Nhamo's Allienation

Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes the book "Nervous Conditions" by Tsitsi Dangarembga and shows how the main characters Tambu and her brother Nhamo manage to overcome their poverty and inferior living conditions to rise to the challenges they set for themselves - to receive an education and to not be psychologically damaged by their surroundings.

From the Paper:

"Set in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), Nervous Conditions, by Tsitsi Dangarembga, is a novel about the life of a young girl named Tambu and her dream of being educated. A squalid life and environment had nothing to offer the persistent Tambu other than starvation and the preparation to be a housewife in the future. Nevertheless, she looked up to Maiguru, the wife of her well-educated uncle, Babamukuru. Maiguru surpassed the society's definitions of women being just housewives with no need of education. Likewise, Nhamo, Tambu's brother, looked up to Babamukuru, whom he wanted to be as intellect as by alienating himself from his family, his culture, and his early childhood promises and dreams."

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