Dialogue and Address Theme Analysis

So Long a Letter is formally unusual. It is at once an epistolary novel—a novel composed of letters—and a diary. Ramatoulaye, writing during the 40 days of mourning she must observe in the wake of her husband’s death, addresses her reflections to her best friend Aissatou. And yet we never get to read Aissatou’s response. The book has the quality of a dialogue in the sense that the writing is interpersonal, addressed to another mind, but the dialogue is ultimately one sided.

Consequently, the reader comes to stand in for Aissatou, and becomes the addressee of Ramatoulaye’s musings. Indeed, much of what Ramatoulaye writes seems written for the reader’s sake, as so many of the details she recounts, Aissatou already knows. In this way, So Long a Letter is framed as an ongoing conversation—a conversation that may extend into the future—in which the reader is included and perhaps even encouraged to respond.

The theme of dialogue is manifested not just in the form of the novel, but also in its plot. For one, Modou’s abandonment of Ramatoulaye and her children is framed as a complete breakdown of communication and dialogue. Rather than confront Ramatoulaye directly about his decision to marry a new woman, he sends his brother to break the news to her. Ramatoulaye, feeling the burden of etiquette and custom, cannot respond to her husband’s messengers in the way she wants. The breakup of Aissatou’s marriage unfolds in a similar manner—Aissatou is left completely out of the loop when it comes to Aunty Nabou’s scheming to replace her. In contrast, Ramatoulaye’s arguably greatest moment of triumph occurs when she finds the strength to speak freely and without inhibition with Tamsir after he crassly proposes to her following Modou’s death. Finally, Ramatoulaye’s extended conversation with Daoude over the role of women in government introduces a political dimension to the theme of dialogue. The exchange demonstrates that dialogue is an important catalyst for political progress, and in fact constitutes the very foundation of democracy.

At last, it seems that the ambiguities and contradictions Ramatoulaye grapples with in trying to reconcile her feminism with her faith, her political beliefs with her personal life, are really the beginnings of an ongoing conversation—a conversation in which the reader is included, and on which the future of Senegal depends.