Nervous Conditions: the "system"

[Lucy Fandel]

By the end of Nervous Conditions Nyasha falls apart in response to the
system she so rigorously tries to follow to become successful. Tambu
on the other hand, works just as hard as Nyasha, following the system
and going where it wants her to go, but not being ripped apart by it,
rather moving on in it to get a better and better education.
We talked in class about why Tambu was chosen to go to the mission and
how the whites may have seen her as a future threat, but why is it
that Nyasha was never seen this way despite her success and
determination in school?

[Dominic Ryder]

I would say that Nyasha is too far outside of "the system" to be a
threat. Her rebellious attitude would work against her in this case,
as it would provide any number of ways to belitle her accomplishments.
Tambu, on the other hand, rises up through simple hard work, within
the system that was set up by whites. Tambu is beating them at their
own game, in rules set up to restrict people like her. This makes her
a far bigger threat than someone like Nyasha, who simply works around
or defies rules, in order to get where she wants to go.

[Alex Steinroeder]

This is an interesting question. I think you are being a little too
critical of Nyasha, Dominic. She does fool around sometimes and does
not act according to what her father wants, but she worked very hard
on the testing and did not defy any rules to do exceptionally well.
Just a guess, maybe since Nyasha had already been to England that they
were looking for different students. The nuns might of thought that
Babamakura had too much power to take advantage of his own daughter.
The fact that Nyasha has been living under Babamakura's reign
for such a long time has taken its toll on her. Tambu has only
experienced it for a short time. Since he is not her father, she is a
little more free than Nyasha is. I do not think Babamakura would come
down as hard on Tambu as he did Nyasha, not that Tambu would ever talk
back to Baba, he would just be disappointed at the opportunity that
she squandered. Nyasha may feel more pressure to succeed than Tambu
does, which could have torn her apart.

[janzer]

Nyasha followed the system, but which system is the question. She is
influenced greatly by her time in England, and tries to adhere to the
traditions of both cultures. She treats her schooling with diligence,
which is part of both cultures. However, outside of school she acts
more like a european and less like her peers. Her problem is in how
she acts outside of school, which causes problems with those who she
goes to school with, not to mention her parents. It becomes hard to
manage school and everything else, when she doesn't even feel
comfortable at home. Tambu, however, seems to have everything figured
out. She is devoted to school, and essentially only school. She is
poised to succeed, in a way Nyasha does not seem to be. Naturally, she
gets more credit for her schooling success because she is more
emotionally stable.

[Sloane.Brazina]

Nyasha is the perfect product of the English-style schooling system
installed in the African colonies. She is extremely diligent in her
work, focused on the tasks her teachers present her with, and "plays
along" with the white man's game. Never in a purely educational
environment do we see Nyasha lash out or do anything to defy the rigid
guidelines imposed on her. (*Going wild at dances and fighting her
father are events that occur outside the classroom setting); one could
say she was brainwashed by her environment. This aside, she is also
the daughter of her school's headmaster, making it nearly impossible
for her to be removed from the school.
Tambu, on the other hand, is more of a threat to the system. She
works hard like Nyasha, but she does live a life outside of her
textbooks. She has a family she has to help support (though difficult
to do so while in school). Tambu never left Africa (did NOT go to
England), so she has a stronger connection to her African roots. This
may seem threatening to the English educational board, as she
represents the very group the colonists are trying to oppress and
control by any means necessary. Nyasha fully buys into the European
lifestyle and many of her actions have ties to Western "civilized"
culture.

[Lucas Morrill]

While Nyasha does work within the schooling system to succeed
educationally, I believe that deep down, she does not follow the
social system. She does become rebellious towards her father who, in
many ways, symbolizes the system as the leader of the mission school.
Nyasha follows the school system to a t. She studies incredibly hard
and earns very good scores. Despite following this school system, she
is less rigid in following the social system in Africa. Her behavior
at dances as well as her attitude towards her father show that she
strays from the path socially.