Tsitsi Dangarembga’s novel, Nervous Conditions, was perhaps the most captivating, poignant novel that I have ever read. Her brilliant style of writing was perhaps the most noteworthy aspect of the novel; not to detract from the content of the novel. Dangaremba writes as if she is telling a story to an old friend, constantly reiterating important points of her story as if to say: Is this making sense? Not only does she use reiteration throughout the novel, she inserts opinions and realizations from the adult narrator that were not evident to the character during the moment in time. There are several instances where we see this. In the opening lines of the novel, the narrator, Tambudzai, says to the reader: “I was not sorry when my brother died. Nor am I apologizing for my callousness, as you may define it, my lack of feeling.” Then later in this chapter she is relating the story of selling her maize in the city and she tells us that “I would have been frightened of being alone if I had thought about it.” The way she switches from the view point of a young girl to one of an enlightened adult kept me engrossed in the novel, wondering what insights the narrator had on specific instances. Not only does Dangarembga ke
ep you spellbound through her use of style, she also allows you to produce a mental image of everything going on in the story. She uses lively, highly descriptive language that puts you in the place of the characters. A remarkable example of this is when Tambudzai arrives at Babamukuru’s house and is greeted by his dogs. Tambudzai is petrified and she says to the reader: “I was in a bad state or else I would have noticed the cahins that bound them to their kennel and the fence that enclosed them in their pen. To me they were loose, ferocious guardians of the gates to this kingdom,…”. I had a mental image of these horrific animals guarding a palace, just as Tambudzai saw the situation.
In direct opposition to Achebe’s depiction of women in African socities, I found Dangaremba’s novel to be a celebration of women. This novel is addresses the struggles of African women, the daily routines of African women, dispels the stereotypes of African women, and gives us the very personal account of several women who overcome or succumb to their situation. Dangaremba did a remarkable job of presenting problems and resolutions for the central characters as well as minor characters. The person that I felt most sympathetic towards was Maiguru. She was a woman who was educated to the same degree as her husband, Babamukuru. However, she was not regarded as a princess, since Babamuku
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