Englosh Literature lesson 3 - Essay Example

he disorder of anorexia, which contributes to the overall theme of disease and shows the tangible manifestation of this invasion into the serene culture of the sisters and their people. While the opening pages set the tone and movement of the story, we find after reading the book that much more is involved. Dangarembga’s description of the ills present in her home country are striking, even enraging; but she always brings us back to the beauty inherent in the culture and the underlying strength of the women in her story.

Thus the reader is provided with a keen sense of the inner struggle of all the characters, torn between two countries and two cultures, forced to reconcile the invading influence of outsiders with the terms of their own identity as beautiful and strong African women. In the opening paragraph of Nervous Conditions, Tambu tells us that she is preparing to tell the story of the people she knows “my own story, the story of four women I loved, and our men” (Dangaremgba 1989). She introduces the book as a tale she seeks to weave about herself and the women and men in her life.

She also talks about how she doesn’t like her brother and that when he dies it offers her a new opportunity. In addition, she mentions that something strange or difficult will happen to the main character. Her intention is obvious here—she wishes to extend to us the story of her upbringing, the experiences she and her sister witnessed, and how she reached what she sought. In the way a child or young girl might, she wants to entice the reader with a sense of drama, but we can tell that despite her young wisdom, her story is much more than even she can comprehend.

Despite her intention, the book takes its readers far beyond just the limited scope of herself and her loved ones, but about the travesty of one culture being invaded and colonized by the other and, specifically, the effect this culture clash has on the women who must fight or succumb to