ly, properties are all at the disposal of the males of both societies. Both woman's situation as beloved wife is undermined by the husband taking another (and younger) wife, an action sanctioned by the religion and officially by the society but which, according to the effects that occur in both stories, destroys the trust of the marriage, the self-esteem of the wife, and the fabric of the family's life together. Miriama B's book features a character that is much more articulate and unaccepting of the narrow role allowed to women in her society. B's female characters have been called "champions of change and justice" who "inspire other women and people to live and carry on" (Chain 100). Ramatoulaye does suffer some of the same restrictions on her movements as her friend does by virtue of being a wife and mother. She spends a great deal of her life feeling that events are out of her control: marriage (although she and her husband had chosen each other rather than entering into an arranged marriage), property ownership, domination by in-laws, her husband's desertion. Nevertheless, for many reasons of sufficient money and an education, Rama finds the strength to oppose some of the expectations of her society. She learns to drive, forces herself to go to the cinema alone, notably refuses marriage offers from men of high repute (primarily because they are already married) and courageously accepts her second daughter's unwed pregnancy without reprimanding her or even indulging in the wailing that is traditionally expected of her. Edris Makward declares that B is "the first African writer [of either sex apparently] to stress unequivocally the strong desire of a new generation of Africans to break away from the age-old marriage customs and adopt a decidedly more modern approach based on free mutual choice and the equality of the two partners" (278). In addition, Rama's daughters - at least the two presented directly in the novel - represen...
