Essay on Nyasha's Struggle in Nervous Conditions

Throughout the course, we have discussed how colonialism affects culture, and the UCSD powwow clearly demonstrates the impact that colonialism can have on a group of people. For

The deposition of their land, involvement in violent conflict and exposure to new diseases, resulted in the death of a vast number of Indigenous people. For the small population that did survive through this period of time, their lives were irreversibly changed, forever

The reader gets a rare and exotic understanding of a totally foreign and ancient culture experiencing the growing pains of colonial expansion during the British domination

Throughout history, we see various forms of colonialism that have happened in the world. Multiple groups of people were affected by this act of colonizing. An example of the groups that were affected would include the Cherokees and the Mayans. Both of these groups of people experienced colonialism in similar ways, either by adaptation or resistance nevertheless they still had their differences.

Shantessa Pama (cousin) born on March 5 is a retired American elite gymnast who grew up in Kailua,Kona Hawaii. She started her education at kahakai elementary until she was about 8 years old she is now a residence of Dana Point California where she continued her education at Dana Hills High School and graduated in 2009. Shantessa quotes “I missed home a lot when I moved but there was no competition here for me I was no longer allowed to compete here and gymnastics was my passion. I wanted to turn gymnastics into my career”. Shantessa Pama was one of the only 2 female gymnast to complete a triple tuck dismount but the first to complete it at the age 13.

Through such actions of defiance and revolt, she manages to keep herself “free” from the social gender pressures imposed upon her. This girl feels imprisoned by her family, as she thrives on what is accepted as “a man’s job”. Furthermore, it is through her imagination that she is able to escape reality, inventing a “world that is recognizably [her] own”. She imagines “opportunities for courage, boldness and self-sacrifice,” where she can ride horses and save lives. This young girl’s ambitions and dreams to live a man’s life are impeded by her mother and grandmother’s protests to “act like a girl”.

Linda Sue Park created Nya in “A long Walk To water because it represents every girl/women’s life in her village. Also, it tells about women rights in Sudan.To begin with, every female has to get water for the family. This is because chapter four states “ When she was done, she took the bowl back inside. Her mother was nursing the baby, Nya’s little brother. ‘Take Akeer with you, She needs to learn”(page 20). This quote shows that in Nya’s culture, a girl has to learn about getting water at a young age.

Badami is shown how females rights is an issue. Women aren’t allowed to do certain things. For example work, leave their homes, and talk with certain people. Maya had told her dad how she was going to marry a white man, instead of a Hindu man. Her dad had nothing to say but “ If you persist in doing this foolish thing...never show your face in this house again. Never” (113). Maya’s dad cares more about what others will think of him rather than how his daughter feels. Since he respects his family's dignity more than anything and her doing something that is never done in the small town, religion will bring lots of negative attention. Likewise, her dad believes the fact that her daughters soon to be husband's people are very bad and have nothing good in them. It is awful to say women face physical abuse and can have zero say in stopping the action being made. Simply from being a female. When Sripathi and his wife had gotten in a fight he had “Without thinking slapped her back, and she stopped crying abruptly” (36). Even Though both Sripathi and his wife are frustrated with each other, that is not a justification for his violence. In this situation the wife can not go and ask for help, As no one will hear her voice in what's wrong. No one will believe her either. Since females have no say, which ties into society telling men, they can do whatever they want. Since females clearly have no

“We cannot be held responsible that in this war psychiatric phenomena entailing disorders affecting behavior and thought have taken on importance where those who carry out the “pacification” are concerned, or that these same disorders are notable among the “pacified” population. The truth is that colonialism in its essence was already taking on the aspect of a fertile purveyor for psychiatric hospitals.” – claims Fanon. He highlights that people on the both sides (both the colonizers and the colonized) suffer from the situation, so, reasons Fanon, the problem is rooted in the situation but not in people. When you see many people with psychological and psychosomatic problems from both sides, you start noticing the pattern. After observing it for a while, you conclude that these people are victims of the colonial

     During the summer, I read a novel entitled Nilda written by Nicholasa Mohr. I found the novel interesting and different from ordinary novels because Nilda had a different style of writing, a journal-like style. The story is mainly about the life a young Puerto Rican girl named Nilda during the years of World War II. Nilda goes through numerous experiences that are both good and catastrophic. From camp to miracles and new friends to losing loved ones, Nilda is a novel of surprises waiting to be uncovered.

The girl distrusts her mother and believes her to be out of touch, while helping her father in "his real work" (468). Surprisingly, the girl's desire to avoid the manifestation of her femininity in womanly tasks, such as cooking and cleaning, influences her into feeling that her mother is "plotting now to get [her] to stay in the house [. . ]. and keep [her] from working for [her] father" (469). The girl chooses to dismiss her mother, thereby dismissing her own future role as a housewife.

Her brother's death, together with her own ingenuity and hard work, soon allowed her to take Nhamo's place at the mission as the family scholar and benefactor. In the end, it is her coming into her own feelings, feelings about the way she herself deals with the new world that had been opened up to her, both its rewards and costs, that does as much to shape her life as any of the education she receives at school.

Nervous Conditions draws much focus on the lives of women living the impacts of colonialism in a traditional African society in Zimbabwe. These women struggle to assert themselves in a patriarchal society while at the same time it speaks about the history of a country that has been under colonialization. The female characters in the stories struggle in their lives to find ways to deal with their own situation; however, this essay emphasizes African women’s situation in both the colonized and/or patriarchal societies as exemplified by the female characters: Tambu and Nyasha. Tambu leaves her country because of its inequality and male biases so she can seek freedom and gain liberation. Nyasha resisters and defies patriarchy, as manifested by

After living a certain lifestyle for an extended period of time, a sudden change in lifestyle abnormally envelops not only a society as a whole, but the individuals who live in that society. The psychological state of the indigenous people worsens due to the forced ideas of the colonizers mixing with their own, which can cause a rift in their thinking. A decision has to be made eventually; however, the colonizer typically tries his hardest to prevent them from making what he believes is the “wrong” decision. Although the colonizer appears to be helping the indigenous people, his true intentions are all but innocent. Due to their technological disadvantages, the colonizers have an advantage over the indigenous people, causing the previous existing people to feel undermined. Even after the colonizers leave, the colonized people continue to bear the scars left behind by the colonizers, as stated by Hayes who argues that, “Post Colonial Theory recognizes the trauma resulting from the alienation of indigenous people from their own land, even after achieving independence” (Hayes). Colonization leaves behind permanent psychological damage, even long after independence has been obtained.

During the 1960’s disproportionate gender roles characterized post-colonial Rhodesia. The African patriarchy described in Tsitsi Dangarembga’s acclaimed novel, Nervous Conditions, promotes feminist theory through the portrayal of marginalized women in Zimbabwe. Regardless of class or social prowess, women were not permitted the same liberties and regarded with the same respect as their male counterparts. Women found themselves relegated to the positions of household servants, and excluded from the labor markets by the societies males. (Mbatha 23) Female characters of the novel consistently struggle with “nervous conditions” around males, stemming from years of oppression under the Shona power system. Throughout her novel, Nervous Conditions, Dangarembga exemplifies the various forms of oppression faced by Shona women as well as methods they utilized to resist the oppressive male patriarchy.