So Long a Letter, written by Mariama Bâ and published in 1979, is a novel about the abandonment of a beloved husband which later influenced the Ramatoulaye's life and the beginning of his life. feminist actions. Through the story of Ramatoulaye's painful experience, Mariama Bâ uses this novel to present the cultural norms and social problems between men and women in Senegal. In the book, Ramatoulaye shares with Aissatou her worries, growth and recovery from her husband's rejection, through various letters, in which she recounts her painful journey of betrayal. At the beginning of the book; the diary, which turns out to be the first letter written to Aissatou, conveys to the reader feelings of pain, emotional exhaustion and internal conflict faced by Ramatoulaye. However, as the book continues, a feminist voice comes with comfort and a positive impact on her pain. In the book, Mariama Bâ decides to portray different aspects of feminism that arise in response to the betrayal through Ramatoulaye's healing. In this case he talks about his desire to find happiness, uses female characters and says no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay To begin with, the use of female characters serves to highlight the effect of the marital experiences that women endure and how this leads to feminism. In this case, the betrayals suffered by Ramatoulaye, Aissatou and Daba all lead to a feminist point of view that develops as a response to the betrayal they suffer in different ways: Modou's disloyalty towards Ramatoulaye by marrying a younger woman after 25 years of marriage which in a feminist's point of view was a betrayal; Mawdo and Daba's betrayal as he witnesses his father's infidelity towards his mother towards her best friend Binetou. Secondly, Ramatoulaye, as a narrator herself, has a greater influence on the aspect of feminism as almost all of the text is written from her own perspective. This makes it easier for us to understand her argument for feminism. Her encounter in the book could be interpreted as a symbol of many women's personal experiences, especially in marriages based on infidelity, thus influencing the reader more significantly. Although polygamy is considered a culture in the Senegalese and Muslim context, Ramatoulaye sees it as a betrayal of women. In the novel we are introduced to Ramatoulaye and Modou as educated scholars with a more modern understanding of the world. Because of this, Ramatoulaye expected Modou to make a more open-minded decision than cultural norms, so Modou's choice to remarry after 25 years of marriage comes as a big surprise to Ramatoulaye. The use of strong words such as "mapped" and "rejected" states that Modou's betrayal was very painful due to his conscious act of disloyalty and what could be called betrayal without even hesitating while he is perceived as an educated individual . As we see in the novel, this leads to the beginning of Ramatoulaye's feminism. Having established the basics of feminism, the reader can distinguish Ramatoulaye as a moderate feminist. Following Modou's disloyalty, he collaborates with his co-wife and sympathizes with the young Binetou forced into marriage by his mother in the battle between materialism and maternalism. Furthermore, Ramatoulaye continues to question Modou's dishonesty: "Was it madness, weakness, or irresistible love?" What inner confusion led Modou Fall to marry Binetou?'. Once again we see the reflective nature of the text through the use of rhetorical questions.They describe Ramatoulaye's internal conflict as he continues to question Modou's betrayal. The fact that she continues to ask questions and tries to attribute her dishonesty to madness shows the total shock of the revelation of Modou's marriage to Binetou for no valid reason. Modou's betrayal stings even more because Ramatoulaye had no leads until Tamsir, the Imam and Mawdo attacked her with the news of Modou's marriage to Binetou. The words “madness, weakness” suggest that Ramatoulaye is looking for reasons to blame Modou's deliberate actions. To some extent, she denies it. For Ramatoulaye, her love for Modou surpasses the pain of his disloyalty. This paints her as a moderate feminist because instead of taking sole responsibility for her husband's remarriage or the other extreme of rejecting him outright, she takes the middle path. He tries to understand his reasons without necessarily compromising his own innocence. In contrast to Ramatoulaye's subtlety, Aissatou embodies the characteristics of a revolutionary feminist. Aunt Nabou plays a key role in Aissatous' actions: her plan was to marry young Nabou and Mawdo due to her disapproval of Aissatou as the daughter of a goldsmith. This “controversial marriage” was cleverly fragmented after Aunt Nabou groomed young Nabou and emotionally blackmailed her only son into marrying her approved choice. The result of this was Aissatou's unexpected but inspiring decision to leave Mawdo. Leave a memorable letter for Ramatoulaye. Given that Aissatou's situation occurred five years before Ramatoulaye's, this shows that her dignified words impacted Ramatoulaye integrally. Aissatou's letter culminates in these moving words; 'I strip myself of your love, of your name, clothed in my dignity, the only worthy garment, I go my way'. The use of the verb "undress" is instrumental in portraying Aissatou's anger and Mawdo's complete rejection. The word implies to bitterly tear or uproot Mawdo from his life. Furthermore, the clothing imagery allows Aissatou to dictate her disapproval of Mawdo's second marriage and embodies the theme of individual versus society or modernity versus culture. The metaphor of dignity is also significant, she explains that she will no longer have pride or self-respect if she stays with him. Thus, he leaves through the word of a letter leaving Mawdo and the community in disbelief. With this, it can be concluded that Aissatou is truly a revolutionary feminist who values ​​her self-worth over the dictates of society. Aissatou is not the only strong feminist portrayed in the text. Daba, Ramatoulaye's eldest daughter, also emerges as such. This may have arisen from the fact that her father was her best friend's "sugar daddy". These experiences transformed her into the radical feminist she exemplifies throughout the book. At the beginning of the book, when Modou's property is distributed, Daba fearlessly asks for the SICAP mansion. “As for my daughter Daba, she waved an affidavit from the bailiff, dated the very day of her father's death, in which all the contents of the SICAP villa are listed.” This shows Daba's strength and ferocity. The meaning of this quote highlights poetic justice: on the very day of her father's death, Daba is more focused on protecting her mother rather than mourning her father. This also highlights the rift that has developed between Daba and Modou. Ramatoulaye goes on to say, “You know I am overly sentimental.” I wasn't pleased at all with this performance on both sides.' This shows the contrast between the feminist roles of Daba and her mother..