Rabbi's Cat

            The Rabbi’s Cat  is a great book that goes well with the whole theme of  my English literature. Personally the best character and most amusing to follow is Kitty!! Not only can he be rude and brutally honest, he still cares for his family and their wellbeing, not only does this make him the best all-around cat, but to top it off he can talk. The key parts that I thought were most important to this story were the points that Kitty made about Religion, he constantly questions whether the Rabbi should fully stay true to his faith as well. Even though kitty is confused about how he should feel towards religion, he is courageous and kind hearted when he gives his voice up so that his master will do good on his test.

The other character that I like was the Zlabya, she is supportive of her father and his goal to be Rabbi yet she wants to have her own life more towards the colonized just like in Nervous Conditions. Tambu and Zlabya are alike because they have to get used to becoming colonized, for Tambu she had to learn to go to school and be proper in the English view, to where Zlabya has an internal fight with herself in wanting to be more Persian. She basically goes from being a sheltered girl raised by a religious father to marrying a colonized Persian man who yet still holds onto religion by being a Rabbi.  So her trip to Paris with her new husband can also be compared to Tambu’s when she goes to the Mission. Kitty and Zlabya are both my favorite characters just by how they are portrayed throughout the graphic novel, and because I can somewhat relate to them.

Overall colonization is a problem depending on which view that each story is read in, obviously if one person is strongly traditional and African they would think colonization is a bad thing. If the reader is mutual then one could say that colonization is both good and bad in furthering one’s self in life. Finally those who are susceptible to change would find colonization as a great opportunity in life. Personally colonization is judged and should be taken however the viewer of it decides who’s to say it’s right or wrong? 

Dangarembga

Dangarembga

If I had to choose any character/ characters from Nervous Conditions that describe me, I would have to say that Tambu and Nyasha. Each can have similar characteristics, but in the end they are all different and have to overcome certain tasks/ difficulties in their lives to make them who they are in the end. Tambu is an all-around girl who starts out as a Shona traditional who just wants to go to school and get an education like her brother. Sadly education is not a well-supported idea for women, and coming from a family who is poor and traditionally disbelieves in educating women she is forced to grow and sell her own corn to pay for school. It is through this kind of experience that I can relate to Tambu, my personal experience is not as important like buying an education as Tambu had to, but it has the same concepts. When I was younger I wanted to be on the little community football team (I was a tomboy), but my parents were against it because I was a girl so they wouldn’t pay the entrance fee for me to play. Being the driven person I am, I ended up every day for almost 3 weeks before the season started, making cookies and selling them at the old IGA store and selling them to in the end making enough money to play just like Tambu did to go to school.

            I can be like Nyasha in the sense that she stands up for herself and what she believes in and that is how I am. Although I have never been in a physical altercation with either of my parents, I have on the other hand been in verbal confrontations with my parents that have almost led up to a fight like Nyasha and her father’s physical fight. It’s scary to be in a situation such as a fight but to stand up for what you believe in as Nyasha had done is a key aspect that can make people prosperous in life.

            When both of the characters are combined one can get tradition and modernity and I think that is the best way to live life, but the only way to live a functional and prosperous life is to balance both. Don’t be afraid to modernize but always hold onto the roots of where you came from your tradition.