Nervous Conditions Review

Nervous Conditions post

Nervous Conditions is the story of a young Rhodesian girl’s pursuit of education. The story is told from the perspective of Tambu, the protagonist. Tambu is a young girl who lives on the homestead with her parents and her siblings. Babamukuru, her father’s brother, had the opportunity to be educated and trained in England for 5 years and came back to run the mission in Rhodesia. Babamukuru’s success and education made him the sole benefactor of the family. Upon returning from a 5-year stay in England, family members are disturbed by how much Babamukuru’s children, Chido & Nyasha, have changed as a result of this move. They struggled to speak Shona and acted quite distant from the family.

Nhamo, Tambu’s brother, is selected by Babamukuru to join him at the mission so he can attend school. Tambu is upset by this because she excelled in the local school and felt she was more deserving of the opportunity to study at the mission. However, Nhamo was chosen because he’s a boy. In an unfortunate turn of events, Nhamo unexpectedly passes away from mumps and Tambu gets her wish to attend the school at the mission.

While Tambu lives at the mission she forms a deep friendship with her cousin, Nyasha. Nyasha is an unusual black rhodesian girl as she often disobeys her father’s requests and openly speaks her mind. At the mission Tambu enjoys luxuries of running water, eating 3 meals a day and no chores to distract her from school work. Time passes and Tambu gets so used to her new privileged lifestyle that when she returned to her homestead for Christmas, like Nhamo did, she’s embarrassed her family’s poverty and chides her mother for not cleaning the latrine while she was away.

Drama transpired between, Jeremiah (Tambu’s father), Lucia (Tambu’s mother’s sister), and Takesure (Tambu’s uncle), as Lucia was pregnant for Takesure but had been sleeping with Jeremiah, her sister's husband. Having the reputation of a “loose woman,” Lucia was urged by Babamukuru to leave. She proved to be a resilient woman, eventually getting a job (while pregnant) and pursuing her education.

One evening, Maiguru, Babamukuru’s wife, finally expresses her frustration with giving up her salary to support a family that excludes her from the discussion of family matters. After a brief quarrel, she threatens to leave Babamukuru and actually does so the following morning. This was significant because it contradicted the ideal of the typical Rhodesian woman, more specifically a wife, portrayed throughout the book. When she returns from her 5-days away from home, she finally has her voice back.

Tambu is fortunate to earn a scholarship to a private catholic school. Tambu sees this as another opportunity on her journey to overcome her poor background - however Nyasha warns Tambu that accepting the offer would be fully embracing white culture and giving up her “africanness”. At Tambu’s new school, all the 6 african students are crammed into one hostel room - Tambu ignores this and throws herself into her studies and rarely responds to letters from Nyasha. When Tambu returns home for the first time she started at the catholic school, Nyasha is very thin - she rarely eats and when she does, she throws up afterwards. One night, Nyasha has an episode where she tears her books, injures herself and rages about the evils of colonialism and how its stolen everyone’s souls. Babamukuru and Maiguru rush Nyasha to a psychiatric hospital where she gradually recovers. After this experience, Tambu promises to question her place within a colonized society and be hesitant about while culture influencing her beliefs.

Our thoughts

I really appreciate how Tsitsi Dangarembga used the characters in the story to challenge African patriarchy, especially given the time period. It was especially interesting for Tambu to realize that the “victimization [of women] was universal” regardless of her socioeconomic status or level of education. I’d read in several places that this book is often considered an African feminist novel and I can definitely see that. And it’s always quite surprising how regardless of the time period, we can relate to some of the internal conflicts that come with dual identities. As seen in the novel, it can be difficult to live somewhere, fully immersing yourself in the educational system, social culture and workforce without losing sight of your traditions. But furthermore, it can be equally difficult when you identify that some customs/traditions that were once held in such high regard, are either pointless or counterproductive.

But my first thought when I finished the book was that the story felt unfinished and had an abrupt ending. However, I’ve learned that Tsitsi Dangarembga published a sequel to nervous conditions in 2006, “The Book of Not.” The story was interesting to read but the novel felt like one long thought versus having a major climax/conflict that we watched unfold.

Also, I wish Nyasha’s mental health was explored more in the book. Nyasha was an interesting character to read because she was born in Rhodesia but spend 5 years of her early upbringing in England. Those 5 years affected her in ways her father never seemed to understand or acknowledge. We watch Nyasha struggle with this dual identity, struggle with her dad and accepting his patriarchal status and even struggle to relate with her school mates. Dangarembga left a lot to be desired, as Nyasha’s mental health episode occurred right before the book ended. It was not surprising that there was not adequate mental health services within the community, but it would have been interesting to see more of the aftermath - i.e. Nyasha’s road to recovery and how her parents responded to this down the line.

Overall, it was very exciting to delve in Zimbabwean culture through this novel. To an extent, I wish the book’s plot was a bit more dramatic but I suppose it would be easier to judge after reading the next two books that complete this trilogy.

Favorite quotes

“I was not sorry when my brother died”

“All this poverty began to offend him, or at ... least to embarrass him.”

"In those days I felt the injustice of my situation every time I thought about it, which I could not help but do often since the children were always talking about their age. Thinking about it, feeling the injustice of it, this is how I came to dislike my brother, and not only my brother but my father, my mother - in fact everybody."

“The victimization, I saw, was universal.”

“Nyasha knew nothing about leaving. She had only been taken to places - to the mission, to England, back to the mission. She did not know what essential parts of you stayed behind no matter how violently you tried to dislodge them in order to take them with you.”

“She thinks she is white,' they used to sneer, and that was as bad as a curse”

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

4 questions for discussion

1) After reading the novel, what do you think nervous conditions means?

2) How well do you think Tsitsi explored the theme of cultural duality with Nyasha and Chido (them growing up in England but also growing up in Rhodesia)?

3) How do you think Tambu’s understanding/acceptance of gender roles evolves throughout the story?

4) How does Maiguru embody the struggle of her gender, even as an educated woman?