Nervous Conditions. Three main issues include coming-of-age, colonialism, and

patriarchy. They are all encountered by the central character, Tambu as she grows up in colonial Rhodesia. While living on the homestead with her family, Tambu witness the examples of oppression prevalent in her environment. The women in her immediate family are domesticated and for the most part uneducated. When Tambu learns of her aunt Maiguru's education and "success", she tries to ignore the potential images of the women on the homestead by working hard to go to school. Once she is granted an education with

the help of her uncle, Tambu finds out that her aunt Maiguru is oppressed too, only in a different setting. Therefore the struggles women face are similar regardless of their class,or level of education.

Tambu learns early about the oppression of women in the traditional patriarchal way of life on her homestead. For example, Tambu can not continue to go to school because her family lack the funds for her to go. However, her brother Nhamo is granted the right to go and is expected to do well. Their father boasts about his son

see that oppression exist even in a colonized setting until she learns from her aunt and idol, Maiguru. Even with a high level of education and ability to make money, there was still the opportunity for oppression to exist, in Maiguru's example, by not acknowledging educated women or having their earnings controlled by men. Although this realization now occurs to Tambu, she tries to find some other way to resist the oppression (refusing to go to her parents' wedding). Nervous Conditions is a great example of how women

accustomed to the hierarchical forms of address which place women and children lower than men. She is surprised to know a woman can go that far and wonders why no one acknowledged her aunt's degree. Again another example of oppression in Tambu's family, especially the women, is that they didn't like Maiguru acquiring that amount of education and therefore did not acknowledge her level of education. They did however,celebrate Babamukuru's Master Degree constantly and gave all praises to him, even the women joined in. Another example of the oppression in a middle class household is Maiguru's salary. Even though she had the education and the career in teaching, Maiguru never saw a penny of her earnings. They went directly to her husband. Even Maiguru shows her acceptance to this oppression by saying, "...no one even thinks about the things

struggle regardless of class or level of education and whether they accept the oppression or resist it.

I gave up. But that's how it goes...and whe

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Approximate Word count = 1026
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)