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    Susan Thomas
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    This document provides context about the book "So Long a Letter" by Senegalese writer Mariama Bâ. It discusses Bâ's background and education, as well as her belief in writers promoting development by critiquing harmful traditions. The introduction sets up the book's exploration of tradition versus modernity. The main themes are the modern woman and how the strong female characters Ramatoulaye and Aissatou challenge polygamy and women's traditional roles despite being victimized by these customs. Ramatoulaye comes to symbolize all women's struggles and advocates finding a balance between tradition and modern ways.

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    So Long a Letter

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    This document provides context about the book "So Long a Letter" by Senegalese writer Mariama Bâ. It discusses Bâ's background and education, as well as her belief in writers promoting development by critiquing harmful traditions. The introduction sets up the book's exploration of tradition versus modernity. The main themes are the modern woman and how the strong female characters Ramatoulaye and Aissatou challenge polygamy and women's traditional roles despite being victimized by these customs. Ramatoulaye comes to symbolize all women's struggles and advocates finding a balance between tradition and modern ways.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    530 views2 pages

    So Long A Letter

    Uploaded by

    Susan Thomas
    This document provides context about the book "So Long a Letter" by Senegalese writer Mariama Bâ. It discusses Bâ's background and education, as well as her belief in writers promoting development by critiquing harmful traditions. The introduction sets up the book's exploration of tradition versus modernity. The main themes are the modern woman and how the strong female characters Ramatoulaye and Aissatou challenge polygamy and women's traditional roles despite being victimized by these customs. Ramatoulaye comes to symbolize all women's struggles and advocates finding a balance between tradition and modern ways.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    Susan Thomas

    Dr. Robert Arnold

    LBST 2102-H93

    March 1, 2011

    So Long a Letter

    “The Senegalese writer, who was born in Dakar, Senegal, in 1929, was educated –unlike

    many other women of her generation –at the École Normale for girls in Rufisque. Brought up as

    a Muslim by maternal grandparents, she studied the Koran during school holidays. A school

    teacher and inspector by profession, Bâ promoted the crucial role of the writer in a developing

    country. She believed that the ‘sacred mission of the writer was to strike out at the archaic

    practices, traditions, and customs that are not a real part of our precious cultural heritage’.” This

    introduction tells the audience so much about the background of the writer and how her

    sentiments play out in the theme of this book, So Long a Letter. It sets the scene for the battle

    between what is the traditional method in handling duties and what the modern way is and which

    would be better in determining the result of a certain situation. It also discusses wich parts of

    tradition are truly worth keeping around in terms of defining a culture. The main character of the

    book has power, unlike the traditional woman of her culture, because she is an educator.

    Although she has this strong-will she must still recall the strict ideologies that govern her society

    and that the structures are still male-dominated.

    The theme of the modern woman struck me most. “Modern mothers,” Marima Bâ states,

    “favor ‘forbidden games’. They help to limit the damage and, better still, prevent it.” Throughout

    this book, the main character, Ramatoulaye and her friend Aissatou, were strong women who

    were unlike the status quo. They stood up for women and the role the woman must play.
    Traditionally, polygamy is an accepted lifestyle in their culture but these women were married

    for years and their lives were completely changed by polygamy. Aissatou was forced out by her

    spouses’ aunt and Ramatoulaye, by her own spouses’ love and adoration for a younger woman;

    her daughter’s friend to be exact. Albeit the two women handled their situations quite differently,

    one uprooting her family and leaving, while the other stayed in an imbalanced co-existing

    relationship, they each accept the position of not becoming a submissive wife. These women are

    victimized by traditional customs but they don’t let that ruin their lives. Aissatou works for the

    Senegalese embassy in America and Ramatoulaye has worked hard to raise twelve children on

    her own and is now on her journey to find happiness within herself.

    Ramatoulaye stood up for every woman. She even described the positive nature of

    her enemies in various parts of the book. Her fight symbolizes all the fights of women. She gives

    a voice to these women’s anguish. By comparing herself to other women in the story she shows

    that all women have a story to tell and they should not just sit around and wait for independence

    to dawn on them; things don’t happen that way. Instead, they should consciously try to unite the

    prominent traditional ways with that of the modern world and find a common ground amongst

    themselves, other women, men, and their culture alike.

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