Mariama Ba wrote her epistolary novel A Long Letter to demonstrate the practice of polygamy and its influence on women. The integration of particular events in the history of Senegal, such as its independence from France in 1960, resonates with realities and makes the novel more representative and attractive. Through the discussion, we learned that France introduced the language and an education system when it occupied Africa but that cultural traditions such as marriage and the position of women still followed African traditions. Senegalese culture, a chauvinistic society and the Islamic religion, which favored men, created a space of oppression for women. After gaining independence, Senegalese women experienced a change in their lifestyle. This created a conflict between their traditional culture and the Western lifestyle that most young Muslim women attempted to adopt. The main problem was women's new interest in education and politics, recognized as belonging to men. In addition, women no longer respected polygamy, even if the Islamic community permitted it. Polygamy is the practice of one man marrying more than one woman. The reasons for polygamy in the Islamic community included protecting women from a punitive world and a deeply sectarian society. Polygamy was intended to protect widows and orphans by the most considerate means. However, this has been exploited and abused by men for their own social and economic gain. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Mariama Ba sets the novel in Senegal, a country in transition from colonization to independence. Senegal became an independent country in 1960 after being colonized by the French. This epistolary novel describes the difficulties encountered in adapting old traditional African methods to the new Western lifestyles adopted in Africa. Ba focuses on how these Western lifestyles affect people, but more importantly the effect they have on women. Very few women in Senegal received an education under French colonial rule, as education was once received through traditional methods such as mothers teaching their daughters what was expected of them in society. As with any change, some people were more open to the idea of ​​modernity while others were not. A Letter So Long is a novel that focuses on the story of Ramatoulaye and her struggles as a West African woman. This story is told through a letter to her best friend Aissatou who suffered similar ordeals caused by the transformation from colonization to independence of Senegal. Both women were raised and educated under French colonial rule. In the novel, Mariama Ba positions Aissatou and Ramatoulaye to go against sociocultural norms and play a key role in the transition to modernity. By analyzing the education these two characters receive and other forms of liberation such as social emancipation and political power, this essay will explore the characterization of Ramatoulaye and Aissatou as transitional faces of modern African women. Mariama Ba highlights the constraints that the culture had on women in the Senegalese-Muslim community. The novel opens with Ramatoulaye and her in-laws preparing the funeral of her husband, Modou. The forty-day mourning period is an important traditional event in the communitySenegalese which is conveyed in the novel to describe the way in which women are repressed. Through the choice of words Mariama Ba uses, the reader gets a glimpse of how the culture makes women feel, regardless of how they grew up. This is illustrated when Ba writes: “This is the moment feared by every Senegalese woman, the moment when she sacrifices her possessions, she abandons her personality, her dignity, becoming a thing in the service of the man who married her. ..”. The use of "feared" and "sacrifices" sets a tone of helplessness and illustrates to the audience Ramatoulaye's critical attitude towards his culture. The helplessness conveyed by important cultural events shows the extent to which these women are repressed. In addition to consummating her identity during the mourning period, Ramatoulaye says, “Her behavior is conditioned,” suggesting to the audience the conformity women had to endure due to cultural constraints. Mariama Ba presents Ramatoulaye as a critique of culture to paint her as a transitional face of the modern African woman. Her critique of traditional practices illuminates the impression that these practices should be eliminated due to the feeling of powerlessness and repression they give to women. It is through Ramatoulaye's thoughts that the audience understands how culture forces women to conform to cultural expectations. Mariama Ba conveys in the novel the struggle to change cultural practices through Aissatou's marriage. Polygamy in Senegalese-Muslim culture is an accepted practice and, to some extent, encouraged for social and/or economic reasons, as is marriage. This is evident when Binetou chose to marry Modou, Ramatoulaye's husband, so that her family would become richer. However, it was different for Aissatou and her husband, Mawdo, who are portrayed as liberal characters in the novel. Their marriage was purely for love and not for social status or economic advantage as the culture would demand. The irony of Mawdo's decision to marry another woman is depicted in that he was supposed to be a liberal man, but he defers to cultural constraints. Mariama Ba expresses Aissatou’s betrayal when she writes: “I was irritated. He asked me to understand. But to understand what? The supremacy of instinct? The right to betray? The justification for the desire for variety? I could not be an ally of polygamous instincts. So what was I supposed to understand? Mariama Ba uses rhetorical questions to illustrate Aissatou's shocked tone at the hypocrisy of Mawdo's decision. She did not expect him to accept his mother's request to marry a woman, just as he had not accepted her request when she asked him not to marry Aissatou, thus illustrating the struggle to change cultural practices. Aïssatou describes how betrayed she felt when she declared: “Even if I understand your position, even if I respect the choices of liberated women, I have never conceived of happiness outside of marriage. » Aissatou's decision to leave Mawdo was frowned upon as it was not customary for women to leave their husbands after taking a second wife, but as a liberal woman it was the natural choice she had to do. Mariama Ba portrays Aissatou as a liberal character to suggest to the audience that customs such as polygamy should not be imposed on women and therefore portrays Aissatou as a transitional face of modern African women in the novel. Ba further presents Ramatoulaye and Aissatou as transitional faces. modern African women because of the education they receive. Ba gives us insight into Ramatoulaye's positive thinking on Western education and the impact..