Worse than that, we learned that “ Tambu (I) was triumphant”. With Nhamo’s death, Tambu’s life takes a dramatic turn. She is offered Nhamo’s place at the mission school. This opportunity can only be possible in the absence of Nhamo and the fact that it was Nhamo who’s dead makes it even more significant as it is an elimination of the male to enable the female in this case Tambu, to achieve her dream which was impossible due to gender. Although Tambu’s lack of compassion for her brother’s death is slightly disturbing, but it is understandable why she is unaffected. Her inability to mourn him was the outcome of his attitude and relationship towards her.
On the other hand, Mainini is devastated by the loss of her son. When Babamukuru and his wife, Maiguru bring the message of Nhamo’s death to her, she senses that something is wrong and begins to scream. She mourns and became what is likely to be seen as ‘hysteric’. Mainini’s response to Nhamo’s death might also represent her, standing up to the patriarchal control of Babamukuru. Mainini has no real say over anything in her life, but she does have immediate control of her body. Thus, her ‘hysteria’ becomes sort of a sign of this resistance. After the unfortunate death of her son, to whom she had worked hard to provide education, she became a negative thinker. Due to his dead son, who had also already forgotten to speak Shona, she considers ‘Englishness’ a deadly social disease, and so, she is dashed by the idea of losing Tambu too, for she believes that ‘Engllishness’ destroyed Nhamo.
In contrast to Mainini, Maiguru accepts Nhamo’s death quite well. This is not simply because Nhamo is not her son as Jeremiah has also said that “You looked after the boy as if he was yours”. But, simply because she is educated, enabling her to handle this calmly. This can be seen when she said “You must endure the pain of his passing as you endured the pain of his coming”. This allusion to Shakespeare’s tragedy, King Lear which was said by Edgar to his dying father originally means that we came to earth in pain and will also leave in pain. However, Maiguru use this knowledge of her, here, in a different context to that. In this case, what Maiguru intended to say is that women give birth in pain and will also endure the pain of being leaved. This also shows how Maiguru feels about the idea of the unfair patriarchal society and her entrapment in Babamukuru’s patriarchal control. Women should be equal to men considering the fact that women have quite an equal burden as men.
In this passage, we confirmed Tambu’s callousness of Nhamo’s death which she foreshadows earlier in the opening of the novel. Literally, this passage presents the responses to Nhamo’s death. However, we also, get to learn of what Mainini thinks about studying English and her opinion towards the patriarchal Babamukuru and a new side to Mainini which is presented indirectly. We know that Maiguru has a mild personality and is also a good wife and educated as she is a teacher at the Umtali mission school. But, her intelligence is exceeding the expectation and although she did a good job being Babamukuru’s wife, she can’t help it but to show her dissatisfaction towards the patriarchal ideas of gender’s inequality or rather towards Babamukuru even if it’s not direct and noticeable.
by
cj7 (student)
