Nervous Conditions Themes Essay Example for Free

Nervous Conditions Themes Essay Tambu was born a girl and thus faces a fundamental disadvantage, since traditional African social practice dictates that the oldest male child is deemed the future head of the family. All of the family’s resources are poured into developing his abilities and preparing him to lead and provide for his clan. When Nhamo dies, the tragedy is all the more profound since no boy exists to take his place. Tambu steps into the role of future provider, yet she is saddled with the prejudices and limitations that shackled most African girls of her generation. Her fight for an education and a better life is compounded by her gender. Gender inequality and sexual discrimination form the backdrop of all of the female characters’ lives. In the novel, inequality is as infectious as disease, a crippling attitude that kills ambition, crushes women’s spirits, and discourages them from supporting and rallying future generations and other female relatives. The Influence of Colonialism The essential action of the novel involves Tambu’s experiences in a Western-style educational setting, and the mission school both provides and represents privileged opportunity and enlightenment. Despite Ma’Shingayi’s strong objections, Tambu knows the only hope she has of lifting her family out of poverty lies in education. However, the mission school poses threats, as well: Western institutions and systems of thought may cruelly and irreversibly alter native Africans who are subjected to them. Nyasha, who has seen firsthand the effect of being immersed in a foreign culture, grows suspicious of an unquestioning acceptance of colonialism’s benefits. She fears that the dominating culture may eventually stifle, limit, or eliminate the long-established native culture of Rhodesia—in other words, she fears that colonialism may force assimilation. The characters’ lives are already entrenched in a national identity that reflects a synthesis of African and colonialist elements. The characters’ struggle to confront and integrate the various social and political influences that shape their lives forms the backbone and central conflict of Nervous Conditions. Tradition vs. Progress Underpinning Nervous Conditions are conflicts between those characters who  endorse traditional ways and those who look to Western or so-called â€Å"modern† answers to problems they face. Dangarembga remains noncommittal in her portrayal of the divergent belief systems of Babamukuru and his brother Jeremiah, and she shows both men behaving rather irrationally. Jeremiah foolishly endorses a shaman’s ritual cleansing of the homestead, while Babamukuru’s belief in a Christian ceremony seems to be rooted in his rigid and unyielding confidence that he is always right. As Tambu becomes more fixed and established in her life at the mission school, she begins to embrace attitudes and beliefs different from those of her parents and her traditional upbringing. Nyasha, ever the voice of reasonable dissent, warns Tambu that a wholesale acceptance of supposedly progressive ideas represents a dangerous departure and too radical of a break with the past. Motifs Geography Physical spaces are at the heart of the tensions Tambu faces between life at the mission and the world of the homestead. At first, Tambu is isolated, relegated to toiling in the fields and tending to her brother’s whims during his infrequent visits. When she attends the local school, she must walk a long way to her daily lessons, but she undertakes the journey willingly in order to receive an education. When the family cannot pay her school fees, Mr. Matimba takes Tambu to the first city she has ever seen, where she sells green corn. Tambu’s increased awareness and knowledge of the world coincides with her growing physical distance from the homestead. The mission school is an important location in the novel, a bastion of possibility that becomes the centerpiece of Tambu’s world and the source of many of the changes she undergoes. At the end of Nervous Conditions, Tambu’s life has taken her even farther away from the homestead, to the convent school where she is without family or friends and must rely solely on herself. Emancipation Emancipation is a term that appears again and again in Nervous Conditions. Usually, the term is associated with being released from slavery or with a country finally freeing itself from the colonial power that once controlled it. These concepts figure into the broader scope of the novel, as Rhodesia’s citizens struggle to amass and assert their identity as a people while still under British control. When the term emancipation is applied to Tambu and the women in her extended family, it takes on newer and richer associations. Tambu sees her life as a gradual process of being freed of the limitations that have previously beset her. When she first leaves for the mission school, she sees the move as a temporary emancipation. Her growing knowledge and evolving perceptions are a form of emancipation from her old ways of thinking. By the end of the novel, emancipation becomes more than simply a release from poverty or restriction. Emancipation is equated with freedom and an assertion of personal liberty. Dual Perspectives Dual perspectives and multiple interpretations appear throughout Nervous Conditions. When Babamukuru finds Lucia a job cooking at the mission, Tambu is in awe of her uncle’s power and generosity, viewing it as a selfless act of kindness. Nyasha, however, believes there is nothing heroic in her father’s gesture and that in assisting his sister-in-law he is merely fulfilling his duty as the head of the family. In addition to often wildly differing interpretations of behavior, characters share an unstable and conflicting sense of self. For Tambu, her two worlds, the homestead and the mission, are often opposed, forcing her to divide her loyalties and complicating her sense of who she is. When she wishes to avoid attending her parents’ wedding, however, these dual selves offer her safety, protection, and an escape from the rigors of reality. As her uncle chides her, Tambu imagines another version of herself watching the scene safely from the foot of the bed. Symbols Tambu’s Garden Plot Tambu’s garden plot represents both tradition and escape from that tradition. On one hand, it is a direct link to her heritage, and the rich tradition has guided her people, representing the essential ability to live off the land. It is a direct connection to the legacy she inherits and the wisdom and skills that are passed down from generation to generation, and Tambu fondly remembers helping her grandmother work the garden. At the same time, the garden represents Tambu’s means of escape, since she hopes to pay her school fees and further her education by growing and selling vegetables. In this sense, the garden represents the hopes of the future and a break with the past. With a new form of wisdom acquired at the mission school and the power  and skills that come with it, Tambu will never have to toil and labor again. Her mother, however, must water the valuable and fertile garden patch despite being exhausted from a long day of work. The Mission For Tambu, the mission stands as a bright and shining beacon, the repository of all of her hopes and ambitions. It represents a portal to a new world and a turning away from the enslaving poverty that has marked Tambu’s past. The mission is an escape and an oasis, a whitewashed world where refinement and sophistication are the rule. It is also an exciting retreat for Tambu, where she is exposed to new ideas and new modes of thinking. The mission sets Tambu on the path to becoming the strong, articulate adult she is destined to become. The Ox In the family’s lengthy holiday celebration, the ox represents the opulence and status Babamukuru and his family have achieved. Meat, a rare commodity, is an infrequent treat for most families, and Tambu’s parents and the rest of the extended clan willingly partake of the ox. At the same time, they secretly resent such an ostentatious display of wealth, since the ox is a symbol of the great gulf that exists between the educated branch of the family and those who have been left behind to struggle. Maiguru closely regulates the consumption of the ox and parcels out the meat over the several days of the family’s gathering. Eventually the meat starts to go bad, and the other women chide Maiguru for her poor judgment and overly strict control of its distribution. At that point, the ox suggests Maiguru’s shortcomings and how, in the eyes of the others, her education and comfortable life have made her an ineffective provider.

Soil Formation Under Desert Pavements Essay -- Geology Topography Pape

Soil Formation Under Desert Pavements Desert pavements are common landforms in arid regions. They consist of flat or sloping surfaces where stones are closely packed angular or rounded, and generally exhibit low relief (Mabbutt, 1977). Pavements tend to form on both alluvial fan toposequences and on weathering volcanic flow fields in arid regions. Soils are often found under desert pavements and they play an important role in the evolution of pavements (McFadden et. al., 1987). In the past there have been several theories as to the formation pavements and soil development beneath them. Deflation, or the erosion of finer grained particles from a surface, stone concentration by wash erosion and upward displacement of stone due to shrink and swell clay characteristics were at one time believed to be the main factors in the formation of desert pavements (Mabbutt, 1977). However, more recent research has shown that desert pavements are born and maintained at the surface, and that the soil below them is mainly eolian in origin . Slow accretion of eolian dust below the pavement is a process that eventually develops cumulate horizons. Eolian dust in environments where pavements often develop is rich in carbonate salts and clays due to the fact it often originates from nearby playa lake evaporate basins (McFadden et. al., 1987). Soils that form below the pavements over time develop calcic horizons and clay rich structure due to the influx of these eolian fines through the pavement surface. In turn the development of mature or plugged calcic horizons effects the form of the pavement surface because it alters the water drainage infiltration rate and causes pavements to decline. Desert Pavements Desert pavements form in several di... ...cFadden, Leslie D., 1988, Climatic Influences on rates and processes of soil development in Quaternary deposits of Southern California: Geological Society of America Special Paper 216, p. 153-175 Mc Fadden, L. D., Wells, S. G., and Jercinovich, M. J., 1987, Influence of eolian and pedogenic processes on the origin and evolution of desert pavements: Geology, v.15, p. 504-508. Ritter, Process Geomorphology Wells, Stephen G., Dohrenwend, John C., McFadden, Leslie D., Turrin, Brent D., and Mahrer, Kenneth D., 1985, Late Cenezoic evolution on Lava Flow surfaces of the Cima volcanic field, Mojave Desert, California: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 96, p. 1518-1529. Wells, Stephen. G., and Mc Fadden, Leslie D., 1995, Cosmogenic 3He surface-exposure dating of stone pavements: Implications for landscape evolution in deserts: Geology, v. 23, p. 613-16.

Joyce Carol Oates`s Short Story Essay

The story ‘Where are you going, where have you been? ’ is a story about a girl about fifteen years of age and having behavioral problem originated from her poor relationship with her mother. She is described in the story as stubborn, rebellious, self-centered, and vane. The story is a tale of insecure woman and romantic but a skilled flirt; and she is drawn in a situation where she could not handle. Connie’s relation with her family and the way she thinks of them shows they were not close. Connie seemed to lament the way her mother would treat her and her older sister June to the point that she â€Å"wished her mother was dead and she herself was dead and it was all over. † She lamented to her friends, â€Å"She makes me want to be thrown up some times. † Connie at fifteen still has childish behavior perhaps typical for young woman like her, showing little concern with house works as her mind was all filled with trashy day dreams. Connie’s behavior though seemed to be very selfish as she cares only of her looks and her own happiness as if she was her own world. She is less interested in family relationship as she would rather go with her friends than going with her family, or prefer to just listen to music. Her behavior is quite a little less to be described as a spoiled brat. She seemed to lack positive traits particularly family values. There might have some reasons for these. First, her mother seemed to show favoritism as she is often compared to her older sister. Her ways and action are viewed as un-acceptable without considering that she is only fifteen and surely needs guidance. Her mother can only appreciate the simple or maybe almost naive orientation of her older sister June. Second, her father does not care of them, as when he comes home, he only cares for the supper, newspaper and his bed. There seems to have no legitimate authority except her mother’s voice always scolding her which to her, â€Å"she had a high breathless, amused, voice that made everything she said a little forced. † The way Connie thinks of her self shows that she was not positively motivated to have a more meaningful outlook in life which at her age, she suppose to have already. Her mind is full of fantasies about someone she meets and the imagination that comes along with it. Her relations with her family have not helped or motivated her toward having a more mature attitude and outlook in life. John Updike`s Emphasis on Marriage relates to larger American issues. In other words, do you think the marriages he portrays result from certain social conditions typical of the U. S.? The novel â€Å"Separating† was about a couple who had lived together for quite long years, a couple with four young children who seemed to be aware of how their parent’s relation ships are going on over some years of the married life. Richard and Joan had been married for quite long years already as they have four young children who were all in school and seemed to have capability of understanding the situation which their family faces. The novel did not mention exactly why Richard and Joan’s marriage come to that point that it was not working well for each other any more except that â€Å"they felt they no longer love each other. † Richard seemed to just short of saying that all those years of living together under one roof was just pretensions which was merely for the sake of the children. But now the situation has grown worse that requires him to make decision to put an end with all these pretentious relation ships. Certainly, Richards wants to be happy. He might have thought it, he deserve happiness and this is now just the right time to reveal the situation to their children. So he announced that bad news while all the kids were gathered at the table for the post welcome celebration of his daughter Judith’s arrival from England. As he revealed his decision, his children seemed to be prepared to hear the bad news as they have not shown hysterical or any strong reaction. Richard must have thought that they understood the situation that everything will come this way which separating would just be the best option. That their dad will leave them to find his happiness in the comforts of another woman which he has already found. Richard feels comforted by the mild reactions of his children as if they had accepted it that the family which they found warm embrace, comforts when they are hurts or having problems, love, care, safety, affection, and shared laughter that only intact family can provide, now stand to break up. But behind the mild reaction and seemingly prepared feelings, as Richard bent to kiss his son good bye, â€Å"turned and with wet chicks embraced him and gave him a kiss, on the lips, passionate as woman, and in his father’s ear as he moaned one word, the crucial intelligent word â€Å"why†? John Updike has powerfully related his novel to larger American social issues affecting the society by emphasizing the consequence of divorce among children and their family that cares for them. Updike also strongly demonstrated the emotional struggles, and the pains the children suffer when their parents come to a point of making a decision of separating. Updike was also able to point out that children are innocent of their parents’ problems and they are victims because their parents instead of cultivating their relationship opted to find their happiness in the comforts of another. Work Cited Updike, John. â€Å"Separating† American Since Mid-Century Updike, John. â€Å"Where are You Going, Where Have You Been? † American since Mid-Century

Madonnas Role in a Feminist Culture Essay - 725 Words

Madonnas Role in a Feminist Culture In the book written by bell hooks, Outlaw Culture: Resisting Representations, she criticizes a number of the actions and viewpoints of Madonna. Claiming that Madonna has changed from appearing to be a strong feminist icon into a woman who no longer has a connection with feminist views, bell hooks examines how Madonna chooses to represent herself as well as Madonna’s changing role in the feminist world. According to bell hooks, initially Madonna was a very transgressive in a feminist sense, and now she appears to be almost welcoming of the phallocentric imperialist patriarchal views. I agree with our class discussion and with bell hooks’ critique, feeling that Madonna has changed from a woman who†¦show more content†¦With Madonna’s book Sex, she claims that it will open people’s minds, and the book is very groundbreaking and radical. According to bell hooks, this is nothing new or radical to the white patriarchal society, who sees the book as simp ly pornography. In the book there are images, all featuring Madonna, in a variety of sexual poses, with one of her standing over and appearing to dominate the black Naomi Campbell. This is a very strong representation of the sexist white supremacist society, with Madonna totally going against what she portrayed and seemingly advocated early in her career. She also displays this in her statement about women in abusive relationships. Madonna explains that basically women who stay in abusive relationships must like it, or they would leave. This blatant patriarchal standpoint is very obviously a sign of a changed Madonna. I agree with the critique of Madonna by bell hooks. I feel that it is very obvious that Madonna has changed from a once feminist woman to one that gives in and portrays the views and representations of a sexist white supremacist patriarchal society. I accept bell hooks’ view simply because of how Madonna has portrayed herself in the past and comparing these images with what she (Madonna) depicts now. I view Madonna as once a very sexually transgressive and powerful woman, always breaking the boundaries of white supremacy and patriarchy. Madonna now shows that she no longer cares about the ambitions of feminism.Show MoreRelatedEssay Mtv And The Madonna Phenomenon2134 Words   |  9 Pages MTV and The Madonna Phenomenon quot;Madonnas intuitive grasp on the televisual world in which we live- of the mediums possibilities for engaging spectators in diverse ways- that in part accounts for her success. She is the supreme television heroine.quot; (E. Ann Kaplan 271) quot;What are the main theories which we have studied so far and how have they affected how you view television?quot;-This is the question which this paper is supposed to answer. Obviously there is not enough time orRead MoreA Look At The Music Chart And Itunes Essay3208 Words   |  13 PagesA look at the music charts and iTunes now reveals the problems that post-feminism has triggered in popular music. Most artists represented on the music charts have used their sweet tone, sexual dance moves or provocative outfits to unite the post-feminist movement and represent the truths of sexuality. However, each artist understands the idea of post-feminism in a different light. Taylor Swift’s music doesn’t involve provocative clothing or dance moves, but sends the message of how to overcome beingRead MoreJudith Butlers Perception of the Female in the Modern Era: Gender Identity and the Act of Becoming in Cindy Shermans History Portraits6698 Words   |  27 Pagesmodern historical art world era allowed her to explore the themes and issues surrounding identity, which erupted with such force in America following the publication of Betty Friedans The Feminine Mystique in 1963. Sherman believed that her work was feminist but she rejected any strict categorization, feeling that ultimately such categorization hindered rather than helped her to connect with her art. Her approach to work grew out of an era largely defined by the Womens Movement, but her approach wasRead MoreFashion Advertising: The Price of Beauty5692 Words   |  23 Pages Various forms of media introduce the desired look, attitude, and role a woman should possess in modern society. One of the most influential media for the modern woman is the printed fashion advertisement. Fashion advertising has the power to define desired gender roles, female identity, and characteristics of upcoming generations of young girls. This advertising poses some harm to women as it reinforces stereotypical female roles of domesticity while associating self identity with consumerism. If