Nervous Conditions

From the very first sentence, "I was not sorry when my brother died" this novel is captivating.  It delves into two young girls' lives; Tambu and her cousin Nyasha.  This novel explores what happens to people, specifically women, when they are trying to create an identity for themselves but the guidelines are being set by others.

It is set in Rhodesia during the 1960s, which was still under colonial rule at the time.  Nyasha embraces the "new city life" and the ideals of England; her father is the head of the mission and has much authority because of his position within the British hierarchy.  Therefore Nyasha gets educated in England, and "buys into" the unobtainable goal of being accepted by British white society as an equal.  This goal can never be realized because of her skin color and her origins, and when she recognizes this fact, the effects are traumatic.

Tambu remains home in rural Rhodesia.  Her father has authority over the home, and her mother is often pregnant and working herself to exhaustion.  They are very poor, and even though Tambu performs well on her tests, there is only enough money to send one off to school; Tambu's brother gets the education and Tambu is left in the village to work, pining for the salavation that she believes education will offer her. 

Tambu eventually gets herself to school and realizes that along with an education by the British, comes the need to emulate the British in order to succeed.  This was effectively foreshadowed by Tambu's brother in his rejection of his rural home; he embraces all things British and is ashamed of his "native family" during his time at school.  Education as salvation is not as easy as Tambu expected.

Both girls are conflicted between their home culuture and values and the ideals that they need to assume in order to succeed in colonial Rhodesia.  This is a story about conflicting cultures, searching for an identity, and the attempt to embrace a new culture while not losing the old culture.

Tambu feels that she needs to reject her rural mother and father in order to exist in the new Rhodesia that she is trying to make a place in.  And Nyasha, feels disconected from her country and alienated from her own people.  Who are her people?  That is a question that she heartbreakingly searches for in throughout the novel.

Ultimately, Nyasha succumbs to "nervous conditions" which is a physical manifestation of the turmoil of her emotional and mental state.  Tambu does not know how to help her cousin, and doubts whether she can obtain her British education without the same repercussions.

Dangarembga creates a novel of complex identity questions; not just for colonial oppressed women, but for all searching for an identity.  Her characters demand a compassion from the reader as they set about their journey of self-discovery.