Ramatoulaye is able to write this letter to Aissatou because as female companions, they can both relate to the struggles and multi-faceted oppressions going on in each other's lives as women, wives, and mothers. For example, Ramatoulaye writes, "We walked the same paths from adolescence to maturity, where the past begets the present (Bâ 1)," showing the deep-rooted connection and similarities between the two friends. In her life, Aissatou shares many similar problems involving polygamy and patriarchal subjugation, and therefore can empathize with the experiences Ramatoulaye is detailing. For example, both women face the disintegration of their marriage after their husbands choose to take second wives. Ramatoulaye understands their solidarity under this experience when she writes, "I had heard of too many misfortunes not to understand my own. There was your own case, Aissatou, the cases of many other women, despised, relegated or exchanged, who were abandoned like a worn-out or out-dated boubou (Bâ 42)." This deep level of female friendship and solidarity creates a space of understanding between these two women that allows Ramatoulaye to reflect upon the oppressive forces in her life and begin to understand her own identity. Bâ uses this female friendship and exclusively feminine space to critique the romantic relationships in Ramatoulaye and Aissatou's lives, which shows how men cannot possibly relate to the issues these women face. In order to challenge the oppression in her life, Ramatoulaye must first reflect on and understand her own experiences and choices. However, she is only able to do so by confiding in her female friend, showing that romantic relationships fail to provide a space in which women's problems can be understood. .
Not only does the strong female friendship and love between Ramatoulaye and Aissatou cultivate a space of understanding, it also serves as site of healing for the women.