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Nyasha's Struggle in Nervous Conditions
The significance of Nyasha in "Nervous Conditions" involves her apparent rebellious nature and her reluctance to accept the norm. Her unwillingness to conform to the ideals of a sexist society perpetuates her into a constant struggle against the patriarchal system. She may have lost the fight in the end but it's not to no avail because her example goes on to encourage Tambu to carry on in her wake. Nyasha is important because she is a shinning example of the effects of colonialism on the African population, she influences Tambu's own rebellious nature, and she's one of the few that rebel against the patriarchal system.
Nyasha's situation also illustrates the effects of colonialism on people. Nyasha falls victim to the adverse effects of colonialism as she tries to gain a European education while trying to keep her Shona roots. This leaves her a hybrid of the two cultures where she remains separate from both: "I am not one of them but I'm not one of you." (p. 201). She is not allowed to foster the values she acquired in England, and she is unwilling to submit to the established patterns and traditions of subjugation that are apparent in the Shona society, so she becomes alienated from both social groups. Nyasha then reacts to her isolation by trying to control every aspect of her life possible. She becomes anorexic to control her figure and studies constantly trying to attain perfection in academics: "Nyasha grew weaker by the day. She weaved when she walked and every night was the same. Although we were on vacation she studied fourteen hours a day to make sure that she passed her "O" levels."(200) This "nervous condition" has been brought upon by the English who have chang...
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...alternate view of the Shona society. Her values are a hybrid taken from both the English and Shona cultures and subsequently she is isolated from both cultures that will not accept her. This isolation leaves her vulnerable and she falls victim to anorexia as she tries to control her life. Her struggle against Babamukuru also serves to show that women are not submissive naturally but that this attitude only comes about because women are brainwashed into believing they are inferior. She never gives in and her resilience influences Tambu to become more assertive, and although Nyasha rebellion may not have been entirely successful, her struggle does live on through Tambu who now refuses to be brainwashed and will fight for social equality.
Bibliography:
Works Cited
Dangarembga, Tsitsi. _Nervous Conditions_. Seattle: Seal Press, 1988.
Her realization that she is not alone in her oppression brings her a sense of freedom. It validates her emerging thoughts of wanting to rise up and shine a light on injustice. Her worries about not wanting to grow up because of the harsh life that awaits her is a common thought among others besides the people in her community. As she makes friends with other Indians in other communities she realizes the common bonds they share, even down to the most basic such as what they eat, which comforts her and allows her to empathize with them.
Shostak, when interviewing Nisa, considers that in the beginning of the book, Nisa seems to exaggerate the stories from when she was an infant. Although the stories are exaggerated by Nisa, a lot of women can relate to her life even with the geographic distance between them or if the society is completely different. Women of the same age can relate to Nisa, or if they went through the same situations like her. Certain women, even in America, have gone through a situation where they had to bury their own child or if they have lost a husband.
...nthem, she presents a collectivist society in which a man’s inalienable right of individualism has been revoked, which causes the citizens to render their souls to the strong dictatorship. They conform to part of the programmed group referred to as “We” and compromise their desires to accept the collectivist tenet as true. They possess no free thought and are forbidden to have free will. Gradually, they transform to which they need no palpable shackles because their minds are fettered through the deprivation they suffer. However, she uses the main character Equality to break down the binds of society and form his own individual path. Equality’s story to relates to human existence in which men must lead their own lives or suffer the horrid consequences of interdependence and living for society’s sake.
It would be unfair to conclude an essay about a novel of such great proportion without matching its weight and grandeur. Tituba's life is one fraught with strong influences; women inspire her to achieve great things while her sole weakness, men, pull her down and ultimately contribute to her demise. Tituba is exposed to the often harsh realities of life, as she attempts to maintain her strong morals and values. Conde is able to drive her vehicle to destroy prejudice straight into success.
...c plot" limits and ignores the non-traditional female experience which is just as important to analyze. The Nan Princes, Lena Lingards and Tiny Solderalls of the fictional world deserve and demand critical attention not for what they don't do (the dishes) but for what they are-- working women.
Bell while talking about a Jayanthi, a bad girl who wanted to break all the barrier of her family 's culture, writes that “Particularly for women with fragile sense of self, the bad-girl strategy seemed to provide a strong identity. At the same time, it ostensibly protected women from losing track of their identities in a relationship by never investing in one emotionally. But rather than feeling strong and protected, some bad girls were left feeling alone and vulnerable.”(31) . Jayanthi choose to be a bad girl because she felt free and independent while breaking the rules. She didn’t broke the rules because she wanted to but she did it to show that she can do all the bad things; Bell writes that jayantee was tired of all the expectation, jayantee said regarding the expectation “ I’m just gonna break them. So i just broke them. So i ended up really going crazy...I was just like,” I don’t want to be the poster child, so the other extreme is this.”’(33). This kind of actions lead to anxiety and
Somehow, everything about the whites appear to elicit a reigning beauty that raises hatred and envy the black girls have against the white girls. Packer argues that even small thing like hair contributes to hostility. The fourth grade says; “their long, shampoo-commercial hair, straight as spaghetti from the box” (Packer, 16). These reinforcements are ingredients of prejudice that brings about racial discrimination. The black girls get jealous of the white girls’ hair, and this leads to discrimination against them. It is worth noting that the prejudices are handed down by the environment and society that people are brought up in. Arnetta, remembers a mall experience when she and her mother were being seen as if they were from China. They were being discriminated because of their race. The various treatments given to black people has played a vital role in intensifying the issue of prejudice, magnifying people’s sense of inferiority, and shaping the views of the black people on the white people. Arnetta says; “Even though I didn’t fight to fight, was afraid of fight, I felt I was part of the rest of the troop; like I was defending something” (Packer, 12). This is a clear indication that society has the power to influence youths. It depicts how society joins hands to fight for what they think is their right. Owed to the fact that this is a society. Everything and everyone is interlinked in a given way, making racism and prejudice hard to do away
and has faced issues of discrimination in connection in being apart of a minority group. Nitya also shares the same views as Rima in the fact that she doesn’t feel any particular discrimination against her ethnicity, but feels being a female faces more discrimination in her life personally. This issue matters because women in today’s world still feel as though race and ethnicity is not an issue, but gender still is and the role of women in the world is still negative. Even though Rima has a high power and leadership role in her job, a strong education and brilliant mind, gender is still a main issue. This further concludes the issue of being apart of a minority group because even
“I am Nana and I came to sing to you” (Melgar-Foraster 55). Nana’s actions are representing courage and heroism. She is fearless and is surprising everyone by approaching the green monster. She is the protagonist of Tam’s story, is sacrificing herself for others while the rest of the people involved are looking up to her and her bravery. This is the female hero defying social norms in this novel. “Just as dawn was breaking, the green monster would wake up in the lake, slapping the water with his tail and singing softly” (55). Not only did she get through the green monster, but she even serenaded him to the point that she gave him orders and he would listen, she demanded that, “First [she has] to eat or [she] won’t have the voice to sing” (56). “The green monster never ate another Potian again” (56), he listened to Nana, proving she has power. “Nana thrust the stone straight into his heart- and he was dead” (58). She was able to rid of the green monster using her feminine power without having to emasculate herself, and she succeeded. Her power in that situation is solid support of the idea of matriarchy. She is the only one out of all the people in their society to have stood up to the monster, and she even killed him. She now holds power over everyone else as they look up to
In conclusion , I believe that as strong as the protagonist’s self image of herself was, one girl is no match for all of society, which has efficiently put her “in her place”. This manipulation of the girl’s self image is not only the end of her unique identity, but it is also a blow against freedom and individualism. Unfortunately for this horse, she could not roam free forever, and she has finally been caught.
The second person point of view helps the reader to connect with the girl in this story. It shows the reader a better understanding of this character and how she is being raised to be a respectable woman. This point of view also gives us an insight on the life of women and shows us how they fit into their society. Through this point of view, the reader can also identify the important aspects of the social class and culture. The daughter tries to assert a sense of selfhood by replying to the mother but it is visible that the mother is being over whelming and constraining her daughter to prepare her for
Throughout history society has been controlled by men, and because of this women were exposed to some very demanding expectations. A woman was expected to be a wife, a mother, a cook, a maid, and sexually obedient to men. As a form of patriarchal silencing any woman who deviated from these expectations was often a victim of physical, emotional, and social beatings. Creativity and individuality were dirty, sinful and very inappropriate for a respectful woman. By taking away women’s voices, men were able to remove any power that they might have had. In both Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple” and Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening”, we see that there are two types of women who arise from the demands of these expectations. The first is the obedient women, the one who has buckled and succumbed to become an empty emotionless shell. In men’s eyes this type of woman was a sort of “angel” perfect in that she did and acted exactly as what was expected of her. The second type of woman is the “rebel”, the woman who is willing to fight in order to keep her creativity and passion. Patriarchal silencing inspires a bond between those women who are forced into submission and/or those who are too submissive to maintain their individuality, and those women who are able and willing to fight for the ability to be unique.
Nyai Ontosoroh’s power only extends as far as her daughter, and her business, in society she is merely a native. As a child, Nyai Ontosorh has experienced great misery. Nya’s father sold her to a European man, Herman Mellema at a young age. For instance,
...heir own sense of independence. But they also present the reality of it all, that in the end they are back to where they started, and that women will never be able to let their guard down, because of the constant struggle of becoming equally self-reliant as men are, which still remains today.
that she has a firm sense of her identity and to mix that with a