As Chapter 3 begins, Tambu is awaiting the arrival of her uncle, Babamukuru, although she is resentful that she is not allowed to accompany her father and his sister, Gladys, to the airport. Jeremiah has been long awaiting his elder brother's return, especially because he has to beg to stay afloat and is counting on Babamukru's wealth to lift their family out of poverty. Jeremiah exclaims, "Truly our prince has returned today! Full of knowledge. Knowledge that will benefit us all!" Babamukuru accepts all this praise graciously. Tambu is suspicious of her cousins, Nyasha and Chido, because of their English manners, language, and style of dress. She thinks they seem like snobs.
Tambu becomes irritable - she feels distant from the reunion because she was not allowed to accompany her father to the airport. She tries to remember what her relationship with her cousins used to be like before they left for England, and she remembers loving them. However, in order to calm her resentment, Tambu retreats to the kitchen and busies herself with making a stew for dinner. This revives her confidence, and her female relatives are impressed with her acumen and work ethic.
Tambu is given the task of carrying the water dish so that each family member can wash his or her hands before eating. She explains that there is a specific order that she has to follow. The men wash their hands first, beginning with the oldest and most senior, and the youngest wash last. This is because the water is cleanest at the beginning. Tambu, however, gets confused and makes many mistakes interpreting the hierarchy of power. She also resents her brother and cousins for eating with the men while the rest of the women and children are relegated to the kitchen.
After dinner, the women gather in the yard to dance. Tambu invites her cousins to dance, but soon realizes that they don't understand the Shona language anymore, which makes her sad. Meanwhile, the men have a meeting indoors concerning the finances of the family. Babamukuru has received the news that the family has been struggling, and offers the solution of educating at least one member in each family unit. He is most worried about Jeremiah;s branch of the family, and insists that Nhamo come to live with him at the mission school so he can be more committed to his studies. Nhamo immediately goes to find Tambu in the vegetable garden and brags to her about his new fortune. This pushes Tambu's jealousy over the edge the siblings start to fight. Tambu hurls a rock at her brother, and he runs away.
However, Tambu is relieved when Babamukuru comes to bring Nhamo back to the mission school, since she no longer has to focus on giving him the silent treatment. She also tries to develop a friendship with Nyasha whenever her cousin comes to visit, but Nyasha does not speak Shona and Tambu does not speak English, so communication is a constant struggle. Tambu describes Nyasha as "silent and watchful... with an intensity that made me uncomfortable."
After his first year away, Nhamo changes perceptibly. His physical presence becomes more anglicized, and he also claims to have forgotten how to speak Shona. This gives him an excuse to not communicate with his family, whom he looks down upon. Jeremiah finds Nhamo's arrogance and refusal to communicate impressive, since it means his son is dedicated to his studies, but Ma'Shingayi is distressed because she thinks someone has bewitched her son into forgetting his native language.
The narrative jumps ahead to 1968, returning to the afternoon when Nhamo does not arrive home from school on time. In fact, Nhamo never arrives home at all. Instead, Babamukuru comes to report that Nhamo has died of a mysterious illness in a hospital in town. Maiguru comforts Nhamo's mother and Jeremiah cries, but Tambu is not sorry Nhamo has died. Babamukuru suggests taking Tambu to school in Nhamo's place, but Ma'Shingayi objects because she doesn't want to lose another child. However, the men eventually decide that Tambu shall leave for the mission school. While Tambu is elated, her mother becomes thoroughly depressed and cannot eat or work.
Analysis
In Tambu's village, education leads to riches, and is therefore a mark of success. Babamukru, who has raised himself out of poverty and attended school in England, is akin to royalty. Jeremiah, Tambu's father, begs for money in order to properly herald his brother's return. As a solution to his extended family's financial woes, Babamukru suggests education. In this way, education is a form of empowerment against the colonial system. Instead of simply providing financial support to his family, Babamukru wants to make sure that they become self-sufficient in the way that he has, which is why he offers to educate Nhamo at the mission.
While the character of Babamukuru is inspirational, he is still aware of the limitations of reality. On one hand, he has not "cringed under the weight of his poverty. Boldly, Babamukuru [has] defied it." Tambu respects the way her uncle has broken "the evil wizard's spell" through hard work and education. However, he does not rest on his laurels. He also wants to educate members of his family, because he believes this to be "his duty". Education has given Babamukru confidence, so unlike Baba and Nhamo, he does not need to bully anybody. He merely wants to help his family rise to the same level that he has, although he is quick to warn them, "we cannot afford to dream". His generosity, though, is also the source of his power over the whole family.
Tambu is disapproving of her cousins because of their new English affectations and customs. She comments that Chido is dressed well, but Nyasha is wearing a tiny little dress that Tambu finds inappropriate: "I could not condone her lack of decorum. I would not give my approval. I turned away." Nhamo, meanwhile, tries to speak to his cousins in broken English, which makes Tambu "thoroughly disgusted". Their time in England has made Nyasha and Chido quite literally forget their roots - they can no longer speak Shona. As a result, Tambu is unable to communicate with her cousins. They don't want to dance with her, either. Tambu sees her cousins, whom she was so excited to welcome home, as strangers. She is utterly disappointed. In this way, Nyasha and Chido's exposure to life abroad has created a barrier between the cousins, and it seems as though they now look down on Tambu's family and the Shona culture, which is foreign to them.
Meanwhile, Tambu continues to get frustrated about the limitations of her gender. She describes certain rituals that show how this inequality is actually engrained in the Shona culture. Before the welcome dinner, Tambu must offer a water dish to her relatives so that they can wash their hands. Since the water is cleanest at the beginning, the elder men go first. The women go after the youngest man has washed his hands. Additionally, the women must eat in the kitchen, after they have finished preparing and serving food to the men. The women eat what is left over after the men have taken what they want.
Later, Nhamo gloats to his sister that he is to receive an education at the mission school while she must stay at the family farm. He points out the obvious to quash her dreams, chiding, "Why are you jealous anyway? Did you ever hear of a girl being taken away to school?" Looking back, Tambu concludes that her brother was "sincere in his bigotry. But in those days I took a rosy view of male nature". As an adolescent, Tambu is headstrong and idealistic, not yet aware of the struggles that lie ahead. Tambu feels excitement, not fear or sadness, after Nhamo's death - because it means that Tambu will be attending school in his place. While her mother cries, thinking that an illness will claim her daughter as well, Jeremiah is initially frustrated because once Tambu is married, her wealth will follow her to her husband's house. However, he goes along with Babamukru's plan so that Tambu can bring home as much as she can to their family before she gets married. Again, this is an indication of the gender divide inherent in the Shona culture.
Chapters 4 - 5
Summary
On the ride to the mission with Babamukuru, Tambu thinks about leaving her old self behind. She fully expects herself to become a "clean, well-groomed, genteel self". When they arrive at the mission, she is overwhelmed by the opulence of the house and grounds. She remembers Nhamo telling her, "not even the Whites themselves could afford it!" She points out that Babamukru is the only African living in a white house, which is a source of pride for the family. At first, Tambu believes that the garage is Babamukru's house, and is somewhat perturbed at its simplicity - but then is astonished to find out that this is a place to house "cars, not people!" She suddenly feels ashamed of her meager upbringing and thinks her family must be very poor for Babamukru to be helping them so much. She feels out of place, but is greeted warmly by Anna, the maid. Nyasha is also happy to see her cousin. She is baking a cake for Chido, who will leave for boarding school the next day.
Tambu waits for Maiguru to come down from her bedroom. She observes the living room, impressed by how clean it is and all the nice things in it. She starts to understand her brother's transformation after living in such opulence, but makes a promise to herself that she will not go the same way. Maiguru soon comes downstairs and Anna serves them tea and snacks. Tambu has never had so many different choices of food. She is also surprised by the way Nyasha speaks to her mother. When Maiguru scolds Nyasha for reading a book by D.H. Lawrence that is inappropriate for her, Nyasha talks back and defends herself. Even Maiguru says her children are "too Anglicised". Tambu learns that she is to share a bedroom with her cousin, which makes her both excited and nervous.
At first, Tambu is uncomfortable, standing in silence in Nyasha's room. However, they soon burst out laughing together and Tambu discovers that Nyasha is cross with her mother, not her cousin. However, Nyasha had noticed the way that Tambu sneered at her after they returned from England, and felt hurt. All the while, Tambu had thought her cousins believed they were too good for their old lives. Reaching a new understanding, the cousins become fast friends. Tambu feels comfortable enough to confront Nyasha about her treatment of her mother, but Nyasha brushes her off, saying that Maiguru doesn't "want to be respected". Anna comes and kneels down to tell the that dinner is ready. Nyasha is clearly distressed by this habit and yells at Anna to stand up, but Anna doesn't listen.
Tambu joins the family for her first dinner at the mission and is thoroughly embarrassed by her lack of knowledge about table manners. As is custom, Maiguru serves Babamukru and waits until he has finished eating to serve herself and the girls. Nyasha, however, decides to start eating before her father is done. Later, after declining seconds, Nyasha gets in a fight with her mother about the D.H. Lawrence book, which Maiguru has confiscated. Nyasha storms out of the dining room. At night, in their bedroom, Nyasha asks Tambu to join her for a cigarette, and Tambu is appalled. Anna asks Tambu to come to the living room, where Babamukuru lectures her about how lucky she is to have this opportunity for education. Tambu hopes to be like her uncle one day, "straight as an arrow... steely, and true."
The next morning, Tambu once again notes how Nyasha is particularly concerned about being fat, eating very little for breakfast. Then, Tambu and Nyasha head off for school, where Tambu realizes that Nyasha's classmates do not like her, despite the fact that she is the headmaster's daughter. They think she tries to be "white" and spread rumors that she is promiscuous. Tambu, however, remains uninterested in socializing or anything else that might compromise her new life. When Tambu gets her first menstrual period, she is embarrassed by the dirty rags her mother has given her to use. Instead, she learns from Nyasha how to use a tampon. Unlike Tambu, Nyasha is not ashamed.
Tambu quickly becomes fluent in English and does well in school. She also notices how obstinate Nyasha can be and how ungrateful she seems toward her parents, despite the fact that she has every comfort she could possibly want. One day after church, the headmaster of Tambu's school, Mr. Satombo, praises Nyasha and Tambu to Babamukuru. Nyasha is rude to Mr. Satombo, while Tambu feels proud. In this conversation, Tambu learns that Maiguru has a Master's Degree.
When Tambu asks her aunt about her degree, she snorts and becomes serious, saying, "No one even thinks about the things I gave up." She was educated alongside her husband, but no one in Tambu's village ever talks about Maiguru's education because she is a woman. Tambu feels sad that Maiguru's own ambition has been curtailed by her duties to her husband and children. However, she decides not to tell Nyasha about the conversation with Maiguru, since Nyasha is often annoyed by references to her mother.
Analysis
Tambu is excited to leave behind her life of poverty and move to the mission. She is aware that her appearance marks her as a peasant: "my tight faded frock... broad-toed feet that had grown thick-skinned through daily contact with the ground in all weathers... corrugated black callouses on my knees, the scales on my skin that were due to lack of oil, the short, dull tufts of malnourished hair." She is ready to leave this version of herself, and her poor identity, behind. She does not seem to show remorse for leaving her weeping mother and frustrated father, but rather, is blinded by this singular opportunity.
However, once Tambu realizes just how different her new life is, she feels a pang of empathy for her late brother, understanding how he became so spoiled. The experience of adjusting to life in the mission is humbling for Tambu. She is humiliated when she does not know how to operate the light switch in her cousin's bedroom or how to use proper silverware. She realizes that it might be more difficult than she had thought to discard her old self. Tambu struggles with her identity and what it means to be educated. She is shocked by Nyasha, who does not seem to appreciate all the comforts of her life: "From what I had seen of my cousin, I was intrigued and fascinated with one part of my mind, the adventurous, explorative part. But this was a very small part. Most of me sought order. Most of me was concrete and categorical." Tambu wants to be more like Babamukru than his boundary - pushing daughter.
Dangarembga foreshadows Nyasha's nervous condition that will come to light in later chapters: anorexia. When Tambu first sees the size of her uncle's dining room table, she comments, "no one who ate from such a table could fail to grow fat and healthy". For Tambu, roundness means wealth and strength. Meanwhile, her cousin is concerned about putting on too much weight, a symptom of the excesses that surround her. During dinner, Nyasha quarrels with her parents and storms off to her room without eating. Her father tells her to come back and eat her food, but she insists that she is full, refusing to eat. This is in part to bother her mother, who has spent a long time cooking and preparing the meal, but also in part because she is starving herself thin.
Tambu's association of menstruation with dirtiness results from the disdain for her own gender that she has grown up with. The absence of dirt in Maiguru's living room makes Tambu view menstruation as filthy: "I knew that the fact of menstruation was a shamefully unclean secret that should not be allowed to contaminate immaculate male ears by indiscreet reference to this type of dirt in their presence." This characterization of menstruation as inherently dirty and offensive reveals a deep misogyny that exists in the Shona culture. In contrast, Nyasha uses tampons without shame and shows Tambu how to do the same.
Maiguru and Babamukru are suspended between the two worlds of the village and the mission. Maiguru says of her children, "They're too Anglicised... they picked up all these disrespectful ways in England, and it's taking them time to learn how to behave at home again." She keeps to the traditional way of serving her husband first and making sure he has had a satisfying meal before eating. However, at the end of Chapter 5, Maiguru shows some resentment that her education took a backseat to her familial obligations. Babamukru also thinks that Nyasha is out of control. Nyasha's attitude toward her parents is at odds with Tambu's own respect for her aunt and uncle. It seems that Nyasha's rebellion stems from the fact that she, too, is confused between her English identity and her Shona roots - but does not yet have a mature way to deal with it, like her parents do.
Although Tambu had once thought of white people as repulsive (an opinion she hated to have), she learns to admire the white people who live and work at the mission, and makes friends with one girl in particular, Nyaradzo. Nyaradzo has two older brothers, Brian and Andy, who attend secondary school in Salisbury. When Chido is old enough, Babamukru sends him to the school in Salisbury as well, which has a mostly white student body. Meanwhile, Nyasha is studying for her Form Two examinations, even though it is likely that she will pass because she is the headmaster's daughter. Determined to succeed, she works so hard that she is loses weight rapidly (this is also due to Nyasha's eating disorder, but Tambu does not understand that yet). Nyasha passes at the top of her class, thanks to all her hard work.
During the holidays, Chido comes back from boarding school in Salisbury, and he, Tambu, and Nyasha attend a student Christmas party. Babamukuru is furious with the way Nyasha is dressed to go to the event, but Maiguru defends her daughter's attire. Tambu is anxious about going to the Christmas dance, as she rarely attends social events, but once she finds her friends and starts to dance, she relaxes and has fun. Andy, one of Nyaradzo's older brothers, walks home with Chido, Tambu, and Nyasha, and stays to flirt with Nyasha at the end of the driveway. Chido and Tambu try to sneak indoors without being seen but are caught by Babamukuru, who has waited up for them. He goes to the end of the driveway to fetch Nyasha and sees her talking to Andy.
Babamukuru and Nyasha have a terrible fight and Tambu, not knowing what to do, wakes up Maiguru. Tambu, Maiguru, and Chido watch as Babamukuru calls Nyasha a whore and hits her twice. The second time, she hits him right back in the eye. Babamukru attacks his daughter violently and she continues to fight back, while Maiguru pleads with her husband that if he must kill someone to kill her instead. She and Chido pull Babamukuru off Nyasha and hold him so he cannot kill her. Nyasha and Tambu retreat to the servants quarters and Nyasha smokes a cigarette. Tambu reconsiders the unyielding respect she used to have for her uncle. Chido brings the girls back inside and Maiguru tries to hug Nyasha, but she ignores her mother.
For a week after the fight, Babamukuru stays away from the house and Nyasha retreats into herself. She stops eating again, so Tambu has lunch alone with her aunt. Maiguru confesses the pain she feels when she sees Nyasha and Babamukuru fighting. Tambu feels closer to Nyasha than ever and climbs into bed with her that night to cuddle until they fall asleep.
Babamukuru, Maiguru, Nyasha, and Tambu return home to the village before Christmas. Chido doesn't accompany them because he has been invited to a friend's ranch for the holiday, and Nyasha resents having to go. On the drive, Maiguru complains that they have brought too much food, and now she will have to "end up slaving for everybody" cooking all of it. Tambu looks at her former home through different eyes. She is suddenly aware the squalor she used to live in. She cleans the latrine because it is too filthy to use, and even then it is not clean enough. To Babamukuru's chagrin, he discovers that Jeremiah has left the homestead with Takesure (his distant cousin) who is staying at the house with Lucia (Tambu's mother's sister), despite Babamukuru's order for the couple to leave.
Lucia is pregnant with Takesure's child. Takesure already has two wives who live elsewhere, which is why Babamukuru does not approve of him living in the homestead. Jeremiah had agreed to send both Takesure and Lucia away, but he has clearly not done so. Netsai reports that, in addition, Tambu's mother is pregnant and has been ill and unable to work for some time. However, when Tambu visits her bedridden mother, she observes that her mother actually looks quite strong.
Thomas and Gladys show up unexpectedly with their family, which upsets the sleeping arrangements in the small house. All the unmarried women end up sleeping in the kitchen together for the two-week visit. There are twenty-four people in the homestead, and the women are saddled with unending housework in order to take care of all the men and children. The rationing of food becomes impossible, and, despite Ma'Shingayi's best efforts, the meat that could not fit in the refrigerator turns green. However, she refuses to throw away the rotten meat, so the women have to eat it while the men feast on the refrigerated portion.
Just after New Year's Day, Babamukuru calls the men into a meeting to determine the fate of Takesure, and the women listen at the door. A battle ensues between Lucia and Tambu's mother, who believe that Babamukuru is wrong to demand that Lucia and Takesure leave. Maiguru claims that since she was not born into this family, it is not her concern, and refuses to stick up for Lucia. After Maiguru leaves, Ma'Shingayi goes on a hysterical tirade about the injustices of her life. She is furious with Maiguru, whom she believes killed Nhamo. She accuses her sister-in-law of "stealing other people's children because she could only produce two of her own, and you can't call those two people." She accuses Lucia of having sex with Jeremiah and Takesure at the same time, and curses Tambu for following Maiguru around like she can do no wrong.
Lucia overhears Takesure accusing her of witchcraft to Babamukuru during the counsel meeting, so she storms in and tweaks his ear, defending herself. She says, "I shall leave this home of yours, Babamukuru, and I shall take my sister with me." She claims that the reason she refused to leave earlier was because she had to defend her sister against Jeremiah. After Lucia leaves in a huff, Jeremiah suggests bringing a witchdoctor into the house to perform a ceremony and rid the household of evil. Babamukuru is incredulous at this suggestion. He believes that the family's misfortunes are the result of Jeremiah and Ma'Shingayi never having an official wedding and "living in sin." The next morning, Tambu overhears Tete Gladys and Maiguru laughing about how ridiculous the men are.
Analysis
Tambu's perspective continues to expand as a result of living at the mission. She had once only seen white people as colonizers, as her experience was limited to the white man and woman who gave her money on the street but would not buy her mealies. At the mission, Tambu interacts with white people on a different level. They are her classmates, her neighbors, and while the divide between the races still exists, it is much more subtle than it was when Tambu lived in the village. However, as she narrates this section of the story, Tambu looks back and comments sarcastically, "We treated [the white missionaries] like minor deities. With the self-satisfied dignity that came naturally to white people in those days, they accepted this improving disguise." In this way, Dangarembga shows how deeply racism and colonialism is engrained in Rhodesian society, on every level. Nyasha sees this and, at the end of Chapter 7, urges Tambu not to think that the Christian way is necessarily the most progressive way.
Meanwhile, through the conflict between Babamukru and Nyasha, Tambu becomes acutely aware of the fact that while her uncle supports women being educated, he still has certain antiquated expectations of a woman's role in society. Nyasha is the unfortunate victim of her father's duality - she has a hard time shedding the social freedoms she became accustomed to in England and he punishes her for it. When he sees Nyasha speaking to Andy after the dance, Babamukru hits his daughter to "teach her a lesson," but she is obstinate and hits him right back in the eye, saying, "I told you not to hit me." Tambu is a bystander, watching Babamukuru "condemning Nyasha to whoredom, making her a victim of her femaleness." While Tambu consoles Nyasha, she also comments that had she been the one to strike her own father, she would commit suicide out of shame. Tambu is not as worldly as her cousin, and therefore, cannot understand Nyasha's instinct to lash out against authority.
Tambu experiences the results of her upward mobility when returns to her old home after living at the mission. For the first time, she is disgusted by the squalor, describing the caving-in roof and filthy latrine (which she cleans herself with Nyasha's help). Ma'Shingayi sees the difference in Tambu and resents her daughter's new, haughty attitude. During her tirade, she accuses Tambu of being judgmental. Meanwhile, Tambu herself has no idea how much she has changed.
The disparity of wealth also affects the relationship between Maiguru and the other women in the house. The other women (Ma'Shingayi and Lucia, especially) think that Maiguru thinks she is better than the rest of them because she is educated. Looking back, Tambu comments on how the women should have come together to stand up against the oppressive patriarchy instead of allowing their insecurities to divide them. She comments, "what was needed in that kitchen was a combination of Maiguru's detachment and Lucia's direction." However, she understands why that could not happen, finding it "frightening to acknowledge that generations of threat and assault and neglect had battered these myths into the extreme, dividing reality they faced."
Like Nyasha, Lucia is outspoken and the men consider her rude for standing up to herself. She bosses around the lazy Takesure and claims that her sister needs protection against Jeremiah, who is abusive. Because of her outbursts, Lucia is labeled a witch. Ultimately, this section of the novel addresses the deep-seated gender inequality in 1960s Rhodesia. There are both men and women who believe deeply in a system of patriarchy - the men silence their female counterparts, and some of the women believe that they should be silenced. However, it is women like Nyasha, Lucia, and to some extent, Maiguru, who are attempting to make strides.