Why does tambu want an education?
When Jeremiah and Mainini run out of money to send Tambu, she feels the injustice sharply and raises the money herself. Because Babamukuru’s wife, Maiguru, is educated and seems to live a happy life, Tambu believes that education won’t make her useless.
What is Tambu’s mother’s warning?
Tambu’s mother blames all the trouble on the young people becoming too influenced by English ways, and she warns Tambu to be careful. Tambu takes the warning seriously and decides to no longer accept everything she is taught at the convent without questioning it.
How does tambu feel about the wedding?
She’s angry with him since she sees the wedding as a plan to make a joke of her parents, but Tambu believes she can’t be angry with Babamukuru since he’s her benefactor. For Tambu, the issue is twofold. Unlike Nhamo, she still respects her parents and doesn’t want to see them humiliated.
How does tambu see Babamukuru?
Tambu idolizes Babamukuru and continues to do so throughout the novel, especially when she sees how rich and powerful he is. Beating Nyasha shows Tambu that Babamukuru is willing to vilify and punish women simply for being women, but this doesn’t diminish her idolization of him.
What advice does Ma Shingayi give tambu?
While she is there, Babamukuru takes Tambu back to the homestead, where Ma’Shingayi is adamant that Nyasha is being killed by her “Englishness,” and warns Tambu to watch out for it.
What does tambu think about Babamukuru?
Tambu idolizes Babamukuru and continues to do so throughout the novel, especially when she sees how rich and powerful he is. Though Tambu struggles to recognize it, Babamukuru isn’t entirely good. He’s upset that his children are so anglicized.
What does tambu struggle with?
major conflictTambu struggles against the poverty and lack of opportunity that mark her world at the homestead. Once at the mission school, she is impeded by the societal bias against women and the sacrifices she must make in order to please her uncle and fulfill his expectations of her.
What happens at the end of nervous conditions?
To mark the end of the term, Nyasha, Tambu, and the children of white missionaries attend a dance. Tambu reluctantly joins the festivities. At the end of the evening, Nyasha resists coming inside, still trying to master a new dance one of the boys is teaching her.
Why does tambu say netsai will make a sweet sad wife?
Tambu notes that Netsai will one day make a sad and yielding wife: she’s very kind and likes to do nice things for other people, even Nhamo. She helps Tambu with her chores and thrives on praise, and she genuinely doesn’t mind fetching Nhamo’s luggage for him when he returns from the mission school.
What is Babamukuru’s role in the family?
As the eldest brother, Babamukuru is the family patriarch. He uses his power and influence as the headmaster of a mission school to educate Nhamo and then Tambu. Babamukuru is also a staunch Christian; he doesn’t drink alcohol and is aghast when Jeremiah mentions hiring a medium.
Why is Babamukuru’s ambition often taken for granted?
Babamukuru’s intelligence, ambition, and accomplishments are often taken for granted by others, as it is the others who reap the benefits of his hard work without attaining a full understanding of the sacrifices involved. His dual roles as parent and administrator are often at odds.
Why does babmukuru suggest Nhamo be educated instead of Tambu?
Babmukuru at first suggests that Nhamo, Tambu’s brother, be educated instead of Tambu because he is a boy and she is a girl but after years at this school Nhamo has changed in a bad way and rejects his family and learns a native language until eventually, he dies in a hospital away from his family.
Why does Babamukuru hate Nyasha so much?
He’s upset that his children are so anglicized. Nyasha is especially difficult for him as she’s headstrong, opinionated, and doesn’t care to observe traditional manners or customs—all things that make her a lesser woman in Babamukuru’s eyes. He beats her for her perceived promiscuity and takes books from her that he deems inappropriate.