Plausible

While reading through Nervous Conditions I often mused on the subject of Nyasha’s struggle with eating disorders so forgive me while I work this out.
I find that it is interesting the Nyasha refuses the food given to her by her parents. This was the first thing that struck me. As precocious, wity, and in control as Nyasha seems on the surface we start to glean the fragile nature of her insecurities underneath. These insecurities are sure to have arisen due to her unique nature of being a ‘hybrid’ child within the novel. The food is a product of her parent’s diligence and productivity. To Nyasha there is an inherent flaw in this by-product of her parent’s submission to colonization. The resources; the grains, the meats, themselves come from their motherland, but in the preparation of this seemingly ‘western’ food the food itself is altered and changed. The end result is a simulated existence being slapped onto the plate and forced to be digested.
When Tambu first arrives at Babamukuru’s house she is unable to eat the food. At first we chalk this up to the routine altering of diet, and the nerves associated with a new environment and we dismissively pass over it. But Tambu shows us at various points the cultural importance created by the connection with food. She initially prefers her Sadza when she still does not want to be tempted by the frills and distractions of affluence. There is the vastly descriptive scene where she garnishes her identity with the preparation of her native dishes in camaraderie with the women. We are not given any deeper scenes of bonding over bacon and eggs, but later we learn that Tambu too yearns for bacon and eggs and perhaps the trappings of colonization.
Nyasha must have associated so deeply with this simulated existence. She would force down the food to appease her parents, only to chuck up later to reassure herself she was still in control. Her world around her was entirely some one else’s. Her parent’s world, another culture’s world, only the accouterments of her intended existence remained glossed over by seemingly good intentions. Eating disorder, seems plausible to me.