ENG2603
ASSIGNMENT 1 2025
UNIQUE NO:
DUE DATE: MAY 2025
, ENG2603 Assignment 1 Questions.
QUESTION 1: Nervous Conditions – Women’s Entrapment and Escape
In the opening paragraph of Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga, Tambu tells us
that she is “not sorry” that her brother died, because it allowed her to escape. This is a
strong statement that immediately introduces the central theme of entrapment and
escape – especially for women. The novel is set in 1960s Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe),
where women are often controlled by cultural traditions, patriarchy, and colonial
influences. Tsitsi Dangarembga uses the experiences of different women – Tambu,
Maiguru, Lucia, and Nyasha – to explore how women are trapped by society and how
some try to escape.
Tambu, the narrator, starts her life in a poor rural home where girls are expected to
cook, clean, and get married early. Her father believes that educating a girl is a waste of
money. Tambu’s brother Nhamo is sent to school, while she is told to stay at home. This
is the first form of entrapment she faces – being denied education because she is a girl.
However, Tambu does not give up. She grows her own maize to pay for her school fees
and fights for her right to learn. When her brother dies, she gets the chance to go to the
mission school and later to the missionary family’s home. This is her “escape” – from
the rural home, from poverty, and from ignorance. But even in her new environment,
she slowly begins to see that education alone doesn’t free her completely, especially as
she witnesses what happens to other women around her.
Maiguru, Tambu’s aunt and the wife of Babamukuru, is an educated woman with a
Master’s degree. You would think that someone so educated would be free and
independent, but Maiguru is still trapped in the role of the obedient wife. She doesn’t
have control over her own money, and even though she works, she gives her salary to
her husband. At one point in the story, Maiguru leaves the family home because she is
tired of not being respected, but she soon returns. Her small act of resistance shows
that she wants freedom, but she still struggles to fully break away from the expectations
ASSIGNMENT 1 2025
UNIQUE NO:
DUE DATE: MAY 2025
, ENG2603 Assignment 1 Questions.
QUESTION 1: Nervous Conditions – Women’s Entrapment and Escape
In the opening paragraph of Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga, Tambu tells us
that she is “not sorry” that her brother died, because it allowed her to escape. This is a
strong statement that immediately introduces the central theme of entrapment and
escape – especially for women. The novel is set in 1960s Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe),
where women are often controlled by cultural traditions, patriarchy, and colonial
influences. Tsitsi Dangarembga uses the experiences of different women – Tambu,
Maiguru, Lucia, and Nyasha – to explore how women are trapped by society and how
some try to escape.
Tambu, the narrator, starts her life in a poor rural home where girls are expected to
cook, clean, and get married early. Her father believes that educating a girl is a waste of
money. Tambu’s brother Nhamo is sent to school, while she is told to stay at home. This
is the first form of entrapment she faces – being denied education because she is a girl.
However, Tambu does not give up. She grows her own maize to pay for her school fees
and fights for her right to learn. When her brother dies, she gets the chance to go to the
mission school and later to the missionary family’s home. This is her “escape” – from
the rural home, from poverty, and from ignorance. But even in her new environment,
she slowly begins to see that education alone doesn’t free her completely, especially as
she witnesses what happens to other women around her.
Maiguru, Tambu’s aunt and the wife of Babamukuru, is an educated woman with a
Master’s degree. You would think that someone so educated would be free and
independent, but Maiguru is still trapped in the role of the obedient wife. She doesn’t
have control over her own money, and even though she works, she gives her salary to
her husband. At one point in the story, Maiguru leaves the family home because she is
tired of not being respected, but she soon returns. Her small act of resistance shows
that she wants freedom, but she still struggles to fully break away from the expectations
