In the novel Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga, the theme of female rebellion is displayed throughout the book and can be seen
In the novel Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga, the theme of female rebellion is displayed throughout the book and can be seen by the characters Nyasha and Maiguru. The main cause of their rebellious act is their struggle with female oppression. The colonized education that Nyasha and Maiguru receive initiates the awareness that women are living in oppressed conditions. This essay will set out to discuss that even though a woman is educated, she is forced to be inferior to men.
Nyasha is a young black African girl who spends her formative years in England receiving an education. Nyasha experiences assimilation into a new English culture. However, with no education in her Shona language or identity in her African traditions and customs, Nyasha gets a sense of alienation from her native African culture when she says, "They do not like my language, my English because it is authentic, and my Shona because it is not."(p196) Her school mates dislike her for her white mannerisms and she has no Shona mannerisms to fall back on. Nyasha is stuck in the middle and her struggle to make a place for herself in society leads to her rebellious ways.
Nyasha has had the benefit of a British education and knows first hand what kind of lives women in Europe lead. She sees women who are modern with mini skirts and women who are independent and can lead their own lives. After living this way
of life and then being placed back into Africa, Nyasha must deal with a major culture shock. Having such a vast education and knowing a certain way of life, she can't help but rebel against restrictions she is facing in Africa, "I was comfortable in England but now I'm a whore with dirty habits."(p117)
Women are expected to play the role of a "good woman" who is obedient, domestic, and respectable. Nyasha challenges this role with her father every chance she gets with intensity and determination. She is demanding to have her voice heard, and when her ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
of life and then being placed back into Africa, Nyasha must deal with a major culture shock. Having such a vast education and knowing a certain way of life, she can't help but rebel against restrictions she is facing in Africa, "I was comfortable in England but now I'm a whore with dirty habits."(p117)
Women are expected to play the role of a "good woman" who is obedient, domestic, and respectable. Nyasha challenges this role with her father every chance she gets with intensity and determination. She is demanding to have her voice heard, and when her father wants to control it she fights back.
Nyasha knows she is expected to be silent and obedient, but her behavior, speech, and dress is so Westernized that she cant help the way she is, "they think we do it on purpose...I can't help having been there and grown into the me that has been there."(p78) Nyasha is perceived as a problem because she has trouble adapting her conduct to the rules of her native country, having spent so many years in England absorbing its culture.
The reason she is so rebellious is because of her Western influence. Her main goal is to overcome male domination. She attempts this at the dining table. Her father Babamukuru, who is the symbol of control, power, and the main oppressor, forces Nyasha to eat. Babamukuru links obedience to the eating of food. The effect on Nyasha is loss of appetite. Babamukuru looks at this at disrespect, "She must eat her food, all of it. She is always doing this, challenging me. I am her father. If she
doesn't want to do what I say, I shall stop providing for her fees, clothes, food, everything."(p189) Nyasha appeases her father and eats the food, however she throws up the food right after. She uses bulimia as a rebellion against male domination proving she can't and won't be controlled.
The act of female rebellion is also displayed by Nyasha's mother, Maiguru. Maiguru is in a better position then Nyasha because she is highly educated and is well aware of her native land and culture. However Maiguru's education is hidden. She does not have the opportunity to use it because of the overwhelming patriarchy that takes place and allows for the continuation of feminine oppression, even on women with high education.
Maiguru continues to be the accepted good woman who is silent, modest, and obedient but who does aspire to use her education. This conflict with herself is revealed during a conversation with Tambu, "I thought you went to look after Babamukuru,'I said, That's all people ever say.' Maiguru snorted, And what do you expect? Why should a woman go all that way and put up with all those problems if not to look after her husband?.... When I was in England I glimpsed for a little while the things I could have been, the things I could have done if-if-if things were- different-But there was Babawa Chido and the children and the family."(p101) This shows that education can help, but education can also restrict women. Women are not emancipated and still needed to be that good woman.
Maiguru, although educated is entrapped by her husband. She dislikes her dependent status, yet she passively accepts her husband's control. Maiguru displays her feelings as if she is imprisoned when she refers to how the "inmates of her house will be the death of her."(p113)
Maiguru's turning point in the novel is when she becomes more rebellious and finally stands up against her husband. She is finally speaking her mind, "So today I am telling you I am not happy. I am not happy anymore living in this house." (p172) Maiguru leaves, even though only for five days, she comes back with a new position in the household. She now is able to speak her mind. Maiguru speaks freely and her husband listens to what she has to say. This is shown when a decision is needed to be made about Tambu going to the convent. Babamukuru was against it, but once Maiguru spoke, "People were prejudiced against educated women ... That was in the fifties. Now we are into the seventies. I am disappointed that people still believe in the same things."(p181), Babamukuru had no choice but to listen.
The novels main theme of modernity is education. The concept of the newer colonial English education is the cause of the main characters rebellion. Nyasha gets caught in the modern education and it leads to her breakdown. Nyasha realizes she is stuck in the middle, "I'm not one of them but I'm not one of you."(p201) Nyasha has no memories of traditions and customs to
silence her voice. This is a major disadvantage for Nyasha because she is only behaving by what was taught to her.
This novel displays that being modern does not indicate people will be happy or advance in life. Maiguru was educated but that led to her outlook on her culture and traditions to evolve. Maiguru received her English education late in life so she would never be totally free of her oppressed way of life, but by encouraging Tambu to attend Scared Heart she is starting a change in the cycle. Tambu is young enough that she has a firm sense of her identity and to mix that with a colonial education she will not end up in exile as Nyasha did.
