Houseboy

Sexuality has a prevalent role in Houseboy. Toundi’s tale is laced with sexual jokes and asides, and the natives often joke with each other with nods to sexual references. Toundi highlights this firsthand when he sees Madame for the first time and is afraid of what he might do because of her beauty and his lust. Likewise, when he walks with Madame to the market, he is met with cheers and jeers from fellow Africans, all of it sexual, referring to Madame and her figure. The bantering references are both comical and crude, and make the otherwise serious narrative more comical.

Women also address the theme of sexuality, with Sophie angry that she is not viewed like white women when she knows she is as beautiful as they are, or more so. Sophie is reduced to sex with the agricultural engineer even though he professes to love her. Given that she is African, however, she cannot take the place of an open love interest, and so is forced into a shadowy role as a mistress or sex object. She also sexualizes Toundi when she comments on how shocked she is that he can sleep in a room with her and not want to have sex with her. Most other men, she says, would have jumped at the chance. Kalisia, too, sexualizes Toundi when she pinches his butt and flirts with him. She also adamantly maintains that Toundi is sleeping with Madame, as that is what anyone else would do, and that is what the men she has known in the same position have all done. Kalisia’s revelation reveals that the relationships between Africans and whites are often ones of violence and sex. These are the realms in which the two sides come together most often.

Sexuality is also viewed somewhat comically, given the fact that nearly every white person in the narrative is having an affair with someone other than their own spouse. The men are all viewed as incapable of monogamy, and when Madame arrives, the reader finds out that she has had a string of lovers, and that the Commandant has forgiven her for this behavior. As Toundi notes, whites allow their emotions to get the better of them, and the narrative reveals time and again that it is these same emotions which in fact cause so much consternation for both the whites and the natives who are drawn into their machinations.

The abuse of power is a theme closely related to the effects of colonization seen in the novel. For Toundi and the natives he encounters daily, being African and a servant means being abused by those in positions of power. Toundi first highlights the abuse of power when relating his flight from his overbearing father. His father is also an abusive figure, and though Toundi mentions that he should have accepted his father’s beatings and punishment, he rebels against this abuse and flees to Father Gilbert. Though Father Gilbert does not seem to abuse Toundi from his position of power, he does patronize Toundi. This patronization can be viewed as abuse in that it renders Toundi inhuman apart from the customs of the whites that he is willing to take on and practice. It also suggests that Toundi is incapable of being human or independent apart from the Christianity that Father Gilbert “blesses” him with.

The abuse of power is seen more freely in Dangan. Toundi is abused by Father Vandermayer, the Commandant, Madame, and M. Moreau, and all of it because of their superiority to him in a servant/master dichotomy. The worst part is that Toundi, and other natives who are arrested or accused of wrongdoing, are treated as if they are guilty before guilt can even be established. Africans must endure beatings and ill-treatment, such as when the European Club owner unleashes his dogs on Africans for sport, because they have no choice but to endure it. Based on the power dynamics, Africans are meant to be grateful for being “freed” and given something to do, and are not meant to question the power structure that entraps them in servitude.

Colonization affects the natives in the Cameroons in various ways, starting with a loss of self and traditional ways of living. Though concepts like cannibalism are viewed as negative and, for the most part, as odd, old ways of viewing the relationship between man and nature, Toundi’s mention of this old practice early in the narrative highlights how local, native traditions in general are destroyed or abandoned when they come into contact with dominant, conquering forces, like the white Europeans who colonized the Cameroons.

The most notable effect of colonization on the native population is the abusive class system established by whites. Though Toundi and his fellow Africans are native to the region, they are forced to live as little better than slaves, employed by cruel masters. Their old culture is viewed as barbaric, and with the help of Christianity and the church, they are encouraged to shrug off their old beliefs and adopt the beliefs of Europeans. The effacement of culture and the abandonment of culture are two major goals—and negative outcomes—of colonization.

Other issues stemming from colonization that affect the native population include self-hatred and selfishness. Toundi expresses his disgust with various traditions and customs that he thinks are pointless. To some, these old customs are viewed as embarrassing or barbaric. Selfishness is introduced when whites pit natives against one another for gain and survival. As Toundi notes, he feels ashamed for his fellow Africans who must “perform” for whites, and for those who must, ultimately, look out for themselves in order to survive the harsh environment brought about by colonialism.