Travel to a new or strange environment in Philip Pullman's Northern Lights and Tsitsi Dangarembga's Nervous Condition is an essential part of every plot. It is Lyra and Tambu's physical journey that allows them to gain knowledge, learn about the world through experience, and grow as individuals. Both protagonists are women, and this is why we see the theme of gender inequality developed in each novel, most profoundly in Nervous Conditions. In both novels education is limited, for the most part, to males, Tambu being an exception and Lyra's education being virtually non-existent. Lyra's curiosity is fueled by her own disregard for rules, which leads her on her journey where she gains knowledge. Tambu's journey begins with breaking tradition, as she is given the opportunity to be educated. Each novel focuses on how the characters travel from their place of origin, breaking with traditional values ​​and replacing them with progress, the journey forces each character to grow and develop as a character. Although both novels are set in completely different times and places, Lyra and Tambu's journey has a similar outcome, as both protagonists grow as individuals and learn truths about the world. The journey into a new and strange environment proves to be extremely important. in the Northern Lights. This journey encourages Lyra to neglect her deviant and disobedient self, in order to grow as a person and gain the knowledge to save her friend, Roger, and other children from the Gobblers. Lyra received a rather scattered education while living at Jordan College, the scholars tutoring her “when they have a little free time” (Pullman, 68). Formal education for our protagonist is, for the most part, negligent... middle of paper... believed to be essential and right, and she travels into an unknown world of "doubt, danger and unfathomable mysteries" (Pullman, 399), to try to save her friend, she traveled from her farm and received an education deemed impossible for a woman due to her poor upbringing. It is clear that both protagonists grow as individuals and learn the ways of the world in which they live. Works Cited: Dangarembga, Tsitsi. Nervous Conditions. London: The Women's Press Ltd, 1988. Falconer, Rachel. The crossover novel: contemporary children's fiction and its adult readers. David. "Fantasy It as It Is: Religious Language in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials Trilogy" Children's Literature 31 (2003): 155-175Pullman, Philip. Northern Lights London: Scholastic Ltd, 1995.