Houseboy

If you are interested in colonialism in Africa and the deeply layered tragic effects on the sub-continent's residents, then Ferdinand Oyono's Houseboy is a must-read. Houseboy is a novel in the form of a diary written in French in 1956 and translated into English in 1966.

Toundi, the young African male who pens the journal, finds life in his village difficult and longs to become more European. He goes to work for a missionary and becomes a Christian with a new Christian name, Joseph. As he comes to idolize the priest he works for, he begins to look down on his own people more and more, but he is not accepted by the Europeans either.

When the priest dies, Joseph is sent to live with a commandant and his wife, where he realizes that whites are not as wonderful as he thought. But by now it's too late. The commandant's wife has an affair and when it becomes apparent that Joseph knew, he is severely beaten and tortured. He escapes but is too hurt to survive and his diary is read after his death.

Even though he is told repeatedly by those around him, Joseph lacked the sense of survival needed to make it as an African in colonial Africa. He doesn't understand the imbalance between the Europeans and the Africans or the lack of power and as a consequence he suffers and dies.

Please discuss.