Destroyed house
Custom dictated that the funeral rites had to be held in Ramatoulaye’s house even though she had no connection with her husband anymore. After the guests and her extended family left, Ramatoulaye was left alone to deal with the destruction they caused. Ramatoulaye described how the house was after her family left and the damage they did to it. This image is important because it has the purpose of highlighting the idea that in her husband's family’s eyes, Ramatoulaye was not worth being treated with dignity.
A complex man
Ramatoulaye’s husband is portrayed in two different ways in the novel, through the two different perspectives of Ramatoulaye and her mother. Ramatoulaye adored her husband and she was very much in love with him. Ramatoulaye’s mother, however, saw him as a person who would only drag her daughter down and stop her from becoming a better person and woman. Sadly, Ramatoulaye admits that her mother was right and that her husband was far from what she wanted him to be.
The perfect woman
In the ninth chapter, Ramatoulaye talks about her duties as a wife and what was expected of her. The impression left is that women are seen as housewives first and then only secondarily as people capable of holding a job and being professionals. Thus, this highlights the reigning idea that women are supposed to be dutiful wives who stay at home and made sure that everything is in order for their husbands.
A fool
After getting married, it becomes obvious that Binetou is not happy with her new husband. Thus, she resolves to make him miserable as well, asking for expensive gifts and making him go with her to nightclubs to have fun. Ramatoulaye mentions that after a short while, people began to make fun of her husband for going to nightclubs and making a fool of himself in front of everyone. Thus, Modou changes from the old and noble man to an old fool who would do anything to please his young and demanding wife.
