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Summary - ENG2603 - Colonial And Postcolonial African Literatures
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Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi DangarembgaPlot Summary
Set in white-dominated Rhodesia of the 1960's, Tambu begins her story by talking about her brother's trip to and from mission school
each day. She says that he complains about the trip - especially the two-mile walk from the bus station to their home - and that she
could talk endlessly about all there was to do during that walk and how much she loved it. Children, including Tambu, were se ldom
restricted and were allowed to swim in the pools. Tambu is the oldest daughter and the second oldest child of Ma'Shingayi and
Babamukuru. Her uncle, known to Tambu as Babamukuru, is the patriarch of the family and is an important benefactor, providing
money, food and education for Tambu's immediate family. The family is obliged to show earnest gratitude for the gifts, a nd Tambu
believes her uncle to be as near an angel as an earthly person can be. As a young child, Tambu works hard for her family, taking on
chores before she's told in an effort to lighten her mother's load. Her brother, Nhamo, attends school, first a walking distance away
and later at a mission school where Babamukuru is headmaster. Tambu's own education at one point is put on hold because there is
no money to pay school fees. When this happens, she clears a field, plants maize and sells the ears to finance her education. Upon
Nhamo's death, Tambu is sent to school. The purpose of education is not for education's sake but so that the educated member of the
family will help support the rest of the family. As Tambu is considering her role in adulthood, she imagines being able to buy pretty
clothes for her younger sisters and provide adequate food so her mother will grow strong and healthy. Tambu studies hard and wins a
place at Sacred Heart, a school run by nuns for further education. Along the way, Tambu all but severs her relationship with her
mother admitting there is nothing at the homestead for her any longer, but Tambu grows a bond with her cousin, Nyasha. Others
through Nyasha’s constant movement that Tambu learns to question things in her life and to test the boundaries set it up for her. She
learns that her aunt, Maiguru, has as much education as her Babamukuru and that she doesn't keep any of her earnings for herself,
nor is Maiguru's education ever touted as is Babamukuru's. Tambu doesn't seem to question the reason but later admits that
everything she saw as a child has been a seed, planted and waiting for the right time to grow. Tambu's story is one of how to grow and
learn, though her most significant step in the coming of age process happens at the conclusion of the book. She comes to realize many
things about her family, her world and herself.
Chapters One and Two Summary
Tambu's brother complains about the trip to and from missionary school, but she loves the walk. Children were seldom restricted and
were allowed to swim in the pools. Men have a specific place for bathing and women bathe in a place ideal for washing clothes.
Tambu doesn't want to become a woman who'll have to do laundry rather than play in the "interesting" pools. When the area around
the swimming holes gets an increase in traffic, the bathing spots are forced further upriver, but Tambu sometimes does swim in the
deeper holes. Tambu's brother, Nhamo, excels at school. By 1968, everyone except Tambu's father begins to worry about Nhamo, who
has refused to return home during the brief breaks, staying to study. On the November day Nhamo was expected home, Tambu arrives
from her work in the fields to discover that Nhamo has not yet come. Tambu was to have prepared a rooster for the family's meal in
honor of her brother's arrival. She has much less work to do because he isn't at home. She decides to prepare the family meal so that
when her mother comes home from working hard in the garden, she can rest. Netsai, her sister, has carried water from the river
earlier. Netsai is a "good worker," and Tambu is touched by her sister's concern for the family. Babamukuru urges Tambu's father to
send the children to school at the relatively young age of seven, and says the are "malleable". The year Tambu is to have started
school, there was a poor harvest and no money left over for school fees. Nhamo has excelled at school up to this point and he cries
when he's told that he can't attend. Tambu's mother boils eggs and takes them to the bus terminal to sell to travelers. She extends her
garden and sells the extra produce as well, scraping up enough money to put Nhamo back in school but not enough for Tambu to
return. She is a good student and is sad, but her father tells her she's better off staying at home and learning things a wife should
know - how to cook, clean and tend a garden. She points out that Babamukuru's wife, Maiguru, is educated and is a good wife as well.
Tambu's mother says that Maiguru also knows how to cook, clean and garden. She tells Tambu that the skill most needed for a
woman is the ability to carry her burdens. Tambu wants to be like Maiguru - well educated, living in a fine mansion and has a driver -
and knows that an education is the way to achieve that goal. If her parents will give her the seeds, she will clear a field of her own and
grow maize to earn the fees. Her father is angry, but her mother says to give the girl the seeds so that she can see some things just
can't be done. Babamukuru himself is well educated, having gone to England to study for his bachelor's degree. Tambu was only five
when he left and later learns that he had been given a scholarship but hadn't really wanted to go. He felt a responsibility to his mother
and had a family of his own, including his wife, Maiguru. In December, Tambu begins her field of maize, thankful to her grandmother
who taught Tambu how to garden. Tambu's grandmother taught her work ethic by praising her efforts; she also taught Tambu the
history of her family. As the crop nears harvest time, Tambu is pleased with the results, but cautions herself not to become optimistic.
Then, just before harvesting, the ears - called "mealies" - begin to disappear. That Sunday, Tambu decides to go to church, having
missed the fun and laughter. There she learns that Nhamo has been handing out mealies for roasting as an after-school treat - he's
been stealing her crop. She attacks him, but is stopped by a teacher, Mr. Matimba, who chastises Nhamo, saying that it's a brother's
duty to look out for his sister. She tells Mr. Matimba of her plans to return to school by earning the necessary fees. He offers to take her
into town the next time he goes to do errands, saying that she could sell the mealies for more to the white people. Tambu's father is
angry, accusing Mr. Matimba of interfering and trying to take over parental duties. Ma'Shingayi says that Tambu has the right to try
and says that if he refuses that, Tambu will hate him. As Tambu leaves with Mr. Matimba, she notes that she's scored a major victory
even if she doesn't sell any maize. The trip is exciting because Tambu has never been in a vehicle before. She sells several ears to a
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,woman named Doris, who admires Tambu's drive and calls her a "plucky pickanin." The ten-pound note the woman gave Tambu for
the corn is used to pay her school fees for the coming years. The first year back, Tambu has to repeat a level but she excels, finishing at
the top of her class and holding that position the following year. Nhamo is fourth in his class, and he constantly points out to Tambu
that she's only at the top of the class because she repeated a level. When Babamukuru and his family are due to return from Europe,
Tambu's father throws a party. Tambu suspects that he begged for the money. Nhamo is going with Tambu's father to pick up
Babamukuru and the family. The journey took careful planning because the buses were erratic and often full. Tambu's mother argues
that the two should leave early on the morning of Babamukuru's expected arrival rather than spending a night with an aunt. She
hopes that by arguing in favor of staying at home, the two would go. They decide they will leave the night before but that Tambu is to
meet them the following morning with food for the remainder of the journey. Tambu says that her mother got the peace and quiet of a
night without the two, but that she's faced with the task of finding food for them.
Chapters One and Two Analysis
The family farms and Tambu says that much of the work is difficult manual labor. They have a plow that can be pulled by an oxen, but
it takes a strong man for that task. If there's no one available, it's up to the women and children to dig and plant by hand. Once the
maize has begun to grow, there's a constant battle against the weeds which are either pulled by hand or chopped by a hoe. At harvest
time, the maize leaves the harvesters so itchy that everyone rushes to the river to "wash the itch away" at the end of the day. Tambu
says that she doesn't wonder why Nhamo doesn't want to return home to help with the chores. Tambu's aunt sometimes sends a small
gift of tea or sugar to Tambu's mother, but Nhamo usually keeps it for himself. Often, their mother finds Nhamo sipping sweet tea and
reading, prompting her to scold him into some chore, but she later laughs saying that Nhamo will be a good teacher some day. On the
days Mukoma arrives in shorts, he takes up a hoe and helps with the work. On the days he is not wearing shorts, he and Tambu's
father return to the house. Tambu says that when the men leave, her mother becomes ferocious and that she and her younger sister
work diligently so as not to provoke their mother's wrath. Tambu says that her father and uncle would talk of the crop, of how far
behind they were, of the neighbor's livestock escaping into their fields, of the fact that Mukoma would purchase barbed wire for
fencing. It seems that Mukoma helps the family in many ways, though it's never really explained why he does so. Tambu doesn't like
Nhamo's ways. She says that her home felt "healthier" when he was away and that she was relieved to have him gone so much of the
time. As she is thinking about this, Netsai asks if there's something wrong. Tambu fells guilty over her thoughts and says that she was
just thinking how good it would be to have Nhamo home. Once, Tambu had objected to Nhamo's demand that Netsai go fetch his
luggage. Nhamo had beaten Netsai for not going. Tambu says that she is almost as big as Nhamo; therefore, he didn't threaten her
with bodily harm, but that he was a bully. As she prepares dinner on the November evening when Nhamo failed to return home, she
thinks that Nhamo will likely arrive the following day and she will be forced to catch, kill, pluck and cook a chicken for the family
meal. She says that she hates lunging for the birds and the smell of blood after the slaughter. She decides that she will have Nhamo
catch and kill the chicken, and she will pluck and cook it - that the division of labor seems fair. She also notes that Nhamo has no
interest in fairness and that he won't help. It's interesting that Nhamo refuses to carry his own suitcase from the bus stop but plans to
take on the duty of educating his sisters and caring for them in adulthood. Tambu notes that this is what Babamukuru has done and
that Nhamo seems to be prepared to take on that duty as well. However, Nhamo has made these pledges as a young boy not yet in the
position of responsibility to have to carry through on those promises. Considering his attitudes, it seems unlikely that he would have
done this duty. Tambu is behind in her studies because she doesn't often attend school, spending much time in the fields helping her
family instead. She says that the needs of the women in her family had never been a priority. Her attitude about Nhamo reflects that
she blames him for at least some of her situation, though she admits that blame doesn't come in a neat package and that it might be
unfair to blame Nhamo when he isn't around to defend himself. She has actually come to the point at which the injustice has caused
her to "hate everybody." Babamukuru was reluctant to leave Africa to study but had no choice. Had he refused, the missionaries would
have taken some other young African under their wing to teach, pushing Babamukuru out completely. Tambu's grandmother wants
Babamukuru's children - Chido and Nyasha - to remain on the homestead, but Babmukuru remembers the hard work required so
takes his children with him so he can oversee their education during the five years of his own study. The stories told by her
grandmother teach Tambu many things, including the details of her ancestry. More importantly, Tambu learns from her grandmother
that if a person works hard, is diligent and willing to endure and obey, that person will succeed. Tambu says that the succes s sought
should be within reason. The bond she describes between herself and her grandmother is common of families of that era and earlier
and seems to be an important factor in the kind of person Tambu grows up to be. Tambu works on her own garden plot of maize with
the intention of selling the harvest to pay for her school fees, but her parents believe she will fail. She says that she grew sturdier than
was useful for any eight-year-old and that she craved support. She eventually begins to ignore her mother's predictions. She hopes to
find an ally in Nhamo, but he is malicious and tells her that she should know he is the one who must go to school. He then says outright
that she shouldn't be concerned with learning because she is a girl. Before that statement, Tambu was concerned about Nhamo. He
has many chores and often misses school to help in the fields. She wonders how he has time to study and is on the verge of intervening
on her brother's behalf by taking on the milking as her own chore. She says that self-preservation overcomes her concern for her
brother and once he makes the comment about her gender, her concern "dies an unobtrusive death." When Mr. Matimba asks Tambu
what she plans to do with the ten pounds given to her by the woman named Doris, Tambu says that she'll keep it to pay her school fees
for the coming years. Mr. Matimba, probably realizing that Tambu's father would never allow her to keep that much money, suggests
that she give it to the headmaster who will deduct her school fees each year until the money is gone. Tambu agrees, but when she gets
home, Nhamo doesn't believe her story. Tambu admits that she wanted to be part of the planning and to make the trip to meet her
uncle, though it's not so that she can be with her father. It's simply that the trip is an exciting adventure. She says that her father tells
her to curb her natural impulses because she will remain at home to help prepare the homecoming. Tambu says that she has come to
believe that there is no way to please her father, and so it becomes natural to simply please herself. She says that her father threatens
to pull her out of school, but she knows that he really can't. She does admit that her father is torn. He sees her education as an
investment because she will someday be ready for a good job because of the education. However, if she grows up to be a wife, some
man's family will pay for her in cattle.
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, Chapter Three Summary
When Babamukuru arrives in a cavalcade of motorcars, Tambu's father tells of the return of the "prince" with his educational degrees.
Maiguru enters behind her husband and Tambu notes that Maiguru's wearing a dress that looks very much like one Babamukuru
gave Ma'Shingayi for Christmas just before leaving for his studies. Tambu prepares the meal, and the women, making her feel a little
better and greatly boosting her confidence praise her. Tambu is assigned the task of taking the bowl of water to each of the relatives
for washing their hands. The job is tricky because the most important male relative there is to be first with the line behind it in order
of importance. Tambu says that there are other relatives more important than Babamukuru, but since he is the guest of honor, she
takes the water to him first. The majority of the meat has been dished out for the elders dining together, meaning Tambu and some of
the other children have none, but she says that they are not accustomed to meat at all, so having none is no hardship. The young men
are unhappy that there is no alcohol. Babamukuru does not drink at all and alcohol is not served in deference to him. Tambu says that
those who complain don't realize the extent of Babamukuru's importance. After the meal, many of the guests lament their lack of
money, pointing out all the things they would have done for Babamukuru's homecoming had they had money. The young people
gather for dancing. Tambu invites Nyasha to join, but the girl has trouble understanding the language. Having spoken nothing but
English for the past years Nyasha has all but forgotten the Shona language, which offends Tambu. Tambu hears Nyasha, Chido and
their mother hold a conversation in rapid English. She can only pick up a few words, including "dirty." It's evident that Maiguru is not
encouraging the two to join in, saying that she is concerned that they are overly tired. Tambu walks away, trying not to let the
incident spoil the rest of her evening. Later, Tambu's father, Jeremiah, joins Babamukuru and his other siblings as they disc uss the
future for the family. Babamukuru says that the key to a prosperous family is that one child from every branch must be educated.
Jeremiah says that Nhamo suffers greatly, working hard at home and at school, but that the boy never complains, only works harder.
Babamukuru says that Nhamo must move to the mission school for the next school term. Tambu's aunt jumps up, shouting for the
good deed done by her brother. Jeremiah falls to his knees and thanks God for giving him a saint as a brother. The following day,
Jeremiah tells Nhamo of the plan, who immediately goes to the garden where Tambu is working to be certain that she knows of his
good fortune - that he was chosen because he is smart, and that she would never rise to that level. Tambu erupts into an angry tirade,
telling Nhamo that he will always be part of this family, whether he wants to be or not. She might have been able to be happy for
Nhamo's opportunity except that he had made it clear that he believed she was being passed over because she is a girl. As Nhamo's
time at the mission school nears, Tambu finds that she is unable to talk to him. She softens somewhat by the time Nhamo leaves, but
speaking to him at that point would have meant losing face. Babamukuru is a frequent guest, and Tambu tries to pull Nyasha into
conversation. However, she's quiet and never talks, even to try to get past the language barrier. Tambu says that she feels humiliated
for trying so hard to grow a friendship with her cousin. When Nhamo returns home at the end of the school term, he has "forgotten"
how to speak Shona - the family's native language. Jeremiah is the only one who is impressed and pleased, saying it's the first step
toward the emancipation of the family. Tambu has related these stories to fully describe the situation in her family on that day in
November of 1968, when they are waiting for Nhamo to return home from school. It's already dark and they have decided he will
likely return the following day when Babamukuru arrives with Maiguru. Ma'Shingayi takes one look at the couple and begins keening,
telling them to go back because she doesn't want them to tell her what she already knows. Ma'Shingayi is furious, saying that their
education killed her son and spitting at both of them. Nhamo had complained of pain in his neck and had been taken to a clinic where
he was tentatively diagnosed with mumps and died two days later. Babamukuru tells Jeremiah that "the girl" must now take Nhamo's
place, getting and education so she can help her family until the time comes for marriage. Ma'Shingayi objects, but Tambu's father
insists that she be educated. Tambu wins and notes that Babamukuru's decision to oversee her education has vindicated her.
Chapter Three Analysis
Tambu's cousin, Nyasha, is wearing a "skimpy" dress during the homecoming. Tambu notes that it is barely sufficient to cover the girl,
and that she seems uncomfortable, constantly clasping her hands behind her buttocks as if to hold the dress down. Tambu says that
the dress is inappropriate and that she won't condone Nyasha's wearing it. She says she also disapproved of Nyasha's brother, Chido,
though she can't really put her finger on a reason other than the fact that he's Nyasha's brother. It's interesting that Tambu is facing
censure for her hopes and dreams because it's not what society is accustomed to, but seems to have little tolerance when her cousin
steps outside the bounds of what's considered socially acceptable. Tambu says that her uncle's homecoming should have been a joyful
occasion for her as it was for the other family members, but she doesn't enjoy it because she was denied the opportunity to go to the
airport. She says that she is unable to reconnect with her cousins now, though she doesn't explain why it would have been easy at the
airport and impossible at home. She says that she realizes these are the of which burdens her mother speaks. She then analyzes her
feelings. She says that she liked her cousins before they went to England and ponders the idea that she doesn't like anyone. She no
longer fights with Nhamo, but that's because they simply have too little in common for fighting. She decides that she doesn't really
want to understand what she's feeling and busies herself with housework. Babamukuru and his siblings talk for a long time that night.
He says that his branch of the family is stable because of his education boosting his job and earnings. He says that each branch of the
family must have someone do the same. Tambu's father, Jeremiah, immediately inserts the idea that all children should graduate. It's
interesting because he has often threatened to pull Tambu out of school. Babamukuru says that the main problem is Jeremiah's
family. He says that the others have someone to support them, but that there is no one in Jeremiah's family. He says that he received a
letter from Jeremiah in 1962, saying that the children would not be able to return to school. Babamukuru says that he was sur prised
to hear that Jeremiah's crops had failed because others said it had been a good year. It seems that he questions whether the crops
failed, or if Jeremiah simply hadn't worked the fields like he should have. Babamukuru moves on without dwelling on that, saying that
he was pleased to know that the money he had sent was used to keep Tambu and Nhamo in school. It's interesting that Jeremiah
doesn't even spare a glance for Tambu, who worked to harvest her own little crop for school fees. It's also interesting that Jeremiah
interrupts Babamukuru's speech to say that all the children should go to school, though he himself has opposed Tambu's attendance
and has often held Nhamo out.
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