Mariama Ba wrote her epistolary novel So Long a Letter to demonstrate the practice of polygamy and its influence on women. The integration of particular events in Senegal's history, such as its independence from France in 1960, resonate with reality and make the novel more representative and captivating. Through discussion, we learned that France introduced the language and an education system when it occupied Africa, but 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 space for the oppression of women. After gaining independence, Senegalese women changed their lifestyle. This created a conflict between their traditional culture and the Western lifestyle that most young Muslim women sought to adopt. The main issue was women's new interest in education and politics, recognized as belonging to men. Furthermore, women no longer respected polygamy even though the Islamic community allowed it. Polygamy is the practice of a man marrying more than one woman. The reasons for polygamy in the Islamic community included the protection of women from a punitive world and a deeply bigoted society. Polygamy was intended to protect widows and orphans with the utmost consideration. 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 Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Mariama Ba sets the novel in Senegal, a country in transition from colonization to independence. Senegal became an independent state in 1960 after being colonized by the French. This epistolary novel outlines the difficulties faced when adapting from the old traditional African ways to the new Western lifestyles adopted in Africa. Ba focuses on how these Western lifestyles affect people but, more importantly, the effect they have had on women. There were very few women in Senegal who received an education during the French colonial regime as education was received through traditional methods such as mothers teaching their daughters what was expected of them in society. As with any change, there were people who were more open to the idea of ​​modernity while others were not. So Long a Letter is a novel that focuses on Ramatoulaye's story and her struggles as a West African woman. This story is told through a letter to her best friend Aissatou who experienced similar hardships caused by Senegal's transformation from colonization to independence. Both women grew up and received an education under the French colonial regime. In the novel, Mariama Ba positions Aissatou and Ramatoulaye to go against socio-cultural norms and play a key role in the transition to modernity. By analyzing the education both of these characters receive and other forms of liberation such as social empowerment 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 culture has imposed on women of the Senegalese-Muslim community. The novel opens with Ramatoulaye and her in-laws preparing for the funeral of her husband, Modou. The forty-day mourning period is a significant traditional event in the Senegalese community that is conveyed in the novel to describe how women are repressed. Throughthe choice of words used by Mariama Ba, the reader is given an insight into how the culture makes women feel regardless of how they were raised. This is illustrated when Ba writes: “This is the moment every Senegalese woman dreads, the moment when she sacrifices her possessions, renounces her personality, her dignity, becoming a thing in the service of the man who married her. .. ”. The use of “feared” and “sacrifices” portrays a tone of helplessness and illustrates to the audience Ramatoulaye's critical attitude towards his culture. The helplessness conveyed through significant cultural events shows how repressed these women are. In addition to the consumption of her identity during the period of mourning, Ramatoulaye states that “her behavior is conditioned” suggesting to the audience the conformity that women have had to undergo due to cultural constraints. Mariama Ba presents Ramatoulaye as a culture critic to paint her as a transitional face of modern African women. Her criticism of traditional practices clarifies the impression that these practices should be eliminated because of how helpless and suppressive they made women feel. It is through Ramatoulaye's thoughts that the audience is given insight into how culture forces women to conform to cultural expectations. Mariama Ba conveys the struggle to change cultural practices in the novel through Aissatou's marriage. Polygamy in Senegalese-Muslim culture is an accepted and to some extent encouraged practice for social and/or economic benefits, as is marriage. This is evident because Binetou chooses to marry Modou, Ramatoulaye's husband, so that her family can acquire wealth. However, this was different for Aissatou and her husband, Mawdo, who are depicted 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 it to be. The irony of Mawdo's decision to marry another woman is portrayed as if he was destined to be a liberal man but falls into cultural constraints. Mariama Ba describes Aissatou's betrayal when she writes: “I was irritated. He was asking me to understand. But to understand what? The supremacy of instinct? The right to cheat? 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 when faced with the hypocrisy of Mawdo's decision. She did not expect him to accept his mother's request to marry a woman as she had not accepted her request when she asked him not to marry Aissatou, further exemplifying the struggle to change cultural practices. Aissatou expresses how betrayed she felt when she says: “Even though I understand your position, even though 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 because it was not normal for women to leave their husbands after taking a second wife, but as a liberal woman this was the natural choice for her to make. 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 paints Aissatou as a transitional face of modern African women in the novel. Ba also presents Ramatoulaye and Aissatou as transitional faces of modern African women due to the education they receive. Ba gives us an insight into Ramatoulaye's positive reflection on Western education and the impact it had on her to suggest to the audience that Western education would be better for women than traditional education. Ramatoulaye clarifies..