For Tambu and many of her family members, England is a faraway and almost magical land that symbolizes success, prestige, and affluence. It’s where Babamukuru and Maiguru received their advanced degrees and where Nhamo eventually wants to go to school. Later, when Nyasha begins to struggle with eating disorders and ask difficult questions about colonialism, she suggests that England is actually a symbol of the oppressive colonial system in Rhodesia. Because of her time in England, Nyasha finds herself unable to properly conform to traditional ways of being—yet, because she’s black, Nyasha can’t be properly white and Western either. England then becomes her scapegoat and signifies her oppression, loss of identity, and inability to function in Rhodesia.

For Tambu, the river Nyamarira represents the few joys of the homestead and her life in poverty. It’s a life-giving river, allowing everyone a place to bathe, the women a place to do laundry, and those tasked with carrying water a place from which to fetch it. Tambu’s love for the river doesn’t change throughout the novel, suggesting that in some ways she is doing better than Nhamo did in her endeavor to not look down on life at the homestead—she can still find joy and happiness in being at home, even with her education. However, the fact that the river itself changes as the local village grows and expands (the swimming holes once used by children become a thoroughfare) positions Nyamarira as a symbol of change, while Tambu’s continued respect for the river indicates that it’s possible to find a middle ground between the colonial system as represented by England and the dire provincial poverty of the homestead itself.

Maiguru’s Dover stove, which she brings with her to the homestead to cook with during holidays, makes it clear to everyone that Maiguru’s immediate family is superior and successful. It’s often used to cook food specifically for the most revered members of the family, as when Mainini uses it to cook rice instead of sadza for Babamukuru and the patriarchal family members. This reinforces the prestige of the family members who eat this food, as well as the specialness of the stove itself. When Babamukuru gives the stove to Jeremiah and Mainini as a wedding gift, Mainini conceptualizes the stove as a symbol of her family’s power: by owning one of Maiguru’s most prized possessions, the barrier to the power as represented by the stove (Maiguru) is removed altogether, and Mainini can assume some of that power.