So Long A Letter by Mariama Ba and Blood Wedding by Frederico Garcia Lorca

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Recommended: Themes

"So Long A Letter" by Mariama Ba and "Blood Wedding" by Frederico Garcia Lorca

Thesis: Characters that cause immense pain to another, especially to

their consorts, succumb to death in the texts So Long A Letter and

Blood Wedding by Mariama Bâ and Federico García Lorca respectively.

Death is one aspect of life that prevents a person from being

invincible. It is one of the inevitable occurrences that a man has to

yield to. In the texts So Long A Letter and Blood Wedding by Mariama

Bâ and Federico García Lorca respectively, death is a poignant theme

that has prevailed throughout the course of the text. The question is

whether the deaths of characters in these texts are deserved, and

devised by the authors due to the immense pain dispensed by these

characters to their consorts.

Firstly, So Long A Letter by Mariama Bâ which is a letter cum diary

from Ramatoulaye to her best friend Aissatou depicts the series of

events that have taken place in the past, mainly portraying the

lamentation of three women (Ramatoulaye, Aissatou and Jacqueline) due

to their husbands’ lack of commitment. Moreover, this text outlines

the Senegalese way of living and how the Muslim society accepts

polygamy readily.

As we read the text, we are introduced to Modou Fall, the husband to

Ramatoulaye, who died of an unknown cause. In my opinion, his death

was destined due to the everlasting pain he dispensed to his wife.

This is because of his “abrupt decision to take a second wife” and his

abandonment of his family. This was a very appalling situation as

Modou walked out on Ramatoulaye and his twelve children to go and

improve relations with a girl the age of his daughter. Although he

married her committing polygamy which was sanc...

... middle of paper ...

...trated mood the Mother is

in since she has lost all her family members now including her

ultimate hope of survival: her son, the Bridegroom.

Accordingly, I perceive that the Bridegroom deserved to die as he

dispensed pain and grief not only to the Bride but also to his mother.

All in all, we have seen that the statement ‘characters that cause

immense pain to another, especially to their consorts, succumb to

death’ is apt. Moreover, it can be learnt form this piece of work that

the consequence of the action you perform will be commensurate to the

intensity of that action. Therefore, Modou Fall, Leonardo and the

Bridegroom all deserved to succumb to death. Last but not the least,

it can be noted that all the characters that cause immense pain to

others in both the texts are the male characters while the recipients

of such pain are the female characters.

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