A passage that holds many truths and connections to other themes we have discussed in our class is on page 50.
“But in those days I took a rosy view of male nature. After an episode like that, grotesque and sad picture of my father and Nhamo in relation to Babamukuru and my cousin would come to my mind. I wanted my father and Nhamo to stand up straight like Babamukuru, but they always looked…………..He didn't need to be bold any more because he had made himself plenty of power. Plenty of power. Plenty of money. A lot of education. Plenty of everything.”(50)
It is of ones best interest to reread the entire passage. This passage discusses similarities in the plight of African American women and other women who are considered Black. Nervous Conditions speak on the plight of Black women being more than about race and gender, but about poverty and gender too. The passage gives room to compare the treatment of wives and daughters by husbands/fathers of poverty and wealth. Black men of poverty have more woes that are inflicted by other institutions, which lead them to inflict this same pain on their families. The narrator suggests, “They had to bully whoever they could to stay in the picture at all.”(50) Dangerembga compares Babamukuru to Jeremiah by their wealth, education, power possession, “evil wizards spell”, and composure.
The passage insists that these men of poverty, who struggle, need to have some sense of power. First, we have to define power. What is power? One is who has power is described as being male, being educated, having money, and being a good lover. Babamukuru is described as being powerful and educated, however, his brother Jeremiah does not have power nor education in the community. So, he attempts to proclaim his throne of power by bullying his wife and daughter. The lack of power in the “outside world” and the struggles and hardships of these men cause them to intensify the woes of their families such as Tambudzai and Ma’Shingayi. But, a powerful man like Babamukuru, who does not endure the struggles of a man of poverty because he is educated, wealthy, and powerful, does not bully his wife or children to give himself a sense of power and control since he has power in the “outside world”. The narrator exclaims, “Through hard work and determination he had broken the evil wizards’ spell. Babamukuru was not a person to be reckoned with in his own right. He didn't need to bully anybody anymore.”(50) He has no need to bully Maiguru or Nyasha because he lacks woes inflicted by other institutions like men who are impoverished and lack power in the “outside world”.
It is an intra vs inter type of system. We are able to compare the plight of African American men, heaving the burden of African American women and other Black men presented in the novel. The branches of the the tree are different, but still bear the same fruit, in which Black men of America woes during this time (60s) stemmed from White America placing obstacles in their path. However, the novel presents a different oppressor. It seems as if it’s an intra system. The oppression is indirect and involves change and adaption. Overall, the wives and daughters of these men who lack power and struggle are bullied because of his wounds.
Do you agree with my analysis of this passage? What are your thoughts? Are you able to make other connections?
Dear Ebony,
ReplyDeleteYour blog post raised some interesting questions about power and the effect it has on the relationships in this book. I disagree that the passage primarily focuses the plight of women. I think the main point of the passage that you cite is to think about the power of white colonialism on men and how this influences their attitudes in general, which of course includes their treatment of women. This reflective passage stems out of Tambu’s observations of the way her brother treats her when he learns he is going to the mission, which she connects to “so many men … who still subscribe to the fundamental principle of my brother’s budding elitism” (49). To me, this passage seems like a critique of the men who become absorbed by entitlement as they become educated. This education comes from the power of the white colonialists, who Tambu views as “evil wizards” who have put her brother and father under their spell. Your discussion about education as a tool to measure power it very interesting and is a major theme of the book that is worth unpacking. This discussion comes with many important tensions such as academic accomplishment being opposite to rural life. Your thoughts about this leading to men needing to bully or not are very interesting and raise questions for me about the developments later in the book, when Babamukuru beats his daughter. Does this mean that Babamukuru is not different and has not broken away from the power of the white man, despite his money and power? Your last sentence is very accurate, although I would add that these “wounds” are created by the white colonialist, which I see as the point of this passage. Another comment about the discussion of power: this book focuses on the power of the white European colonialist, not “White America”. Thanks for some good thoughts!
This is a really important passage Ebony, and I'm glad you highlighted it. What I find most interesting about it is Tambu's feelings about this situation. She is not proud of her father or brother and respects Babamukuru, although he gained his power from participating and manipulating in a white system of power for his family's good. The women not only offer a place for men to take out their frustration with a system that oppresses them but a place for the men to be critiqued further. These relationships that Anouk further explains kept reminding me of Janie and Joe from Their Eyes Were Watching God. As Joe ascribed to white culture more and more Janie looked down on him. But one of the reason's he justified doing it was to make a good life and home for Janie. In both of these situations we see power in the form of money or education being valued, while these powers are used as excuses to oppress women.
ReplyDeleteEbony,
ReplyDeleteThis passage is extremely important; not just because it revolves around a central theme in the book, but because this is a central theme in everyday life. Bullies will bully people who have some quality that equates to being “lesser” than them. However, the majority of the time the bullies don’t “have it all”; although it seems natural for those at the top of the food chain to look down on others that is often not the case. The bully is often putting others down to mask the feelings of incompetence they feel. This is exactly the situation that Tsitsi is put in by her father who has feelings of inadequacy. In the beginning Tsitsi finds the beauty in the situations that others would not generally, such as her walks home from school. However, although she looked down on men for “bullying based on status” she began to do the same and feel inadequate after she had been away for a while. To me there is a connection in this story with every day situations. I see a pattern of black men looking down on black women to feel inferior, and black women looking down on other black women to feel inferior. I see this pattern in Their Eyes Were Watching God where Joe tried to bully Janie by having her keep her hair covered up.
I also see it in Project Chick where Lucky tried to dominate over Tressa and Tressa looked down on the other women in the projects in order for her to feel better about her situation.
DeleteI too agree with Anouk, and that the main point of the passage was about white influence and colonialism. I found it interesting to bring to question what defining power truly was because I think there can be many different interpretations. Power is like previously mentioned being the dominant gender, male, having money, education and good lover. If someone lacks one of these qualities then they will make up for it in another manner. Sometimes this strength comes in the form of physical harm, commonly towards woman – or other forms of dominance towards others. Since the white man is frequently trying to dominate the black man, the black man has to find power in another source (I think this is still the same for white/any man). There definitely is a sense that if your external life is out of control, you cannot find a place in society, or your place is not one where you have control over self, then the power would want to be gained in the internal life. So someone who is not respected outside, would be respected inside through physical force or controlling those in a family.
ReplyDelete