The role of the house in nervous conditions and oranges are not the only fruits is essential in the construction and development of characters and their personalities. The house and its importance continually changes throughout the two novels and proves to be one of the most dominant factors in transforming the protagonists into the characters we meet at the end. In both texts, we see that neither the family nor the home are stereotypes of society. Furthermore, heads of households are not conventional rulers, at least that is what society would like to consider them. The novels focus on how the various images of "home" ultimately create the sense of uniqueness that Tambu and Jeanette display in their own right. The settings of the novels are extremely contrasting, and as a result one gains a deep understanding of how home and family can develop such different belief systems and scruples. Although their homes are located in opposite corners of the globe, Tambu and Jeanette both face a similar oppression of their femininity and their own development as a kind of self. From the beginning, both novels convey a strong sense of order in the world. family home. However, the heads of the house are not what is generally expected. In Nervous Conditions, the head of the household is initially Tambu's father. It conveys a household that depends on all its members to provide for its needs rather than on itself to provide only for the needs of the family. The fact that he expects his wife and children to provide for him while he wastes money suggests that the home is not necessarily a happy home; instead, it focuses on money and wealth. This focus on greed encourages Tambu to become dismissive of her original family structure and to present home as something negative. Similarly, in Oranges are not the Only Fruit, Jeanette's mother is the dominant figure; how...... middle of paper ......changed either. We see that as the characters develop, their houses evolve as well, branching out and affecting their ultimate structure as well. Tambu and Jeanette are deeply affected by the moral codes that their families try to instill in them. Neither enjoys an ideal home; moreover, the experiences they have at home leave them more than suspicious of their family. Yet the importance of home and family remains the same, it helps shape you into the person you become, whether it's a happy experience or not. Additionally, we wonder if the characters we meet at the end are happy with the person they are becoming or if they are resentful of what their home has made them. Works cited: Dangarembga, Tsitsi. Nervous conditions. Oxfordshire: Ayebia Clarke Publishing Ltd, 2004. Winterson, Jeanette. Oranges aren't the only fruit. London: Random House, 1991.