When Opportunity Knocks Tsitsi Dangarembga's novel Nervous Conditions, explores the complex and subtle sets of obstacles that women in 1960's Rhodesia had to struggle with. Throughout Nervous Conditions, Tambu, the protagonist is confronted with opportunities and obstacles. Nervous Conditions depicts social progress with a conformist attitude; one needs the approval of accepted, defined members of a higher social class, in order for one's actions to be viewed as progression. Tambu dealt with the development of …showed first 75 words of 867 total…

…showed last 75 words of 867 total…essence be saying she was a product of sin. To conclude, answering the door when opportunity knocks, was the easy part. Knowing which direction to take is not so easy. Life is never easy. Without hardship and obstacles Tambu would never have grown emotionally and intellectually. The fact that Tambu was a black female, did not deter her from getting the education that she wanted, yet her own intellect was what caused her own inter-turmoil.