Essay Sample on Ramatoulaye's Journey Through Senegalese Traditions in Mariana Ba's 'So Long a Letter'

Introduction

Mariana Ba's 'So Long a Letter' is a novel based on Senegalese Islamic and Muslim cultures. It is a series of letters that are written by Ramatoulaye, recently widowed. Long traditions like the ones portrayed in the novel take up an important place in human life and culture. Traditions need to be strictly followed by the adherents or perhaps by those that find themselves within the contexts of a particular tradition. The cultural practices may have either positive or negative effects on the life of an individual.

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In most cases, those that are negatively affected do not have much choice. They, therefore, have to bear the brunt of what the consequences bring forth. This paper discusses how Mariama Ba portrays the inhuman, cruel, and unnatural side of the funeral traditions of her novel, 'So Long a Letter' and the negative effects the traditions cause on the protagonist, Ramatoulaye. The protagonist writes a letter to her childhood friend, narrating what she had gone through.

Ramatoulaye writes to her friend Aissatou narrating about her failed marriage, being one of the first two wives of Modou, who neglected them and went looking for younger women when he was alive. Her life as a cowife was not easy. She faced oppression from the traditions and culture of Senegal. The author indicates that women in the society that the series is set in are silenced and subjected to injustices. They are not allowed to speak their outcries against the various forms of injustices in public. The novel shows the negative stereotypes that exist about women - wives, in particular, their husbands, and mothers. Through this, the inequalities that exist in the Senegalese society are depicted. The women in this society are presented as the main victims of the social system in Senegal. The main character and protagonist, Ramatoulaye Fall, is seen as the stereotypical woman who is oppressed and silenced through the accepted norms and cultural practices of her community and society.

Ramatoulaye's letter to her childhood friend and confidant shows how she is left in a state of despair and isolation after the death of her husband, Modou. The iddat funeral practices of the Islamic culture leave her the situation. The novel is set in Wolof, a region where the socio-cultural practices of the people are predominantly Islamic. Everything that is done among this ethnic group is per the requirements of the Holy Quran. The book acts as a reference for guiding the basic life of the people in terms of acceptable living (Ojo 16).

When Ramatoulaye's husband Modou died, Ramatoulaye remains devoted to the Muslim culture, which requires strict adherence. The culture requires all that practice the Muslim religion to obey the tenets of Islam faithfully. These tenets include allegiance to Allah, fasting, a pilgrimage to Mecca, ritual prayers as well as the observation of rites and festivals of the Islamic culture. Ramatoulaye was so devoted to these practices to the extent that she was denied the opportunity to look after her injured son at the time. According to the Senegalese patriarchy, she is not allowed to stop adhering to the ritual prayers and attend to other things, despite the importance. This is inhuman because her son, Malick, who was injured in a motorcycle accident. As a mother, the funeral practices took away the role of a mother from her (Ojo 16).

Also, the strict adherence to the ritual prayers and rites of passage do not give Ramatoulaye the chance to grieve her husband. This causes emotional torture. The Muslim culture requires that despite the situation that one may be involved in, everything has to be sopped so that they can observe the tenets, especially the ritual prayers (Ojo 16). Some of the questions that one may ask are, how can you concentrate on prayers, fasting, and other religious rituals when someone needs your help? Or when you should be grieving? Well, this can be hard to bear, especially for a mother who just lost her husband and has a sick child to look after.

The African cultures portrayed by the author expect victims of an event to participate in the ritual rites and ceremonies irrespective of what they are going through. When Modou died, the relative's participation was required in preparing the body for the burial as the final rite. Sympathizers attended the funeral to express their condolences to the bereaved family. They include relatives, friends, and strangers from the nearby areas. A few of these sympathizers are wailing and tearful. They donate money and other gifts to be used in the funeral program. This shows how the communal life of the society that Ramatoulaye finds herself in is dedicated to supporting each other in times of need. The community's internal system is positively impacted by this kind of attitude (Ojo, 17).

However, the author points out the aspects that are not community-oriented that are turned into competitions and commercial deals in the mourning ritual. Some of the people who attended the funeral were there for what they would gain in return. This included drinks, food, money, and other material things. Other people were competing in giving high donations, probably for reasons of keeping their honor in society. They pledge huge contributions as debts that would be settled later, not keeping in mind that the contributions are needed for the funeral, not as some kind of ransom. This displays high levels of hypocrisy and materialism whereby the members of the society were striving to spend huge amounts of money in organizing the funeral and conducting ritual ceremonies for death. These funds would rather be spent in settling medical prescriptions and hospitalization bills that would save lives (Ojo 16).

Similarly, the sympathizers take advantage of the mourner's situation who cannot manage the events on their own to generate money and other material gains. The praise-singers that participated in the funeral program wanted to be paid for their eulogy contributions. This is a lavish behavior that is very insensitive to the mourners. The procession that was given by old relatives, old friends, goldsmiths, griots, and other honored people use a honeyed language. The messages they give are intended to bid goodbye to the deceased Modou and are not freely given; neither are they simple. Afterward, they demanded to be paid in terms of money, depending on the level of honor (Ojo 16).

Instead of the sympathizers dedicating themselves to remember the deceased as well as pray for his soul's repose, most are there to display how they are privileged - showing off. The women utilized the funeral occasion to renew their friendships, socialize, and gossip using loud voices with strident laughter. These behaviors and acts took over the main purpose of coming together, leading to a lack of solemnity. The mourners lack sincerity since the way they conduct the ritual ceremony according to the cultural practices lacks respect for the bereaved and is irrelevant in the situation of mourning. Also, the huge amounts of drinks and food that are provided to entertain the people and the huge funeral expenditure is unnatural or unusual because these funds could be utilized in more productive ways (Ojo 17).

The Wolof-Islamic funerals have aspects that are deemed important than others. One of them, and that affects Ramatoulaye is the iddat ritual of sitting in. The widow is secluded from the community during the time of the funeral. As indicated earlier, she is expected to keep being devoted to the Islamic culture of keeping the tenets, irrespective of the situation. She is isolated for four months and ten days from the time her husband died. She spends the whole period of mourning in meditating and dresses in rags, and is required not to look attractive in any way, for example, she keeps her jewelry away. This subjects her to emotional torture and stress that leads to depression (Ojo 17).

Additionally, she is forced to bear the presence of her annoying co-wife Binetou. Binetou is placed in Ramatoulaye's house during the period of mourning as required by the Islamic funeral customs. They are both practically imprisoned, and the tense relationship between them further makes the situation unbearable. The forced seclusion is a clear indication of social constraints that existed in society and affected women. The period of confinement for the two represented a time of torture and deprivation of rights and freedoms (Ojo 17).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Muslim and Islamic cultures, as narrated by Ramatoulaye, are cruel, inhuman, and unnatural. The widow was secluded on the cultural demands, which denied her the opportunity to look after her injured son. The sympathizers took advantage of the funeral to get material gains. This was undesirable behaviors manifested in the Wolof-Islamic culture.

Works Cited

Edwin, Shirin. "Expressing Islamic feminism in Mariama Ba's So Long a Letter." Gender, Place, and Culture 16.6 (2009): 723-740. http://www.academia.edu/download/43715648/Expressing_Islamic_feminism_in_Mariama_B_s_So_Long_a_Letter.pdf

Ojo, Philip A. "The Socio-Cultural and Economic Dimensions of Islam in Mariama Ba's So Long a Letter." Journal of Foreign Languages 3.1 (2015): 15-20. http://jflcc.com/journals/jflcc/Vol_3_No_1_June_2015/3.pdf