Houseboy

Father Vandermayer works alongside Father Gilbert in the Mission. He is stricter, meaner, and more distrustful than Father Gilbert, and is feared by all the natives. When Father Gilbert dies, Toundi is forced to obey Father Vandermayer until he is sent to work for the Commandant.

Father Gilbert is the priest who takes Toundi into his service and gives him a life away from his village. He is kind to Toundi (though the kindness can be viewed as patronization), which is different than how most whites are to natives. He also gives Toundi a Christian name, and teaches him to read and write. Father Gilbert dies from a motorcycle accident, however, and with his death, Toundi’s fate is left in the hands of less scrupulous men.

The Commandant is known by the natives as the head European in Dangan. He is strict and stern, and takes Toundi on as a houseboy. Though stern, the Commandant appears to take a liking to Toundi, and things seem fine until the Commandant’s wife, Madame, appears. The Commandant soon discovers that his wife is having an affair. It is revealed that she has had many affairs, yet the Commandant has always forgiven her. This time, he blames Toundi for her actions. Where once he might have protected Toundi, he allows him to be used symbolically as a scapegoat.

Madame is the commandant’s wife. She arrives in Dangan later in the novel, and turns everyone’s lives upside down. Madame is young and beautiful, and both the whites and natives in Dangan realize how mesmerizing she is. The white men instantly fall in love with her, to the chagrin of their wives. It is later revealed that the Madame is having an affair with the prison director, M. Moreau. Moreover, the reader finds out that she has had other affairs back in France. Madame is forgiven for the affair by her husband, but her hatred for Toundi grows and, after a time, he is hated by both Madame and the Commandant for his role in aiding her affair.