The two friends became teachers, contributing to the new landscape of education for girls and boys, rich and poor alike. Ramatoulaye observed: “It was the privilege of our generation to be the link between two periods in our history, one of domination, the other of independence.” It was also a time of newly-acquired independence in Senegal and the struggle to find a fresh societal model in a modern world. Ramatoulaye and Aissatou grew into adulthood at a time when women’s liberation was gaining momentum across the globe. She pensively examines the disintegration of both their marriages using introspection and striving to look backward with equanimity. During this time, she reminisces about hers and Aissatou’s lives as students, then later adapting to their roles as wives. Ramatoulaye, a recent widow, is sequestered in mourning for four months and 10 ten days, as is the custom when a woman’s husband dies. Bâ creates a premise of a fictional letter from Ramatoulaye, a schoolteacher in Senegal, to her good friend Aissatou, now in America. With this work of fiction, Senegalese writer Mariama Bâ explores the inequalities between men and women in Senegal, Islam, and African society.
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