How to quote and explain the quote

Quotes and Analysis

1. "Can you cook books and feed them to your husband? Stay at home with your mother. Learn to cook and clean. Grow vegetables."

   - Jeremiah, Pg. 15

   This is how Tambu's father responds when she complains that the the family is raising funds to send her brother, Nhamo, to school. This is an example of Jeremiah's traditional Shona belief that women do not need to be educated. It represents the patriarchy that Tambu faces on her quest towards empowerment. Meanwhile, her aunt, Maiguru, is educated and has no use for her degree because colonial society expects her to be a devoted wife and mother.

2. "This business of womanhood is a heavy burden."

   - Ma'Shingayi, Pg. 16

   Tambu's mother explains to her daughter that, "when there are sacrifices to be made, you are the one who has to make them." This point of view demonstrates the generational gap between mother and daughter. Ma'Shingayi has accepted her fate as a servant to the men in her life, Tambu wants more. Tambu thinks she is worth more than just being a bearer of a burden, and this drives a wedge between her and her mother.
3. "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. And does anyone realise, does anyone appreciate, what sacrifices were made? As for me, no one even thinks about the things I gave up."

   - Maiguru, Pg. 103

   This is Maiguru's uncharacteristically bitter response to Tambu when she is surprised to learn that her aunt holds a Master's Degree. As a woman, Maiguru has had to sacrifice the opportunities she earned by educating herself. No one in Tambu's village knows or cares about Maiguru's education, but they show all due respect to her husband, Babamukuru, who has the same amount of education as his wife. This divide demonstrates the deep-rooted gender inequality in both Shona and colonial society in Rhodesia during this time.

4. "You can't go on all the time being whatever's necessary. You've got to have some conviction, and I'm convinced I don't want to be anyone's underdog. It's not right for anyone to be that. But once you get used to it, well, it just seems natural and you just carry on. And that's the end of you. You're trapped. They control everything you do."

   - Nyasha, Pg. 119

   Nyasha says this to Tambu after Babamukuru calls Nyasha a whore for lingering at the end of the driveway with Andy after the Christmas dance. Nyasha seems to be referring to patriarchy as "they". Nyasha's fight with her father creates a major rupture in their relationship as he cannot accept her disrespect. This scene also reveals Nyasha's disappointment with her mother, Maiguru, for being her husband's "underdog."

5. "I am only saying what I think, just like she did. She did tell us, didn't she, what she thinks, and did anyone say anything! No. Why not? Because Maiguru is educated. That's why you all kept quiet. Because she's rich and comes here and flashes her money around, so you listen to her as though you want to eat the words that come out of her mouth. But me, I'm not educated, am I? I'm just poor and ignorant, so you want me to keep quiet, you say I mustn't talk. Ehe! I am poor and ignorant, that's me, but I have a mouth and it will keep on talking, it won't keep quiet."

   - Ma'Shingayi, Pg. 142

   This is part of Tambu's mother's tirade in reaction to Maiguru's dismissal of the issue of Takesure and Lucia living on the homestead. The other women in the family ask Maiguru to intervene but she claims that because she was not born into this family, so it is not her business and she goes to bed. Ma'Shingayi's vocalizes her resentment of Maiguru's education and wealth. She recognizes her own poverty and lack of education as the reasons she has had no voice. In this way, there is a hierarchy within the patriarchy of the Shona society - women who are educated get more respect, while poor housewives like Ma'Shingayi are at the bottom of the totem pole.

6. "It's bad enough when a country gets colonized, but when the people do as well! That's the end, really, that's the end."

   - Nyasha, Pg. 150

   This is Nyasha's reaction to Tambu when Tambu suggests that Christianity is "evidence of the nature of progress" from Shona traditions. Jeremiah has suggested a cleansing with a witchdoctor and sacrificial ox to cure the family of its misfortunes, but Babamukuru has insisted that the source of their trouble is the fact that Jeremiah and Ma'Shingayi have been "living in sin" and are still not married officially, "before God." Nyasha's reaction demonstrates her awareness of the effects of colonialism; she is scolding Tambu for embracing the colonial mindset that Christianity is "progress," rather than an equally absurd replacement for the Shona traditions.

7. "I'm sorry, Babamukuru, but I do not want to go to the wedding."

   - Tambu, Pg. 169

   These words mark Tambu's first time standing up for what she wants, speaking out against her uncle. She has become so anxious about the impending wedding between her parents that she cannot get out of bed the morning she is supposed to leave for the homestead. So she tells Babamukuru what she wants, and is punished for it by fifteen lashes and two weeks of taking over Anna's maid duties. But she is proud of herself and feels emancipated, since she spoke up and didn't have to attend. Her decision not to attend her parents wedding comes from her anger at Babamukuru for blaming her parents unofficial marriage for the family's bad luck, and is compounded by her embarrassment about Babamukuru labeling her parents as sinners.

8. "Don't you remember, when we went to South Africa everybody was saying that we, the women, were loose. It wasn't a question of associating with this race or that race at the time. People were prejudiced against educated women. Prejudiced. That's why they said we weren't decent. That was in the fifties. Now we are into the seventies. I am disappointed that people still believe the same things."

   - Maiguru, Pg. 184

   This is Maiguru's defense of Tambu's right to attend the convent school after being selected out of all her classmates. Babamukuru is surprised that his wife speaks up, but she is empowered by the act of walking out on her husband for five full days. Maiguru's defense of women's education is part of the reason Tambu is allowed to go to convent school. It also shows that Maiguru has become a more vocal decision maker in the family.

9. "You will eat that food. Your mother and I are not killing ourselves working just for you to waste your time playing with boys and then come back and turn up your nose at what we offer. Sit and eat that food. I am telling you. Eat it!"

   - Babamukuru, Pg. 192

   This is Babamukuru's threat to Nyasha when she refuses to eat dinner after returning home from school forty-five minutes late. In response to his threat, Nyasha gobbles down all the food on her plate maniacally, then goes to the bathroom and vomits. It is the beginning of her bulimia. This quote marks Babamukuru's attempt to control his daughter; her eating disorder represents a way to try to gain control over her life she feels as if her father won't let her.

10. "The problem is the Englishness, so you be careful!"

    - Ma'Shingayi, Pg. 207

    Tambu's mother uses "Englishness" as an explanation for Nyasha's dangerous eating disorder, as if anglicization is a disease. She sees Western education as the root of all Babamukuru's children's troubles, and becomes depressed when she imagines her own daughter suffering the same fate. Mama's anxiety represents a postcolonial viewpoint that Western culture degrades African values.

Main themes in nervous Conditions

Major Themes

Gender

Tambu and Nyasha both grapple with the traditional gender roles in Shona society. As a child, Tambu feels resentment towards her brother, Nhamo, when Babamukuru offers to pay for his schooling. From an early age, Tambu realizes that "the needs and sensibilities of the women in my family were not considered a priority, or even legitimate." Tambu is, in her words, "not sorry" when Nhamo dies because it means that she will be able to attend a colonial school in his place. When Tambu moves to the mission, however, she feels conflicted between her duty to Babamurku and her burgeoning independence. Meanwhile, Nyasha, who has been educated in England, does not hold back. All of the women in Nervous Conditions try to rebel against the male patriarchy with various levels of success - but nevertheless, understand that there is a battle to be fought.

Colonization

Both Nyasha and her brother, Chido, have spent their childhood in England and therefore, have developed many Western values. Tambu's mother thinks that Nyasha's bulimia and subsequent mental breakdown are a result of her exposure to Western culture, or "Englishness" and is afraid of the same thing happening to her daughter. This "Englishness" initially drives a wedge between Tambu and Nyasha. Nyasha and Chido cannot speak Shona, and Tambu cannot speak English - nor does she approve of Nyasha's revealing clothing. When Tambu moves to the mission, she has a much easier time obeying Babamukuru than Nyasha, and is often appalled at Nyasha's insolence. However, while looking back and telling her story, Tambu is able to recognize the way the colonial education system created a culture of subjugation - where Africans learned to believe that they were inferior, and then aspired to live by Christian values.

Race

A central issue of the novel is how the children can negotiate a colonial education while still holding onto their Shona identity. As a result of growing up in England, Nyasha has taken on certain Western values, leading her classmates to shun her because "she thinks she is white". She clashes with her parents for the same reason, even though they took her to England and enrolled her in a missionary school. The dichotomy of Nyasha's identity leads her to become internally divided and drives a wedge between her and her parents. Tambu, who has not had much interaction with white people before coming to the mission, is surprised that she actually likes some of them. However, looking back on that time, she describes the white missionaries with an air of sarcasm: "We treated them like minor deities. With the self-satisfied dignity that came naturally to white people in those days, they accepted this improving disguise." All of the racial tension in the novel stems from Tambu and Nyasha's generation - questioning their society as they move towards discovering a postcolonial identity.

Education

At the beginning of Nervous Conditions, Tambu sees education as a pathway to financial success, based on the example set by Babamukuru. She describes her uncle's offer to pay for Nhamo's education as "oceanic," since it would "lift our branch of the family out of the squalor in which we were living." Babamukuru believes that education is the route to alleviate dependency. Meanwhile, his own wife, Maiguru, has a masters' degree that she has never used. Tambu is desperate to be educated, as it will be her ticket out of poverty. When she arrives at the convent school, though, it becomes clear that her colonial education will continue to subjugate her because she is an African. To the white children, education is a right, and the Africans are taught to see it as a privilege. Looking back, Tambu recognizes that this system enforces a colonial power structure but at the time, it seemed a great opportunity and certainly does allow her to build a life outside of her family's poverty.

Poverty

After he begins his education at the mission, Nhamo begins to feel embarrassed by the poverty of his immediate family. Meanwhile, the family members all respect Babamukuru, who has not "cringed under the weight of his poverty. Tambu and Nhamo are both eager to get out of their family home and settle into the comfortable life at the mission. However, this creates an uncomfortable distance. Nhamo pretends that he no longer speaks Shona, because he associates the language with poverty, while English shows that he is educated and therefore, better than his sisters. He forces his sisters to carry his bags and lashes them when they don't obey. While Tambu believes that she will never change the way her brother did, she is startled by the squalor of her childhood home after a year away. Ma'Shingayi is acutely aware of her child's newfound superiority and accuses Tambu of being judgmental. Looking back, Tambu has realized that she was conditioned by colonialism to deify the white missionaries and their educational system.

"Nervous Conditions"

The title of Dangarembga's novel alludes to the effect colonization has on the minds of her characters. Tambu is anxious about what it means to be educated, and after leaving for the mission, she is pulled between her Shona roots and her colonial schooling. Tambu's nervous condition manifests itself when she refuses to attend her parents' wedding. She feels anger towards Babamukuru for categorizing her parents as sinners, and she is simultaneously embarrassed as well. However, she cannot express her frustration out loud because she is so grateful to Babamukuru. Meanwhile, Nyasha's nervous condition is more obvious : she develops severe anorexia. Nyasha has not been raised in the Shona culture like Tambu has, so all she knows is the English way. Returning to Rhodesia makes Nyasha feel like an outsider, alone and adrift. Her condition worsens after Tambu, her closest confidante, leaves for convent school. Meanwhile, Ma'Shingayi suffers from depression. She believes that "Englishness" is the root of what killed her son and took her daughter away from her, and she could not stop it.

Patriarchy

All of the men in Nervous Conditions are raised in a patriarchic society and do not take kindly to being challenged. Nhamo tortures his sister, saying "Why are you jealous anyway? Did you ever hear of a girl being taken away to school?" Looking back, Tambu realizes that her brother was "sincere in his bigotry. But in those days I took a rosy view of male nature," so she assumed he was just saying hurtful things to bother her when in reality it was not Nhamo, but society, that was determined to hold her back. Tambu really starts to question patriarchy when she moves in with Babamukuru. He is the bridge between the patriarchy of the Shona society and the colonial society. Tambu is torn between her reverence for Babamukuru and her growing frustration with his inflexibility. Because he is her benefactor, she cannot show him disrespect, and yet - she becomes increasingly disillusioned by his conservative values (which are deeply tied to Christianity).

Sample essay on poem

Literature: Essay writing 

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Explore the ways in which the Wordsworth presents Lucy in

She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways

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In his poem, William Wordsworth presents us Lucy in a very special way.From the title itself, we can notice his use of formal words from ancient languages used to describe her: “she dwelt among the untrodden ways”, where we become aware that he talks about a woman who seems to have lived in a place where no one has stepped; a different or deserted place. Along the poem, and through different images and metaphors, we  discover that she was a single and lonely woman, who is dead at his present time, “a maid whom there was none to praise”. Wordsworth portrays her as a lovely and delicate lady by means of a yearning appositive, where visual images and metaphors overrun. “A violet by a mossy stone”, he says, and makes us think of such a special being that makes contrast with the rest; she is portrayed as the one, compared not just with a fair star, but “fair as a star, when only one is shining in the sky”. However, people cannot see her, because she is “hidden from the eye”; there is something next to her that does not allow her beauty and delicacy to be perceived by the rest, which could perhaps be another man, as much cold and hostile as a “mossy stone”.It is not until the last stanza, that we find out her name, Lucy, and that she is currently dead “few could know when Lucy ceased to be” and away from the only one that could have valued her for who she was, and how shedeserved: “(…) oh, the difference to me!”In conclusion, although he does not mention Lucy until reaching the end of the poem, the author, helped by quite amatory similes, metaphors and visual images, gets to move the reader by recreating a fragile, unique and desolated female being.

Literary devices

Literary devices