Africa. Through the monument, sparks of light surface, representing the political uprisings of the people. Thus, by changing the point of view, an entirely new dimension opens up. 
Created by Marco Cianfanelli, the Nelson Mandela monument is unlike others. Simply stepping from left to right changes the view, so it is the person’s choice whether he or she wants to see Mandela’s face which, in a way, symbolizes freedom, something hidden and waiting to be declared. The movement the viewer makes to see Mandela’s face is the monument forcing them to adjust and change the perspective in which they look. Memorials and monuments are more than the physical aspect; they represent a bigger concept. However, the only way to see the bigger picture is to shift perspective.