“…my story is not after all about death, but about my escape and Lucia’s; about my mother’s and Maiguru’s entrapment; and about Nyasha’s rebellion…” (p. 1).
In the novel, Nervous Conditions, the reader is introduced to a very traditional Shona family in the 1960s by the teenage protagonist and narrator, Tambudzai Sigauke, from Rhodesia, Zimbabwe. We quickly learn that all is not well with the different branches of this particular family, especially with the women, each being oppressed in their own way, mentioned on page 1, who have to face gender inequality, fight to be heard and fight to receive an education.
Tambudzai’s greatest dilemma is her education. She is motivated and driven, but being a female and the second child, her education …show more content…
She makes a lot of sacrifices for her family, especially her son, Nhamo’s education. “When there are sacrifices to be made, you are the one who has to make them. And these things are not easy; you have to start learning them early, from a very early age.” (p. 16). She knows that being a traditional Shona woman requires you to be submissive to your husband and that sacrifices are part of the package. There is a generational gap between Tambu and her mother, Tambu wants and desires more from life than being a subordinate to a husband. Ma’Shingayi knows these sacrifices all too well and knows that a lot of strength is required to carry these burdens, “This business of womanhood is a heavy burden.” (p. 16). Tambu is not willing to accept her fate as the colonial society wants women to be. Ma’Shingayi just wants to keep her children close to home and is convinced that it was the “Englishness” that killed her son. “First you took his tongue so that he could not speak to me and now you have taken everything… You and your education have killed my son.” (p. 54). “It’s the Englishness, she said. It’ll kill them all if they aren’t careful, and she snorted. Look at them. That boy Chido can hardly speak a word of his own mother’s tongue and you’ll see, his children will be worse.” (p. 207). She suffers from severe depression …show more content…
She is a very outspoken and strong-willed girl. “That child of mine has her own thoughts about everything!” (p. 74). She does not conform to society’s views on how a traditional Shona teenager must behave. “It was so embarrassing, the way Nyasha thought she could say anything to her mother.”, “They picked up all these disrespectful ways in England.” (p. 74). “I can’t help having been there and grown into the me that has been there. But it offends them – I offend them.”(p.79). She does become a bit confused about her identity with the influences that England had on her and now being at the mission again. She is not popular at all at school, “As it turned out, it was not Nyasha’s accent they disliked, but Nyasha herself.” (p. 95). As the novel continues, Nyasha’s personality traits that she likes most about herself and her outspoken nature becomes the source of her breakdown, including an eating disorder and mental illness, “Nyasha breathed and with a shrug picked up her fork and began to eat, slowly at first, then gobbling the food down without a break.”, “I waited in the bedroom. I could hear gagging and choking.”, “I did it myself. With my toothbrush.” (p. 193). “Nyasha was losing weight steadily, constantly, rapidly.” (p. 203). “Then she sat on her bed and looked at me out of her sunken eyes, her bony knees pressed together so that her nightdress fell through the space where her thighs had been.”, “They’ve done this to me…
In the novel, Nervous Conditions, the reader is introduced to a very traditional Shona family in the 1960s by the teenage protagonist and narrator, Tambudzai Sigauke, from Rhodesia, Zimbabwe. We quickly learn that all is not well with the different branches of this particular family, especially with the women, each being oppressed in their own way, mentioned on page 1, who have to face gender inequality, fight to be heard and fight to receive an education.
Tambudzai’s greatest dilemma is her education. She is motivated and driven, but being a female and the second child, her education …show more content…
She makes a lot of sacrifices for her family, especially her son, Nhamo’s education. “When there are sacrifices to be made, you are the one who has to make them. And these things are not easy; you have to start learning them early, from a very early age.” (p. 16). She knows that being a traditional Shona woman requires you to be submissive to your husband and that sacrifices are part of the package. There is a generational gap between Tambu and her mother, Tambu wants and desires more from life than being a subordinate to a husband. Ma’Shingayi knows these sacrifices all too well and knows that a lot of strength is required to carry these burdens, “This business of womanhood is a heavy burden.” (p. 16). Tambu is not willing to accept her fate as the colonial society wants women to be. Ma’Shingayi just wants to keep her children close to home and is convinced that it was the “Englishness” that killed her son. “First you took his tongue so that he could not speak to me and now you have taken everything… You and your education have killed my son.” (p. 54). “It’s the Englishness, she said. It’ll kill them all if they aren’t careful, and she snorted. Look at them. That boy Chido can hardly speak a word of his own mother’s tongue and you’ll see, his children will be worse.” (p. 207). She suffers from severe depression …show more content…
She is a very outspoken and strong-willed girl. “That child of mine has her own thoughts about everything!” (p. 74). She does not conform to society’s views on how a traditional Shona teenager must behave. “It was so embarrassing, the way Nyasha thought she could say anything to her mother.”, “They picked up all these disrespectful ways in England.” (p. 74). “I can’t help having been there and grown into the me that has been there. But it offends them – I offend them.”(p.79). She does become a bit confused about her identity with the influences that England had on her and now being at the mission again. She is not popular at all at school, “As it turned out, it was not Nyasha’s accent they disliked, but Nyasha herself.” (p. 95). As the novel continues, Nyasha’s personality traits that she likes most about herself and her outspoken nature becomes the source of her breakdown, including an eating disorder and mental illness, “Nyasha breathed and with a shrug picked up her fork and began to eat, slowly at first, then gobbling the food down without a break.”, “I waited in the bedroom. I could hear gagging and choking.”, “I did it myself. With my toothbrush.” (p. 193). “Nyasha was losing weight steadily, constantly, rapidly.” (p. 203). “Then she sat on her bed and looked at me out of her sunken eyes, her bony knees pressed together so that her nightdress fell through the space where her thighs had been.”, “They’ve done this to me…