Discuss the ritual of taking down the hair.

Their sisters-in-law have to take down both of the wives' hair. This, as the narrator explains, is a test feared by Senegalese women, because no in-law will touch the hair of a widow who wasn't good to her husband and generous toward his family. The narrator complains that when a Senegalese woman marries, she becomes a servant to her husband's family, knowing that the moment will come (widowhood) when her generosity will be measured.