A Nervous Conditoin Batch

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Tsitsi Dangarembga ended writing Nervous Conditions when she was ages of twenties and, its publication in 1988, she overcame for its difficult and nuanced description of the challenges that a immature Shona girl go though in her hard work to break free of her disadvantaged background and get an education. "Shona" is the name known to differentiate ethnic living on the whole of the eastern part of Zimbabwe, in the north of the Lundi River. Dangarembga was born in 1959 in a town called colony of Rhodesia in Zimbabwe. Her parents attended school in England where Dangarembga lived when she was two to six ages. She started school in British school system; Dangarembga became confident in English after the cost of her local language ( shona). She sustained her education after coming back to her local place and be taught Shona again at a mission school.

Before Zimbabwe became independent she returns home in 1980 and starts to become serious as an author. After four years in the times of negative response and need of acceptance, Nervous Conditions was finally published in England; after Dangarembga had finished it. In the early years with a loose knot tell the life of Tambu and the characters in Nervous Conditions the actions moulded Dangarembga . The novel is Dangarembga’s effort analyze and become familiar with her emergence into later life through the eye of imagined design. Dangarembga allows her characters to act out and perform the pressures these forces mete out on their lives. In Nervous Conditions, white characters crate only the shortest of appearances.

Characters

Babamokuru: Tambu’s uncle and Nyasha’s father. He is the headmaster of the mission school who is victorious and extremely educated. The writer uses his authority and position to feels that it is his task to assist the lives of his extended family because they are disadvantaged they are not like him, but he does it out of responsibility. According to Wikipedia (2012) this causes him to be very authoritative in character, demonstrated by his attempts to control his family. These actions stem from his subservience to anyone that offered him assistance in getting his education. He is often seen as an indifferent father, and his daughter's behaviour prove his condemnation . By living being worried with employment all times keeps him away from close relationships. In all his actions in the novel he proves to be extremely composite character, and it is not possible to say the real willing of his outwardly manner and generous actions.

Tambu: Jeremiah and Mainini’s daughter. Tambu is the novel’s narrator and main character of the story. A bright fourteen years old young girl, her thirsty for education and to raise herself tough enough to prevail over anything. She is very kind and strong on herself she want to do everything correct all the times. Tambu understand the power of being obedient to the tradition but same times she wants to smash away limitation plotted on her gender.

Maiguru: Babamokuru’s wife and Tambu’s aunt. Maiguru was very educated and qualified like his husband and she is a woman who can support for herself by working at the mission. Her stay in England transformed him and led her to believe that her children to work like white people. Wikipedia(2012) stated that still with this wish for independent, she must admit her passive role in her household. She does not want to be viewed as a second class citizen, at one spot end up leaves her husband and after she sees that is for the greatest to stay in her passive role she returned back quickly.

Nyasha: Tambu’s cousin, daughter of Babamukuru and Maiguru. Nyasha is noiselessly watchful with an over and over again disturbing concentration. Even if she can be bright and attractive, she does many things so that other girls at school akin to her. It is easily to motivate him, unstable, and unbending and she likes to debate and honestly oppose her father frequent. She is an invention of two worlds and grows more and more puzzled of her character and she is having trouble assimilating reverse to Rhodesia.

Chido: Nyasha’s brother, son of Babamokuru and Maiguru. Chido is an athletic and he is good looking, clever and highly educated because he is Babamokuru’s son he received a good education. He has small attention in his family or visiting either the homestead or the mission. Educated above all in the midst of white colonists, and end up dates a white girlfriend the family members dislike it at all.

Jeremiah: Babamukuru's brother and Tambu's father. Jeremiah inward very small education and is hardly capable to supply for his family. He acts appreciative to Babamukuru for the education he given his children with, but beyond doubt he has no interest in them staying to go to the mission. He does little to give confidence to her children.

Ma’Shingayi : Tambu’s mother. To begin with Ma’Shingayi is a hardworking woman who has toiled and sacrificed so that her son can have an education. After Nhamo’s death, she grows unkind, angry, and green-eyed of those around her.

Lucia: Ma'Shingayi's sister. Lucia stays quite unknown throughout the route of the novel. Lucia is the item of tittle-tattle and a lot of people believed that is a witch . She said to be a woman how loads a lot of affairs with rich men. She is a woman how control himself or self-regulating, and is strong-minded to educate herself and not drop into the usual works of women in her society.

Mainini: Tambu's mother. In the beginning of the novel when Nhamo was sent out to school, Mainini had no problem with the additional work that she had to carry out when Nhamo was gone to school. Behind his passing away on the other hand, when Tambu visit Babamokuru to the mission, she becomes very angry of Babamukuru for taking one more of her children for education at his school. When Tambu goes back home, Mainini makes no effort to cover her anger ageist Babamukuru's actions.

Netsai: Tambu's sister. Netsai is a very kind and obedient person who assist out in the house not only because it is necessary to do the duty, but because she really needs to assist her family and she really loves her family .

Nhamo: Tambu's brother. As the eldest son in the family, Nhamo is selected to go and study to the mission school and he derision Tambu with his admission to an education because she did not have any of them. After being at the school, he thought he is better to the whole of his family, and he does not do daily duties like he was doing before he goes to the mission. Finally he stop coming back home not as much as he was first during short holidays until he died.

Takesure: Babamukuru and Jeremiah's cousin. Takesure is quite indifferent as a father in the whole novel and he work hard in the community power specified to him because of his gender being a man. He is concerned with many women without looking at his financial failure to take care for any of them. He is brought to the homestead to help Jeremiah with same works after Nhamo died.

Themes

Gender Inequality; this novel was progressed by the issue of gender because Africa was heavily set in their patriarchal ways. Babamukuru educated Nyasha only so his image of an educated man would reflect on his family. This is why it was especially important for Nhamo to get an education, and without his death, Tambu likely wouldn’t have been given the education she received. Before Nhamo died, Tambu was trying to earn money for school fees form maize because girls they were not allowed to go to school.

Maiguru was educated like Babamokuru but Maiguru hasn’t truly been able to use her Master’s degree and its benefits, not in the way an unmarried Maiguru would have, all Maiguru’s earning will go to Babamukuru’s pocket. After Nyasha, Chido, and Tambu come back to school Babamukuru is upset by their late arrival. Babamukuru will hits Nyasha for only talking to a boy where her father could see but he allow Chido to stay with her friend who had a sister, this show clear discrimination from Babamukuru.

Women struggle; Tambu received education after her brother’s death but Tambu straggled to get education. Nhamo show his power by making his relatives to carry his power by making his relatives to carry his luggage when he go and come back from school. Before dinner Tambu must carry a water dish for her relatives to wash their hands and after preparing the meal for the men; they have to eat what is left after the men what they want. Maiguru was educated like Babamokuru but Maiguru hasn’t able to use her master’s degree and its benefits because she is a women, she need to do family duties.

Englishness; Nyasha and Chido after being raised in England they both "succumbed" to Englishness. Maiguru was different from other women in her family in Tambu’s eyes because of Englishness. Maiguru acknowledges the Englishness of her children when she sees Tambu’s negative reaction to the way Nyasha speak to her mother. Nyasha’s attitude toward her parents is at odds with Tambu’s own respect for her aunt and uncle. Nyasha come ageist tradition or witchdoctors and "assuming that Christian ways were progressive ways".

Education; Tambu think her uncle's support to pay for Nhamo's education would lift their family out of poverty in which they are living. Education and its importance to the people of Tambu's village who dwell in lack is obvious from the start. Babamukuru sees education as a key to the family's financial woes, and take Nhamo to go and stay with him at the mission school. Education made Maiguru to be different from other women.

Poverty; After Nhamo started to stay at the mission he started to be embarrassed by the poverty form his family. Babamukuru was irregularity because he has not "cringed in the burden of his lack." Tambu sees this as great overcoming through hard work and education. Tambu think she is free from poverty as she goes to the mission. Tambu did not know how switch on the light in her cousin's bedroom and Nyasha will teach him. Tambu sees the poverty at home when she come back home from the mission with better standard of living. Tambu and Nyasha cleans the caving-in roof and filthy latrine she sees it now when she come from the mission.

History and Culture

Nervous Conditions takes place during a time of 1960s in Africa, with the novel's setting. Rhodesia got their independence in 1964 after being ruled by British since 1923. After freedom there were still a number of British influences and effects for a lot of years. In the novel a mission school was build for African children to learn. Difficulties of becoming urbanized in the book as outcome of the English mission that keep on influencing Rhodesia. This was obvious in characters like Nyasha, Nhamo, and Babamukuru during the play. Post colonial influenced independent in Africans that way they declare themselves free. In 1965, the British government and two nationalist African groups started a civil war in the country, which end up British take control of the country after war. Robert Mugabe, the new president of Rhodesia, in 1980 was still worried about having civil war again in 1965. This caused him to start a policy of "Africanization", in which all of the remaining English influences would be extinguished from the country. In 1980 Mugabe renamed the name of the country to Zimbabwe, in try to finally free the country of its history and any influence that the English will carry on in the country.

There were many cultural issues which affected the Rhodesians in an unhelpful way in the novel. The sustained English control made too hard for Rhodesians to maintain their African character and culture because of negative influence. This was clear in Nyasha, Babamukuru, Nhamo, and even Tambu at times. The influence of English culture made President Robert Mugabe feel necessary to institutionalize Africanization all over the country, since English culture manipulate bad perspectives.

One more negative effect of English influence all over Rhodesia was a fact called brain drain. This is when people move from their poor countries leave to study in a different place than their usual place, and end up ignoring where their original place. Tsitsi Dengarembga provided same of this fact in the book through Tambu's brother and uncle. Educated people who are able to develop and build up their countries are leaving their country. As a result of African’s be free from English schools in Rhodesia (such as the mission school in the novel) like President Mugabe did, there would be less attraction for African's to go away from their countries.

One more cultural significance which was represented in the book was the gender relations. Tambu studded in a "better" English school, she claims to be improved student than her brother just because he was a man and she was a girl. The Africans had to be concerned regarding their common independence first instead of the women rights, which is the major motive why there were not as many women movements towards rights until behind self-government. This is important since it would be wrong to have African men and women treated equally while still in the bad influence of the English. This makes clear why women movements in Zimbabwe were formed in the years after freedom and still are in effect to this day.