I was confused when Tambu says she “appeared to have slipped out of my body” and watches herself from the foot of the bed. I could not tell if this is meant literally or if it describes how she freezes. I think her mind escapes because she cannot say out loud that she does not want to go to the wedding. Later she “smiled smugly, thinking that I had gone somewhere where he could not reach me”, which suggests she is hiding from Babamukuru. I am still unsure why she finds it “quite exciting” to watch.

I found this passage confusing. Tambu says she does not want to reach “the end of those mazes” because there she would “find myself” and might not “recognise myself”. I do not understand why finding herself would be frightening. My guess is that her real thoughts about Babamukuru and the family do not match the grateful, obedient girl she is expected to be, so she hides in “the image of the grateful poor female relative”. I am still not sure if she is afraid of discovering that she disagrees with Babamukuru, or afraid of losing the identity that keeps her safe.

I was confused by this paragraph. The narrator says the women’s images of themselves are only “reflections” and “myths”, but I could not tell what the myths are. I think the roles of the obedient wife and the shameless woman are labels society gave them, and fear makes each woman hold on to her label more tightly. I am still not sure why it is “frightening” for them to accept this.