Part Five
Compromise is the theoretical model that dictates a woman to identify the appropriate situation to compromise with characters in the novel or the mentioned situation for peaceful interaction or harmonious destiny. The novel, Nervous Conditions, which Tsitsi Dangarembga authored is examined and interpreted to explore the female characters’ employment of the principles of compromise with male characters. The incidents that show the characters’ use of compromise are presented in the subsequent paragraphs.
When Nhamo came for vacation from school, he left his luggage to be carried by his sisters. But the point is he was delighted to let his elder sister Tambu carry it because his other sister was too small to carry it. Thus, he deliberately pushed it to Tambu to show his superiority. He exhibited male superiority and a lofty personality since he came from learning. Tambu narrates the situation as in: “Knowing he did not need to help that he only wanted to demonstrate to us and himself that he had the power, the authority to make us do things for him. I hated fetching my brother’s luggage” (Dangarembga, 1988, p. 12).
To avoid any tension and to preserve peaceful interaction in the family and the surroundings, she compromises with her brother in fetching his luggage as he wants. Even if she knew the intention of Nhamo, she preferred a peaceful resolution of the case by giving up the respect that she should deserve as an elder sister.
The other compromise was seen in the family of Tambu’s uncle, Babamukuru. His wife Maiguru had a master’s degree as Babamukuru that she got it from England as him. After they came back to Rhodesia, Maiguru was not allowed to work with her degree. She was simply staying at home taking care mainly of her husband and others in the house. Like an un-educated woman, she submitted herself for the authority of her husband. The way she talked to him was supposed to be exalted by regards and praises. As it could be seen in the coming discussions, she called him as “Babawa Chido”, instead of Babamukuru. When she wanted to do something, she had to go round him for gaining his approval. Tambu mentioned this as:
“Then Maiguru appeared and innocently asked Babamukuru whether he was proud of his fine-looking daughter. ‘I bought her that dress for working so hard at her exams, ‘Maiguru beamed and contrived to remain beaming while her husband half-heartedly accused her of compromising his daughter’s decency” (Dangarembga, 1988, p. 109).
Here, the other point that Tambu raised was about ensuring peaceful interaction between Babamukuru and his daughter, Nyasha. Since Nyasha was not like other girls in society, Babamukuru was always in a clash with her. Consequently, her mother was trying to negotiate with him by showing sympathy and respect for him. She tried to alleviate the conflict between Babamukuru and his daughter. In doing this, she demonstrated her negotiation skills. As the extract showed, he was halfhearted; which means he didn’t accept his wife’s appeal. He was not ready to recognize the approach that Maiguru used even if she has an MA degree like him. He never considered her as equal to him. In other words, he perpetrated women’s subordination in his family and society as well. He didn’t compromise with his wife. Because of his unwillingness to compromise in the situation, his daughter Nyasha suffered from mental disorder and confusion at the end of the story.
But contrary to him, his brother Jeremeh was seen compromising with his wife concerning the issue of Tambu twice in the novel. Consequently, Tambu had become a goal oriented, and self- motivated girl compared to Nyasha. This can be interpreted as the indigenous cultural value which was exhibited in Jeremeh and the patriarchal and colonial ideology exhibited in Babamukuru. These had different effects on the family and on society as a whole. Tambu had benefited from the indigenous culture while Nyasha became the victim of Babamukuru, the colonial-minded father. This was mainly because colonialism affected the family and society negatively.
The other character that Dangarembga portrayed in chapter seven was Lucia, the sister of Ma Shingayi. This character, as it will be seen in the coming sections, was very resistant in confronting even the chauvinist Babamukuru. She didn’t marry which means that she neglected the cultural stubborn expectations. In that setting the woman like Lucia, was obliged to be in marriage, but otherwise such a woman was going to be ignored and degraded by the people around her. But Lucia was not affected by such perceptions. Instead, she was very proud of her own identity, and she knew how to compromise with people like Babamukuru. This is seen in the following excerpt. “Well, Babamukuru,” said Lucia, preparing to leave, “Maybe when you marry a woman, she is obliged to obey you. But some of us aren’t married, so we don’t know how to do it” (Dangarembga, 1988, p. 171).
This means she didn’t feel that she was inferior to man since she was free. A married woman was under the control of her husband in patriarchal culture. Lucia’s confidence is also very unusual for Babamukuru; hence he says this to his wife, not even in front of Lucia, “That one, ‘she is a man herself” (Dangarembga, 1988, p. 171).
Here, patriarchy seems to be confronted by Lucia who is not submissive to man. Babamukuru was compelled to compromise with her. In that specific setting such a personal trait and confidence does belongs to a man not to a woman in the society which Babamukuru and Lucia brought up.
Lucia was represented as a woman who didn’t fulfill the cultural expectations that would make her eligible for marriage. In one incident, she had lost her child due to a tough pregnancy. Her family pushed her out on the pretext that she would be looking after her sister Ma Shingayi. She started living in her sister’s house with her lover, Takesur. This was not approved by the patriarchal figure Babamukuru. He commanded her to go back to her family, who are living in rural areas. When he came for Christmas, he ignored her. This incident pushed her to confront him as recounted in the quotation below:
“Even if you ignore me… It doesn’t mean I’m not here. And anyway, Mwaramu be you can tell me plainly: Where do you want me to go? We both know I can’t go home. Their sending me here in the first place, it was because there was no food and no work either at that place, isn’t it? It is true, you know it. So, where do you want me to go? As for Takesure, ha-a-a! I know it’s the way you joke, Babamukuru. What would I go to do at Takesure’s home” (Dangarembga, 1988, p. 125)?
Instead of pondering over the situation as other characters did, she speaks her mind in front of this cruel person. This was very odd and unnatural in the eyes of Babamukuru as he says: “It needs a good strategy to outsmart that woman. She is vicious and unnatural. She is uncontrollable” (Dangarembga, 1988, p. 148).
He thought this because she was the only woman who confronted him face-to-face with confidence. Since her reasons were justifiable, he couldn’t find any other approach to persuade her to leave the homestead. This showed that Lucia was smart enough to induce him to compromise with her by bringing sound evidence. Thus, he was obliged to allow her to live there in the family.
As recounted in the story of the novel, Lucia had slept with the husband of her sister, Jeremeh and was pregnant. Since her lover Takesur was also there in the house, no one knew the real father of the fetus. On the other hand, throwing Lucia out becomes even more difficult because Takesure and Jeremeh, who have both slept with her and still want her, are blood relatives of Babamukuru. Moreover, Lucia was the sister of Jeremeh’s wife Ma’ Shingayi. As a result, in order to save the marriage of her sister, Babamukuru decided to allow her stay in the house. The confrontation between Lucia and Babamukuru can be interpreted as an incident showing the efficacy of Lucia which forced Babamukuru to compromise more than the mentioned reasons.
Babamukuru proposes the re-marriage of Tambu’s father and mother which Ma Shingayi didn’t even ask for, but she was forced to remarry at that age and socio-cultural setting. Tambu’s mother revealed her concern and hatred of Babamukuru to her daughter. But she didn’t confront him. This can be interpreted as being too strategical in keeping it inside her relevant rather than saying it out since the consequence of uttering her thoughts could affect the mood of Babamukuru. Thus, MaShingayi tolerates her emotion silently. If otherwise, she faced Babamukuru, then he might stop helping them economically. Hence, she was effective in balancing and controlling her emotions. She was different from her sister Lucia. This helped the family to live peacefully with Babamukuru. Furthermore, people around might refer to them as good family, and this in turn could help them give a good impression to society.
Another compromise was detected in the family of Tambu. Her father Jeremeh was influenced by his wife and agrees to compromise with her on different incidents. But Babamukuru was untouched by his wife Miaguru. Even if they were educationally equivalent, he embodied his authority because of the patriarchy and the colonial influence that he was obsessed with. In this regard, Nego Feminism argued that culture had its way of being used for making compromises. What matters is identifying the appropriate time, place, and situation or mood. Maiguru could look for other ways to approach her husband. But, instead, she preferred to be ignored and muted on certain issues. Nneameka believed that, it is up to the woman or man to identify the context for successful compromise to be made in between.
BY MEKDES TAYE (PhD)
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD THURSDAY 22 AUGUST 2024
