In novel Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga the character that really stood out to me was Nyshia. Throughout the novel the expected role of woman was pretty obvious and depressing. Many of the charterers were trapped by these rolls, but out of them all I felt Nyshia was the one that was the most trapped. The poor girl couldn’t speak her mind without being skulled or put in her place by her father, BabaMuku. She even admitted to her feeling trapped on page 232 after her mother Left, “sometimes I feel I’m trapped by that man, just like she did…buy it’s not that simple, you know, really it isn’t. It’s not really him you know. I mean not really the person, it’s everything, it’s everywhere. So where do you break out to? ..” Even something as simple as a book (page 102) was censored from her. The one time she stayed out late just learning a dance from a friend, that just so happened to be a boy, BabaMuku became upset and started to beat his own daughter. He also felt the need to repeatedly call Nyshia a whore, which something no daughter should ever hear from her father. Nyshia was so trapped that the only way she felt come control was throwing up her food and hiding in her studies.
I felt Nyshia frustration and couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be her. Since her brother is away at school she was pretty much the only child, therefore all the focus was on her and her actions. In BabaMuku eyes the education of a female was not as imparted as the education for a mal since they will eventually get married and have no use to the family. Also having a father that cared very much about his image towards other people, every little thing is taken to drastic measures. I come from a family where I was able to express myself, so it is hard for me to understand how it would feel to feel so trapped like Nyshia.
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