SO LONG A LETTER: The Journey of Self-Discovery
Mariama Ba's novella is actually a long letter written by a Senegaleseschoolteacher Ramatoulaye to her friend Aissatou who share one commontragic experience but have chosen to react differently. The book shows howtwo people in the same situation can choose to react in differently, thusaltering their lives and influencing the impact of the tragedy. Ramatoulayeis a widow with twelve children to take care of but it is not the death ofher husband that bothers her as much as the fact that during his life, hechose to take a second wife without giving any thought to the feelings ofhis first wife and their 12 children. Ramatoulaye fails to come to termswith the reality as she cannot comprehend why her husband would want asecond wife when she had been such a dutiful and obedient wife all along:"I tolerated his sisters, who too often would desert their own homes toencumber my own.... I tolerated their spitting, the phlegm expertlysecreted under my carpets. His mother would stop by ... just to show off... her supremacy in this beautiful house in which she did not live.."What I liked the most about the book was its completely unique, originaland fresh perspective on issues that we have become s
All her life, she had beensomeone's wife and submissively listened to her husband's demands. I analyze the decisions that decide our future. I know that the field of our gains is unstable. "You forget that I have a heart, a mind, that I am not an object tobe passed from hand to hand"' (57-8). Instrumentsfor some, baits for others, respected or despised, all women have almostthe same fate "(88). This journey of self-discovery is what really makes this novel worthreading more than once. 'I am notindifferent to the invisible currents of women's liberation that arelashing the world. We never realize that there is still alarge section of female population that is not comfortable with the westernidea of female liberation. Initially Ramatoulaye was a submissive soul as sheconfessed: 'Even though I understand, even though I respect the choice ofliberated women, I have never conceived of happiness outside marriage' (56)but later in the novel, she becomes more aware of her worth and her ownidentity and thus adds: "My heart rejoices each time a woman emerges fromthe shadows. In the novel, Ramatoulaye is the womanwho is happier in the role of a wife and while she finds liberation a goodidea for some women, she just cannot picture herself in the shoes of awestern liberated woman.
Common topics in this essay:
Initially Ramatoulaye,
Mariama Ba's,
female liberation,
sense self-worth,
journey self-discovery,
ramatoulaye realizes,
own identity,
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Acceptance Essays
