Who is Tambu in Nervous Conditions?
In the 1980s, Tsitsi Dangarembga wrote Nervous Conditions, a story about a 14-year-old girl named Tambu living in 1960s Rhodesia and experiencing a desire to attend school. She lives in poverty with her parents and older brother Nhamo.
Why is Tambu still shocked when they turn up the drive?
Despite having heard stories about the grandness of Babamukuru's house, Tambu is still shocked when they turn up the drive. She thinks of her own home... (full context)
Where did Tambu grow up?
She's born and raised on a homestead in Rhodesia where her family lives in poverty. Because her uncle Babamukuru is wealthy and educated, he insists that Tambu and her older brother, Nhamo, attend school. When Jeremiah and Mainini run out of money to send Tambu, she feels the injustice sharply and raises the money herself.
What do you need to know about the book Tambu?
Everything you need for every book you read. Tambu is the teenage protagonist of the novel. She's born and raised on a homestead in Rhodesia where her family lives in poverty. Because her uncle Babamukuru is wealthy and educated, he insists that Tambu and her older brother, Nhamo, attend school.
Where is Tambu from?
Why does Tambu believe education won't make her useless?
What does Tambu ask her family members about?
Why does Anna show Tambu to the living room?
What does Tambu do without a chicken?
Why does Tambu feel superior to Nyasha?
What happens in the evening in Tambu?
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What is the age difference between nhamo and tambu?
Nhamo is Tambu's older brother by one year. He excels at primary school even though he is one of the youngest students, coming top of the class two years running. He attends the mission school for three years, beginning in 1965.
How does tambu change in Nervous Conditions?
Throughout Nervous Conditions, the adult Tambu looks back on her adolescence and her struggle to emerge into adulthood and formulate the foundation on which her adult life would be built. There are essentially two Tambus in the novel, and the narrator Tambu successfully generates tension between them.
What does tambu struggle with?
major conflictTambu struggles against the poverty and lack of opportunity that mark her world at the homestead. Once at the mission school, she is impeded by the societal bias against women and the sacrifices she must make in order to please her uncle and fulfill his expectations of her.
Where is tambu from in Nervous Conditions?
Tambu is the teenage protagonist of the novel. She's born and raised on a homestead in Rhodesia where her family lives in poverty. Because her uncle Babamukuru is wealthy and educated, he insists that Tambu and her older brother, Nhamo, attend school.
Can you cook books and feed them to your husband?
“Can you cook books and feed them to your husband? Stay at home with your mother. Learn to cook and clean. Grow vegetables.”
Who is Lucia Nervous Conditions?
In her novel, Nervous Conditions, Tsitsi Dangarembga depicts her character Lucia as a woman who lives by her own set of rules despite being raised in a strict patriarchal society that has cultural norms set in place for a woman’s role in the family.
Is there a sequel to Nervous Conditions?
The Book of NotNervous Conditions / Followed byThe Book of Not is a novel by Zimbabwean author Tsitsi Dangarembga, published in 2006. The novel is semi-autobiographical, set in colonial Rhodesia. The story is told from the perspective of Tambudzai as she attends a convent boarding school in Rhodesia. Wikipedia
Is Nervous Conditions a true story?
Nervous Conditions won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize in 1989, and in 2018 was listed as one of the BBC's top 100 books that changed the world. The semi-autobiographical novel focuses on the story of a Shona family in post-colonial Rhodesia during the 1960s.
Who is Anna Nervous Conditions?
Maiguru's house girl. Tambu meets her for the first time during events surrounding Nhamo's funeral, and though she generally likes Anna, she also finds her unserious and too talkative.
Who is Tambu's mother?
MaininiMainini (“Mother” in Shona: see below) refers to Tambu's mother, and she is cited as one of the four women Tambu loved whose story the novel is intended to tell.
Who is Tambu's father?
Jeremiah Tambu'sJeremiah. Tambu's father and Babamukuru's brother. Jeremiah is naïve, ignorant, and superstitious.
Who is netsai in relation to tambu?
Netsai is Tambu's younger sister.
Tambu Character Analysis in Nervous Conditions | SparkNotes
Throughout Nervous Conditions, the adult Tambu looks back on her adolescence and her struggle to emerge into adulthood and formulate the foundation on which her adult life would be built.There are essentially two Tambus in the novel, and the narrator Tambu successfully generates tension between them. Tambu is a crafty and feisty narrator.
Nervous Conditions: Character List | SparkNotes
A list of all the characters in Nervous Conditions. Characters include: Babamukuru, Chido, Jeremiah, Lucia, Maiguru and more.
Tambu’s and Nyasha’s Reaction to the Patriarchy in Nervous ...
The service can be used for. Supplemental understanding of the topic including revealing main issues described in the particular theme; Pharapreising and interpretation due to major educational standards released by a particular educational institution as well as tailored to your educational institution – if different;
Nervous Conditions Chapters 1 - 2 Summary and Analysis
Summary. The narrator, Tambudzai, Tambu for short, begins her story with the statement, "I was not sorry when my brother died." This section begins to lay the context for this event, which happened in 1968. Tambu introduces her elder brother, Nhamo, as arrogant - he is too proud to walk home from school, although Tambu finds endless inspiration in her daily journey.
Babamukuru Character Analysis in Nervous Conditions | LitCharts
Babamukuru is Tambu 's uncle. He and his wife, Maiguru, received scholarships to study in South Africa in the 1950s, and in 1960, they went to England to pursue master's degrees with their children, Chido and Nyasha.As the eldest brother, Babamukuru is the family patriarch. He uses his power and influence as the headmaster of a mission school to educate Nhamo and then Tambu.
What is the adult Tambu's struggle?
Throughout Nervous Conditions, the adult Tambu looks back on her adolescence and her struggle to emerge into adulthood and formulate the foundation on which her adult life would be built.
What is Tambu's dual perspective?
She explores her own conflicted perceptions not only as a teenager but as an adult reexamining those years, a dual perspective that gives the novel richness and complexity. Tambu introduces herself to the reader harshly, proclaiming the fact that she is not upset that her brother has died.
How old is Tambu in The Homestead?
Tambu. The novel’s narrator and protagonist. An intelligent, hardworking, and curious fourteen-year-old girl, Tambu is hungry for an education and eager to escape life on the homestead. While she is sensitive and kind, she is also often harsh and unyielding in her judgments.
Who is Tambu's uncle?
Babamukuru. Tambu’s uncle. Babamukuru is the highly educated and successful headmaster of the mission school. A patriarchal and authoritarian figure, he uses his power and position to improve the lives of his extended family, but he does it out of duty, not love.
What is Ma'Shingayi's character?
Initially, Ma’Shingayi is portrayed as a hardworking figure who has toiled and sacrificed so that her son can have an education. After Nhamo’s death, she grows spiteful, angry, and jealous of those around her. Her hard life also makes her apathetic and accepting of the limitations with which life has saddled her.
What is Babamukuru's presence?
In Babamukuru’s presence he is servile and fawning, lauding his siblings’ accomplishments. With his immediate family, however, he is disdainful of education and does little to encourage his children’s ambitions.
Who is Tambu's cousin?
Nyasha. Tambu’s cousin, daughter of Babamukuru and Maiguru. Nyasha is silently observant with an often unsettling intensity. Though she can be precocious and charming, she does little to make the other girls at school like her.
What is Takesure's job after Nhamo's death?
After Nhamo’s death, Takesure is enlisted to help Jeremiah with the labors on the homestead. Like Jeremiah, he is lazy, foolish, and superstitious and abuses his power as a man. He has many wives, whom he cannot support. He impregnates Lucia and tries to make her his concubine.
What does Tambu believe about Nyasha?
Tambu doesn't begin to rethink this assessment until she goes to the mission school. While she continues to believe that Nyasha is tactless, headstrong, and a poor excuse for a good, traditional woman, she also discovers that Nyasha is worldly and able to think about things in more nuanced ways.
How does Tambu wake up Maiguru?
Nyasha is asleep, and Tambu wakes up Maiguru by trying to knock on the window. Maiguru... (full context) Nyasha tries to coax Tambu out of bed, but Tambu feels herself slipping out of her... (full context) ...pack her suitcase until she realizes that none of the items in it are hers.
What do Chido and Tambu wait for?
Chido and Tambu wait for Nyasha for a while before slowly walking down the drive. Chido insists that they can't go... (full context)
What does Nhamo's absence mean?
Nhamo's absence also means that when Babamukuru comes to visit on the weekends with Nyasha, Tambu is able to try to be friends with Nyasha. Tambu is unsuccessful, as Nyasha ... (full context) Chapter Four. ...about what life will be like at the mission.
Why does Nyasha turn to studying?
As tensions rise in Babamukuru's house, Nyasha turns to constant studying and dieting to cope. Both happen sporadically at first and only when Nyasha is preparing for exams, but especially after Tambu leaves the mission to attend Sacred Heart, Nyasha's health takes a turn for the worse.
Why is Tambu's house white?
It's white, which Tambu later learns from Nyasha is because early settlers believed that the paint kept houses cooler. In the surrounding town,... (full context) ...house, explaining that the dogs are tied. She shows Tambu into the back door, and Nyasha immediately jumps on Tambu with hugs and kisses.
When does Nyasha start her period?
Nyasha starts her period the next day, nine days early, and tells Tambu that she wishes... (full context) Chapter Seven. On December 23, Babamukuru, Maiguru, Nyasha, and Tambu go to the homestead for Christmas.
Why did Tambu grow mealies?
Tambu, inspired by her grandmother's anecdotes, decides to cultivate a small plot of land and grow cobs of maize, called mealies, to sell in order to raise money for school fees. However, one day, Tambu discovers that Nhamo has been stealing her mealies and giving them away to children at Sunday school.
Why is Tambu's tone resentful?
The tone of her language is resentful, because she understands that the colonial government has unfairly low expectations for African children. Tambu is weighed down, as her mother puts it, both by "the poverty of blackness on one side and the weight of womanhood on the other.".
What is Tambu's grandmother's message?
Tambu describes her grandmother as "an inexorable cultivator of land, sower of seeds and reaper of rich harvests until, literally until, her very last moment." Her grandmother would give Tambu "history lessons" while they work in the fields together, with this message: "endure and obey, for there is no other way." In this way, Tambu's grandmother gives her a different kind of education than what Nhamo is receiving in his prestigious missionary school. Tambu learns about her family's mythology and cultural beliefs.
What does Tambu remember about her grandmother?
Tambu remembers her recently deceased grandmother, with whom she used to work in the garden. Tambu's grandmother often shared her generational values with Tambu, who interprets, "life could be lived with a modicum of dignity in any circumstances if you worked hard enough and obeyed the rules." Tambu's grandmother told her about how their family's land was taken from them by "wizards well-versed in treachery and black magic," and how her grandfather had escaped from slavery. Tambu, inspired by her grandmother's anecdotes, decides to cultivate a small plot of land and grow cobs of maize, called mealies, to sell in order to raise money for school fees. However, one day, Tambu discovers that Nhamo has been stealing her mealies and giving them away to children at Sunday school. She loses all respect for her brother that day, charging at him and attempting to kill him. Mr. Matimba, the Sunday school teacher, has to break up the siblings' fight.
What is the theme of Nervous Conditions?
In the first chapter of Nervous Conditions, Dangarembga introduces the theme of education as an avenue for social mobility through the relationship between Tambu and her older brother, Nhamo. Tambu associates education with financial success, based on the achievements of her uncle, Babamukuru. Although Babamukuru seems to have remained humble and helps with the physical labor on the homestead whenever he comes to visit, education affects Nhamo differently; he resents his meager roots. Ma'Shingayi is uneducated herself but still understands the importance of it, especially for men, so she boils eggs and sells them to passengers at the bus terminus in order to keep her son in school.
How old was Nhamo when he started school?
Nhamo was able to start school at the age of seven. Meanwhile, Babamukuru lived in England with his wife, Maiguru, and their children, Nyasha and Chido, for five years. While Babamukuru was away, Tambu's family struggled and her mother, Ma'Shingayi, was forced to sell boiled eggs to passengers at the bus terminus.
Why does Tambu give money to the headmaster?
Following Mr. Matimba's advice, Tambu gives the money to the school headmaster to keep safe, so that she can use it to pay her school fees for the next few years. Predictably, Jeremiah protests and attempts to get the money for himself, but the headmaster refuses and Tambu is able to continue her education.
Where is Tambu from?
Tambu. Tambu is the teenage protagonist of the novel. She's born and raised on a homestead in Rhodesia where her family lives in poverty. Because her uncle Babamukuru is wealthy and educated, he insists that Tambu and her older brother, Nhamo, attend school.
Why does Tambu believe education won't make her useless?
When Jeremiah and Mainini run out of money to send Tambu, she feels the injustice sharply and raises the money herself. Because Babamukuru’s wife, Maiguru, is educated and seems to live a happy life, Tambu believes that education won't make her useless.
What does Tambu ask her family members about?
He begins school at... (full context) Tambu asks her family members about the events surrounding Babamukuru's departure for England, as she doesn't... (full context) ...selling boiled eggs at bus stops and managed to keep Nhamo in school, which angered Tambu.
Why does Anna show Tambu to the living room?
Anna shows Tambu to the living room to wait for Maiguru, who is resting. Tambu hopes Maiguru isn't... (full context)
What does Tambu do without a chicken?
Without a chicken to kill, Tambu turns to preparing the evening meal of sadza and vegetables. Netsai brings Tambu out of... (full context)
Why does Tambu feel superior to Nyasha?
The other women are pleased when they discover Tambu cooking. Tambu feels superior because she believes Nyasha wouldn't be able to cook such a... (full context)
What happens in the evening in Tambu?
In the evening, Mainini goes to her vegetable garden and Tambu returns to the homestead. She expects to find Nhamo, but he's not there. Her younger... (full context)
