Nervous Conditions is a novel written by Tsitsi Dangarembga that is set in Rhodesia in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. The book focuses on the struggles between men and women in the Sigauke Clan. The clan is based in patriarchal tradition where men are the center of society and do not take kindly to being challenged. While there are many characters introduced in the novel, there are 5 main female characters that each have different ways to deal with the male dominant societal norm. The narrator and protagonist, Tambu, is a young woman trying to overcome hardships and develop herself to the fullest but is often undermined and deemed inferior throughout her quest. Maiguru is Tambu’s Aunt and is very well educated but her own ambitions have taken a backseat to her role as a wife and mother. Nyasha is Tambu’s cousin and refuses to conform to her father's image of womanhood. Tambu's mother, Ma'Shingayi, performs all the physical labor at their house. Lucia is Tambu’s outspoken Aunt, whose opinionated nature often gets her in trouble even leading some of the men in the village to brand her a witch. Throughout the book these 5 women challenge the practices of male domination in various (usually unsuccessful) ways. They all make an effort to question some of the decisions that were the prerogative of the family patriarch, Tambu’s Uncle Babamukuru. The women also attempt to break out of the role of domesticity and servility to the surprise of the men. Pauline Ada Uwakweh, in her essay, Debunking Patriarchy: The Liberational Quality of Voicing in Tsitsi Dangarembga's Nervous Conditions, proposes three categories of women characters in the novel: the escaped females, the entrapped females, and the rebellious females (Uwakweh). Uwakweh presents Tambu and Lucia as escaped females, Tambu's mother and Aunt Maiguru as entrapped females, and Nyasha as the rebellious female. This paper will analyze the nervous conditions of these five women in their effort to escape the gender inequalities of a patriarchal society.
Tambu's mother, Ma'Shingayi, is one of the entrapped females. She is bound by the laws of her culture and perceives herself as being stuck in her role. Because of her gender she will never be seen as more than a possession of the men in her family even though it is through the fruits of her labor that her son is able to go to school and food it put on the table. Because of her poverty, she will never reach an equal status with whites or the educated Africans. MaShingayi is a traditionalist who is complacent with the status quo and does not appreciate Tambu and Nyasha rebelling against it. Her husband, Jeremiah, married her at the age of 15 without even hosting a wedding. She is described as being trapped with “poverty of blackness on one side and the weight of womanhood on the other” (Dangarembga, 16).The years of her doing nothing but housework have highlighted her place in the family and to survive what she cannot change. She had no choice but to assume a passive role in her environment dominated by the cultural beliefs of patriarchy. She is resigned to this role and now expects her female family members to also follow the rules of patriarchy. She tells Tambu, “this business of womanhood is a heavy burden…what will help you my child is to learn to carry your burden with strength” (Dangarembga, 16). She does understand that education is their escape from poverty, but only works to fund her son’s education, not her daughters. When Tambu rebelled and was about to enroll at the Sacred Heart College, MaShingayi experienced depression that transformed into a nervous breakdown. MaShingayi’s nervous condition stemmed from her daughter rebelling against patriarchal values
Maiguru, although educated with a Master’s degree that she has never used, is as entrapped as MaShingayi. Her education only serves to make her more resentful of her entrapment. Even though she is well educated and could survive on her own, Maiguru is still subjected to the patriarchal demands of her husband and the men of her community. She knows and understands the freedoms that women enjoy in western culture but years of ingrained culture and patriarchy force her to keep silent and obedient. Maiguru is balanced perfectly but also trapped between the two conflicting cultures. On one side her daughter is rebelling against the patriarchal status quo and on the other her in-laws and older family members expect her to conform to the patriarchal ideals. Maiguru’s entrapment is only superficially different from that of MaShingayi. They both struggle against entrapment in their family setting only by being female partners in their household. Tambu could not imagine Maiguru suffering because, according to her, she had everything: money, education and decency. MaShingayi notices the idolatry that Maiguru projected onto her daughter when she told Tambu:
"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."(Dangarembga, 132)
Maiguru was Tambu’s role model and she was obedient and loyal to her husband and his patriarchal views, until her depression (her nervous condition) drove her to rebel against her husband. She had had enough of being subservient to her husband’s family and left. She said to him, “Let me tell you I have had enough! And when I keep quiet you think I am enjoying it. So today I am telling you I am not happy. I am not happy anymore in this house” (Dangarembga,172). For Maiguru to abandon her family showed how strongly she disliked being a female in a patriarchal society. However, when Maiguru came back there was a change in how much power each controlled in the family. Babamukuru’s decisions were no longer unchallengeable. For example, when Babamukuru decided for Tambu that the convent would have a bad influence on her character, it was Maiguru who influenced the decision in favor of attending the Sacred Heart College.
Nyasha is the rebellious female. She has had the benefit of living and going to school in a western based culture and knows first-hand what kind of lives women in in that culture lead and how that differs from the patriarchal culture prevalent in Rhodesia. Unlike her mother Maiguru, Nyasha has no memories of the traditions and customs of Rhodesia and questions why someone would conform to that thinking. Therefore she also finds herself caught between two worlds. Her classmates make fun of her for her white mannerisms because they believe she is trying to be something she is not and she has no Rhodesian patriarchal mannerisms to fall back on. Nyasha is truly a woman with no true place in society and she struggles to find one. This conflict will lead eventually to her nervous condition. Tambu describes her cousin, Nyasha, as being rebellious and not afraid to challenge values that she may think incorrect. She attempts to imitate everything from western culture and despises her family’s traditions, culture, and race. Nyasha also has a nervous condition and tried to kill herself. She said, “I don’t want to do it. Tambu really I don’t but it’s coming I feel it coming… they have done it to me, really they have (referring to her parents). It’s not their fault they did it to them too. You know they did it to both of them, but especially to him. They put him through it all. But it’s not his fault. He’s good…he’s a good boy a good mint….a bloody Good kaffir…why do they do it …to me and to you and to him? Do you see what they have done? They have taken us away…they deprived you of you, him of him. Ourselves of each other” (Dangarembga, 200).
Lucia can be seen as either escaped or entrapped. She is escaped because she doesn't care what people think of her actions. She is set on gaining an education and bettering herself and will use any means available to achieve those goals. She is entrapped, however, because she still relies on the men in the family, primarily Babamukuru, to fund her education. It seems that she wants to have escaped but must still rely on Babamukuru to fund her dreams thus drawing her back to the patriarchal order. Perhaps she cannot escape completely because the patriarchal society did not give her a chance at a young age and thus has become trapped in it. It was interesting when Lucia wanted to earn money but Babamukuru had to find her a job. Babamukuru explained this as, “Not much. A little job. At the girl’s hostel. You will help to cook food there at the hostel” (Dangarembga,158).This statement was received by the clan with happiness. Lucia praised him for this honor by being on her knees in gratitude. Tambu’s mother performed a similar gesture, by kneeling and worshipping beside Lucia. Maiguru completed the picture by also kneeling on the floor despite her status accorded to her education. Tambu’s admiration for Babamukuru was so great that she regarded him “as the closest thing a human being could get to God’. (Dangarembga, 199). It appears for Lucia and all women in patriarchal Rhodesia at this time that the more things change the more things stay the same.
Tambu seems to have the potential to be the only female from the tribe to have the ability to escape this society. She has a combination of having lived in Rhodesia’s patriarchal society and also being educated in western society. Because of this, she has a unique vantage point of women’s social status and gender equality. She has seen her female relatives struggle at various points in their lives and the effects patriarchal culture can have on women. I believe that Tambu will be influenced by the western ideals, but her mother’s constant cautions of them will not allow her to forget her patriarchal past. She is a young woman trying to overcome some early hardships caused by a lack of schooling and an expectation to conform to society. She wants to go to school and reach her full potential. Her trap occurs through her mother’s beliefs and efforts to influence her thinking to conform to her patriarchal views. Additionally, her mother tried make her understand that women had to deal with hardships and tried to teach her how to tolerate then rather than to escape them .Before his death, Tambu also endured humiliation from her brother, Nhamo, who constantly made fun of her. Her father also tried to beat her into conformity by making fun of her efforts to educate herself. Her culture forced Tambu and all girls like her into pre-determined roles that denied her opportunities. Nhamo, on the other hand was able to study and encouraged to attend school despite the family having being very poor. Tambu grew to hate her brother for the opportunities he had access to and those that she did not. She was not even sad when he died which she illustrates during the opening lines in the novel.
Dangarembga chose to portray these five women in her novel because she also was an African woman trying to find her voice in a male dominated world. She likely also felt entrapment, rebelliousness, and finally escape from her patriarchal roots.