"Babamukuru was God, therefore I had arrived in Heaven. I was in danger of becoming an angel, or at the very least a saint, and forgetting how ordinary humans existed - from minute to minute and hand to mouth. The absence of dirty was proof of the otherworldly nature of my new home. I knew, had known all my life, that living was dirty...it was common knowledge among the younger girls at school that the older girls menstruated into sundry old rags which they washed and reused and washed again. I knew, too, that the fact of menstruation was a shamefully unclean secret that should not be allowed to contaminate immaculate male ears by indiscreet reference to this type of dirt in their presence. (70-71)"

Cleanliness is a of great concern to the characters of Nervous Conditions, and Tambuzi in particular. The recurrent image of cleanliness, as a religious and textual reference serves as a powerful symbol in the book of boundaries. Dirt, as the earth, is a common symbol not only of the "old" way, but of one's source. Plants grow from the soil, their roots are grounded in it, and even the tillers of the field are pictured with it in their hands and feet (7). Dirt becomes an element of those who work it, or that the workers take into themselves the ground, possibly symbolic of the "taking in" of the groundings of Shona culture. Cleanliness, therefore, also becomes a matter of social change. Not only meaning an increase in class and stature, but also a removal of the old traditions. Tambu takes her first bath on page 90, and marveled that "it felt so enjoyably warm, wet and clean. (90)" This is also the first time Tambu has ever been to Babamukuru and is, in her own words, remaking in herself a new, "clean" Tambuzi. Nyasha, after fighting with her father, explains that she was "comfortable in England but now I'm a whore with dirty habits. (117)" Here the female directed slur from earlier is linked with her dirty habits, indicating, once more, the link between femaleness and dirtiness. When returning to the homestead, like her brother Nhamo and like Nyasha from England, Tambu is embarrassed and disgusted. "'Why don't you clean the toilet any more?' I reproached my mother, annoyed with her for always reminding me, in the way that she was so thoroughly beaten and without self-respect, that escape was a burning necessity. She shrugged and gave me sound advice: 'Clean it yourself if you want it clean.' (123)" Not only are the references to dirt and cleanliness made, but also a link to the submissiveness ingrained into women of Shona tradition; her mother is a woman of firm Shona grounding, and from this Tambuzi seems direly in need of escape. The difference between the clean, new, Christian world and the old,

Some common words found in the essay are:
Nervous Conditions, Act Resistance, Babamukuru God, England Tambu, Conditions Tambuzi, United Front, Southern Rhodesia, English Shona, Maiguru England, , nervous conditions, indigenous nigerian societies, financial independence, african women, shona tradition, dirty habits, didn't depend, nigerian societies, women subordinate, 115-116 tambuzi, indigenous nigerian,
Approximate Word count = 1844
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)