I'm just going to warn you that this blog post is only semi literary in content. My main question when I finished The Book of Not was what happened to Tambu's seething anger that caused her to have mental lapses and periods where she couldn't control her body? A pattern emerges through the series starting with the morning of the wedding in Nervous Conditions (her feeling of being removed from her body) where periods of extreme stress cause her to body to react by lashing out physically or otherwise refusing to obey her brain. This trend seems to disappear after Independence. We all know that Independence isn't the end of Tambu's troubles by a long shot, but with the end of the guerrilla movement she hardly thinks of her sister at all. Even when Mai threatens to visit, the idea of Netsai hopping along on one leg only brings embarrassment, not fear or contemplation.
Now the end of the book is where it gets truly mystifying. I honestly believe Tambu's advertising job was something special to her. She notes that it was by definition not the kind of reputable job Babamakuru would have wanted for her, but she was good at it and took pride in her work. It was special to her because it was truly hers- she didn't have to thank Babamakuru or anyone else for it. When the aptly named Dick takes credit for her work, she begins to rationalize the situation in her typical Tambu fashion (Dick is really a good guy because he at least told me he's taking credit for my work). However, she decides she cannot stand this and resigns.
She resigns by writing a letter. Not even the kind of "Dear Tracy, I've always hated you" type later. It's a simple lie- she is getting married (yeah right) and her husband no longer wishes her to work. Now I didn't expect her to space out and come to her senses to discover she is beating Dick senseless with a baseball bat. I also didn't expect her to Rage Against the Machine on repeat on her Ipod while trashing Tracey's car to fight the system. However, it's just odd that the biggest betrayal of her life doesn't elicit one of these knee jerk physical reactions that always accompany stress in her life. Is Tambu's rage gone, replaced by her depression? Or is this just a false calm before the storm in which her anger comes to a head in the next book?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I also noticed Tambu's decline in outwardly expressed anger. However, I wasn't particularly surprised by it. Disappointed, yes, but not surprised. I think this is in line with her over decline in passionate feelings. I think the closest she gets to returning to that is when she adamantly yells at Mrs. May regarding her real name. In this case, she does explode, but even still, she brings her anger back in and "bungles on plaintively" (p. 229).
ReplyDeleteAs we mentioned "in" class today, her restraint could very be a result from her having grown up and matured. I, however, think it is probably more from her broken spirit and because she realizes that any acting-out and fighting she might do will be for naught.
I think it's understandable that Tambu's rage tends to peter out over the course of the novel. What I imagine Dangarembga was trying to do with Tambu's depression in the novel is highlight the oppressive effect that double-standards have on minority groups, illustrating the fact that segregation can make someone who would otherwise succeed simply give up.
ReplyDelete