Nervous Conditions

Text analysis Extract 2: How does Dangarembga make this a powerful and moving moment in the novel? In this extract, the author is able to make this moment powerful and moving by focusing on Tambu’s harsh description of Nyasha’s poor health. Nyasha is very weak due to eating disorders and the way she speaks makes this moment more powerful. Dangarembga says that Nyasha is “whispering” at multiple times indicating us that she is weak and lacks of energy. The word “whisper gives a connotation of an almost and fragile voice thus a weak and struggling person. This shows fragility in Nyasha’s mental and physical health. This fragility makes the reader feel pity and compassion for her and therefore this moment is memorable and moving. Later on, the author describes Nyasha’s way of speaking much more aggressive through the verb “raged”. The term rage reminds me of angriness, of frustration, and it is a violent emotion. The author to show us obviously how Nyasha is angry uses “Raged” here, but also the author creates a contrast with the feeble “whisper” and the violent “rage”. This contrast makes this moment a more striking one, and the author shows us Nyasha’s quickly changing mood. In Nervous Conditions, Nyasha is also depicted as a very changing character that can be very nice as well as explosive, like her violent altercation with Babamukuru. We have here another evidence that Nyasha changes very quickly, and this also adds to this moving moment. Dangarembga also creates a memorable moment through the depiction of Nyasha’s fragility in this passage. The author says that she is losing weight “steadily, constantly, rapidly”. “Steadily” makes me think of something that occurs over a period of time; “constantly” reminds me of something regular and linear whereas “rapidly” makes me think of a quick action. The use of these three adverbs together dramatizes Nyasha’s loss of weight. The reader feels compassion for her as she suffers and her situation is