Symbolism In Toundi Ondoua's 'Houseboy'

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Houseboy Within the novel Houseboy, a young African boy, Toundi Ondoua, forced, as well as having an option to flee away from home due to his father’s excessive brutality, fled into the arms of a priest, Father Gilbert. Ondoua who served white colonizers in the Cameroons under Father Gilbert, portrays the plight of severe brutality and subjugation under the control of colonial authority. During these early times, colonial ruling played an important role in the African community. Disobeying his father, superiority showed the desire of Ondoua to “follow the white man”, even though he was from the African descendent. Ondoua is trying to cope with adolescent struggles with his father at home as well as trying to figure himself out as he transfers …show more content…

Christian paternalism is a view of the way that Christianity was brought about to the Africans. Through treats, such as the sugar lumps, and with threats of eternal damnation, made them become more involved with the religion which made them stay. Also, if a Christian decides to misbehave, not merely but somewhat consequential, the Europeans would beat them. Religion played a huge part of the death of Gilbert which made people classify him as a martyr, only because his death occurred in Africa. Preceding in the death of Father Gilbert, Ondoua’s life begin to rapidly change before him, and the destruction of Ondoua’s innoncence died along with Father Gilbert. This makes Ondoua more aware of the hypocritical things the French colonists are performing. After Ondoua was transferred to the Commandant, he noticed that he was uncircumcised, which did not go along with the Christian religion, as well as the Cameroonian tradition of becoming a man. After going through his second death, due to the embarrassment he felt for his master along with the other white men of the land, Ondoua overcame the prior sense of fear from the Commandant and others that he had. The Commandant would sometimes portray the act of racism and classism, while the colonial masters threw off a sense of childish, selfish ways towards Ondoua and other

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