HOUSEBOY HELPFUL TIT BITS

FERDINAND OYONO’S HOUSE BOY

LITERATURE IN ENGLISH___SEMETER II

COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

@KNUST

©EBB 2015

Compiled by EBENEZER BOAKYE-BOADU

House Boy (Ferdinand Oyono) – African Fiction

1929 - Ferdinand Oyono was born in Cameroon. He was educated there and in France

1956 – Published in France as “Une Vie de Boy”.Written by Ferdinand Oyono during his student days

1966 – Translated and published as “House Boy” by John Reed

CHARACTERS IN THE BOOK

Ø  Anton – Ferdinand Oyono’s host

Ø  Poor Pedro – Anton’s dog that had died a forth night ago

Ø  Toundi – Toundi Ondoua’s father

Ø  Zama – Toundi Ondoua’s mother

Ø  Tinati – Toundi’s friend who twisted his arm to let go of the 2 lumps of sugar

Ø  Father Gilbert – Toundi’s master and benefactor who became a martyr for dying on

Ø  African soil

Ø  Toundi Joseph – Toundi’s name after baptism by father Gilbert

Ø  Father Vandermayer – Father Gilbert’s assistant, with the best voice

Ø  Martin – Head catechists who looked after the offertory

Ø  Orderlies – people who help out at the Dangan Hospital

Ø  Gullet – Chief of police

Ø  M. Janopoulos – Greek owner of the European club where the whites spent their Saturdays. He had an expensive Americancar.

Ø  Sophie – Agricultural Engineer’s mistress

Ø  M. Magnol – Agricultural Engineer owned a land-rover

Ø  Robert – Commandant also known as “Panther-eyed”

Ø  Suzy Decazy – Commandant’s wife

Ø  M. Jacques Salvain – the headmaster. He believed the African students were as good as the Whites. He realised the youngest to leave certificate was 17 years and he sought to correct the system.

Ø  Mme Salvain – wife of the headmaster

Ø  Ondoua – drummer brought by Agric. Engineer,from another town

Ø  M. Fernand – Disinfector who disinfects Dangan with DDT

Ø  Mesdemoiselles Dubois – 2 young ladies with pigtails and cowboy hats

Ø  Akoma – Chief of Sos, he’s also known as “King of rings”

Ø  Ali – hausa man, traveling merchant who had a place among the elders because of his wisdom

Ø  Mekongo – one-legged army veteran who fought the war at Libya

Ø  Obila – African that asked Mekongo the alleged wise question

Ø  Baklu – laundry boy brought by Toundi and younger. He had been working in the

  Dangan hospital

Ø  Obebe – catechist who had got gonorrhea after the war

Ø  Kalisia – chamber maid brought by the cook. She was the cousin of the niece of his sister’s brother-in-law

Ø  Mendim me Tit – meaning “Meat-water”. He was from Gabon and the Chief Native Constable(Sergent)

Ø  M. Moreau – prison director also known as “White

Ø  Elephant”. Greatest terror of the Africans

Ø  Mengueme – Chief of Yanyans who pretends not to understand French

Ø  30 Urchins – the schoolboys that marched in honour of the commandant

Ø  Saras – Non rank law enforcers

Ø  Djafarro – African sara who hit Toundi’s chest with his rifle’s butt. He was from the north

Ø  Akomo, Spanish Guinea – place where Frenchmen from Gabon and Cameroon ship away for a break when things become strained with their white compatriots

Ø  Fish and cassava sticks – customary meal in Spanish Guinea

Ø  Due to absence of the moon, there was no dance in honour of Oyono’s return

Ø  Adventures of the tortoise and the elephant – told round the fireside

Ø  Madre Dios – said by Anton to the people he met.Indicated bad news

Ø  Drum language – “Frenchman very ill”

Ø  M’foula – place where the drums came from

Ø  Spanish mixed with Pahouin – language Antonspoke with the people he met

Ø  BuenasTardes – said after Anton andFerdinand by the people they met

Ø  Aba – the hut for discussions

Ø  Arki – a kind of rum, smelling of smoke

Ø  Toundi was Maka by mother and Ndjem by father.

Ø  Frontier, Spanish zone – where Toundi was found unconscious

Ø  Uno alumno – how finder described Tounde; means near dead

Ø  In Khaki bundle – 2 worn exercise books, a toothbrush, a stub of pencil and a large native comb of ivory

Ø  Ewondo – language the diary was written in

First Exercise Book

August

·         Toundi ran away a day before his initiation. They say in the village that’s the cause of his father’s death

·         It took Toundi or his mother, a week to recover from his father’s beatings

·         Toundi’s father said he could wait up to 100 years to punish Toundi

·         Toundi didn’t like his uncle because of his scabies and the smelt as fish like her husband

·         Toundi peeped on his father and unpleasant through the cracks in the mud wall

·         Toundi mother was famous in the village for cooking porcupine soup

·         The porcupine this time was caught in Toundi’s father’s trap half eaten by ants, two days later

·         The skull of all the animals Toundi’s father had ever taken in his trap hung up in a row in the house

·         Fia – place across the stream where the kids went for sugar lumps

·         Khaki shorts and red jersey – given Toundi by father Gilbert when he ran to him

·         Dangan – place the Whites stayed in Cameroon

·         Yaounde – capital where major activities took place

·         St. Peter’s Catholic Mission, Dangan – where Toundi stayed with father Gilbert. The church attended by the Whites and the Africans

·         Toundi’s father was the first to come by the Priest’s house in Fia. He claimed all was well

·         Toundi’s mother came later and gave her son,her blessings

·         Father Gilbert told Toundi it was the Holy Spirit that had brought him there

·         Toundi wakes up at 5 O’ clock or earlier at St.Peter’s

·         Toundi rings the bell for the first priest to give mass; he serves 3 or 4 masses everyday

·         The houseboy of the Yaoundé priest, taught Toundi to pat the white girls with the pat enduring communion

·         Sixa – boarding house for women who intended to become Christians and for Christian women who have left their pagan homes

·         Hammer of the whites – the giant cotton tree which had 2 Greeks and also father Gilbert killed

·         Father Gilbert’s death was heard at St.Peter’s at about 10 O’ clock by Martin then surely by the ambulance

·         Two orderlies carried the dead body inside

·         Two constables with fixed bayonets marched the veranda outside the room, the dead body lay

·         Father Gilbert was buried the following at 4O’ clock in the corner of the cemetery next to M. Diamond’s daughter

·         Americans from the protestant mission also attended the funeral

After the funeral

·         Toundi sent to Commandant’s house as his new houseboy

·         St. Christopher’s medal – medal worn by Joseph which showed to commandant as proof of being a Christian

·         Toundi was to report at the commandant’s residence at 6 O’ clock in the morning

·         Mahogany-Trunk – reference to the commandant

·         Joseph lived with his sister and brother-in-law while working at the commandant’s

·         Gullet went for his raid with 4 constables. Of which the African NCO alerted the African people with a whistle

·         The bugle was in the police camp and sounds to tell time

·         At twelve midday on Saturdays, all houseboys are free

·         The prisoner sent to the commandant brought 2chickens and a basket of eggs

·         The Salvain’s had the oldest houseboy

·         Infant class – 2 to 6 years

·         Certificate class – 12 to 15 years. There were20 students in this class

·         Europeans at mass – Commandant, Doctor with captain braids, Doctor’s wife, Disinfector, Mesdemoiselles Dubois,

·         Prison-Director’s wife and the Greek ladies.

·         Transept beside altar – where whites sat for mass, in cane arm chairs covered with velvet cushions

·         Nave – part of the church for only Africans,where they sat on tree trunksarranged in 2 rows

·         Itemissaest – the song sung before the whites leave mass through the sacristy while the blacks were forced to listen to the sermon

·         Alliances – the five rings Akoma returned with from France, where he had been sent as a friend of France. He had a ring on each finger and pretended to understand French

·         Akoma’s train – 3 wives, porter for chair and umbrella, xylophone player and 2bodyguards

·         Mengueme says life as a chameleon because he lost his brother to death while he fought the

·         French with the Germans and then his two sons in the second war, while they fought the

·         Germans with the French

·         On their journey to visit, they saw on a huge anthill scrawled in creosote, 60 KMS

·         Kaolin – used for the walls were the whites slept on their visit

·         Sophie and Joseph slept in the house of the Chief’s Attendant’s second wife; i.e. a house without windows in which a hen sat on a clutch of eggs in an old basin. In there was also a bunch of bananas on bamboo racks

·         Bilaba – a monotonous dance in which the torso and the hips are swayed.

·         The chief of where the commandant had visited presented the chickens, the goat, the basket of eggs and pawpaw to the whites before together, they left or the house where the palavers where conducted.

·         Brands – put together and blown in order to light

·         Sophie’s lover calls her by names of things eaten when he wants to mouth her or when he’s moaning

·         Raffia – material for roofs

·         Pygmies – people who build true huts,entirely made of straw

·         The Agricultural engineer corrected the commandant that huts made of mud were houses and not truly huts.

·         A young man wore red chéchia, showing that he was the chief’s attendant and a loin-cloth. He was naked to the waist. He shouted silence as the women of the town were making noise because of the white’s man presence

·         The Chief wore a khaki jacket onto the sleeves on which his red badges and silver braids had been sewn.

·         The commandant cut short their stay because hewas coming down with malaria over the night after a hectic day.

·         The commandant sent notes to the doctor, the prison-director and Gullet about his wife’s coming to Dangan

·         Commandant went to pick up his wife at Yaoundé

·         Madame had come in order to surprise commandant on his birthday

·         Madame toured her new home in a pair of blacks lacks that brought out her figure. Th ekitchen was the first place.

·         The cook was congratulated on how neat he kept the place and on his Poulet au riz but was advised to added less pimento

·         The cook has about 30 years of experience

·         Goat-park – followed after the kitchen. Madame allowed the goats to lick her hands

·         Bed of roses and hibiscus – Madame stopped by every flower and breathed in the scent deeply. She had completely forgotten Toundi was on the other side of the bed. This made him sadder than at father Gilbert’s funeral

·         Madame’s first Saturday had the European club deserted for the residence. Madame was dressed pretty in white and had the attention of all the men gathered whereas the other women: Mme Salvain like an oil lamp fetched into the sun; Doctor’s wife as flat as putty flung at the wall; Madame Gullet like cassava in a banana leaf;Mesdemoiselles Dubois as alike as pair of sacks; the G reeks for their noisy nature, silent and he American ladies from protestant mission existed only with their laughter

·         The disinfector called M. Salvain a traitor prior to their heated quarrel

·         M. Janopoulos discussed cocoa price with the commandant

·         The doctor’s wife promised to take Madame to lay flowers at the martyr’s grave

·         Toundi was between the leaf of the door and the refrigerator his usual spot where he stood in wait of instruction

·         Madame said to the surprise of the whites gathered that Empress Josephine had a Negro for a step-father

·         Doctor and his wife were the first to rise to leave when the first drops hit the corrugated-iron roof

·         Market place – 5 minutes from the residence. It has sheds along 2 sides in which one is a butchery and another a place for fishes.

·         The stream full of rubbish – used as dustbin and for bathing

·         Market place is the loveliest place in Dangan especially on Saturday mornings

·         Madame bought pineapples, oranges, bananas and fishes

·         Madame refused M. Janopoulos lift because she wanted to explore Dangan on foot

·         Madame left the market place at 10 O’ clock

·         Algiers – where Mekongo and his battalion was posted for their 20 days leave

·         My little chick – name the brothel lady called Mekongo

·         The commandant had gone for 2 weeks on his tour to the forest of “Evil Chimpanzee” when Madame was expecting her visitor that didn’t show up

·         M. Moreau who wasn’t present to welcome Madame that Saturday was the visitor who she expected the day before; he left Madame after midnight.

·         Like a priest saying Dominus Vobiscum the sentry gossiped to Baklu what he had already told

·         Toundi concerning M. Moreau’s visit

·         The bugle sounded at 8 O’ clock; this meant time for work. At the commandant’s residence worked these four: the sentry, the cook,Baklu (laundry boy) and Toundi Joseph (houseboy)

·         Old Tortoise – Baklu referred to the sentry at 9 O’ clock while Madame was still asleep

Afternoon

·         Madame woke up just before 12 midday

·         M. Moreau came back at 4 O’ clock

·         At midday, one constable on tour with the commandant brought Madame a letter

·         After glancing through the letter,Madame wrote behind the letter and gave it to Toundi to send to M. Moreau who at the time was having lunch with his wife

·         The prison-director met Toundi on the veranda, read the letter and gave him a packet of cigarettes for Madame

·         At 6 O’ clock in the evening madam sent a way all the staff but Toundi as he was to serve dinner

·         At 7 O’ clock – M. Moreau in dark tailored suit and his wife in a white dress arrived for dinner.

·         Madame was in a fitting black silky dress

·         Mme Moreau spent half an hour on the toilet when she had the chance to

·         Through a crack in the drawing-room window,

·         Toundi saw M. Moreau and Madame kissing on the lips

·         M. Moreau and wife left as she had a violent headache

·         An hour later, M. Moreau was back. Joseph was sent away by Madame

·         The Commandant arrived unexpected at 11 O’clock the next morning. He met Madame in her bathing robe on the veranda

·         Stems of Citronellas – favourite place of little deadly poisonous green snakes

·         Aspirin – drug Commandant asked Toundi to give Madamefor her headache

Second Exercise Book

·         Dangan Prison – African paradise, sarcasm by Toundi

·         Madame waited for Toundi on the steps for half anhourMadame called Baklu, loafer and the cook, OldBaboon

·         The prison-director advised Madame that the staffneeded the Big Stick

·         Madame deducted the price of the brokendecanter she found in the kitchen from thewages of the cook and Toundi bringing it to half of it.

·         When Toundi sent the letter to M. Moreau,he was busy with 2 Africans suspected of stealingfrom M. Janopoulos. They were stripped to the waistand tied to the pole in the flagging yard.

·         He whipped them with Hippopotamus-hide whip whichtore up their flesh. M. Moreau asked Toundi totell Madame he will be over at 3 O’ clock

·         Ndjangoula – the sara who gave the butt of hisrifle to the prisoners

·         M. Moreau gave Toundi a 5 franc note but he toreit to pieces

·         Black Man’s Grave – Dagan hospital, whereprisoners die painfully and are sent to theprisoner’s cemetery

·         The Doctor’s residence was just below thecommandant’s residence

·         M. Moreau used the main road instead of the lanethat leads up to Madame’s window which he usedduring his moonlight visits when the commandant wasaway

·         Funny chap – how the prison-directorreferred to the Toundi

·         Toundi served them with 2 bottles of whisky. Madameasked for a bottle of Perrier and sent Toundiaway

·         Bekön – prison, where M. Moreau said Toundibelonged

·         According to Baklu there were 2 worlds.

·         Theirs of “respect, mystery and magic” and theWhites, who would bring everything to light

·         Baklu despises the Whites for their public display ofaffection

·         Doctor’s wife visited at 4 O’ clock but Madame was stillasleep with the door opened. Toundi saw herwith her breast revealed in her pinkbrassiere as her bodice was undone. He wokeher up for the Doctor’s wife

·         The Doctor’s wife told Madame the Doctor wassuffering from malaria and also, warned Madameabout Toundi as he was the reason, the otherhouseboys knew of her affair with M. Moreau. TheDoctor’s wife left at half past five when thebugle sounded

·         Aida lamp – a petrol lamp. Toundi was taught byFather Gilbert to light itin the morning while Toundi swept thebroken pieces of the bottle containing thepreparation Madame uses on her face at night,he swept from beneath the bed, two littlerubber bags

·         At 11 O’ clock after the quarrel with Toundi,Madame was fetched by the doctor’s wife in hercar

·         Madame returned at 4 O’ clock and asked allthe staff not to leave before midnight

·         At dinner when she reappeared afterher return, Madame took banana and drankher usual coffee not taking the chicken

·         On the day Kalisia was brought by the cook as Madamehad asked him to get her a chamber maid, Madamewoke up at 11 O’ clock and also took her bath withcold water

·         Kalisia came to residence: bare-footed, with onegolden earring and a tailored jacketover her cloth. She was to work 2 hourseveryday

·         The commandant came home furious. It was time for theevening aperitif when he sent for his wife

·         The commandant requested brandy and had 2glasses straight up which his wife tried to stop butfailed

·         The commandant had his left hand under thetable. Hidden in it was M. Moreau’s lighter

·         Their quarrel continued to midnight, a nightwithout star or firefly

·         Thursdays – Madame had her flings with  M. Moreau

·         Madame’s weakness was unfaithfulness

·         “Ngovinyangal a veszutbisalak a be metua” –meaning commandant everywhere but had awife who went about opening her legs inditches and in cars

·         Kalisia cracked her fingers in astonishment asToundi told her about the quarrelbetween commandant and his wife

·         The commandant was fond of stepping on Toundi’s lefthand while he polished his boots

·         In the box Sophie stole, was 150,000 Francs – wagesfor the workmen. In addition, she stole M. Magnol’sclothing

·         Toundi was arrested in the morning from theCommandant’s house by Gullet and theAgricultural Engineer at which timeBaklu and the cook were not at work

·         He was sent to the chief native constable’shouse in wait of M. Moreau who was on tour. He was sentwith there with bruised buttocks

·         They took Toundi away in M. Magnol’s land-roverwith him driving and Gullet torturing Toundiat the back mostly by stepping on his big toe

·         Toundi knew of Sophie’s plan eight months beforebecause she had told him about it when theyembarked on that journey with the Whites

·         To portray having been brutally beatenby Mendim, he covered his shorts and jersey in Oxblood. Meanwhile, the whole afternoon heplayed cards with Mendim who assured him was safewith him but for M. Moreau

·         The African was at the foot of the hill in whatsaid to be swamp. Toundi, Gullet, M. Magnol and

·         Mendim were the 4 people who went to Toundi’shouse to search for Sophie

·         Toundi’s brother-in-law was the one whoopened the door to these 4 men

·         A bent index finger with the thumb overleaving 3 fingers remaining straight – meantswearing before the Holy Trinity thetruth of what one is saying. Toundi’s brother-in-law did so when question about Sophie by Gulletthrough the Constable

·         Sjambok – hippopotamus-hide whip carried by Gullet

·         Mendim was instructed by Gullet to Give Toundi,

·         25 blows of the sjambok. Mendim did so but Toundi refuse tocry causing Mendim to have a feel at the mercy ofGullet

Second Night at the Police Camp

·         About 20 Africans in trouble, they took waterround to all White houses in Dagan. Thewell is more than a kilometre from theEuropean quarter and at the bottom of thehill. They climbed up and down this hill, witha constable following

·         At midday, Kalisia visited. Cry – laugh – cry. Shegave him a packet of cigarettes

·         1 O’ clock, Baklu visited. He gave him a little moneyWith Toundi away, Commandant and wife seem togetting on well but Madame occasionally lookedout the window

·         Toundi’s sister visited looking disgustful as she hadbeen crying. She was the little mothernow with her care and words of advice. Sheleft him a little money enough for his guardianangel, Mendim

·         His brother-in-law visited. They had theirown conversation style: answering questionswith questions

·         Obebe visited Toundi. He preached aboutHeaven and also took the time to eat thelittle Toundi had with him

·         After being hit in the chest by Djafarro withthe butt of his rifle, Toundi was weakened. Mendimtook him to Gullet who wrote in a book and gave toMendim who in turn clicked his heels and sentToundi to Dagan Hospital

·         Dagan Hospital is between the AdministrativeCentre and the Commercial Centre.

·         There were about a dozen small identicalbuildings arranged round a centrallawn. In the middle was the red andyellow Operating Theatre

·         They got to the hospital at about 10 O’ clock. AnAfrican orderly met them. Afraid of Mendim, heoffered him cigarette to find out he didn’t smoke.Then he broke a Kola nut in two, offered

·         Mendim a piece and had the otherMendim spat between the orderly’s legsthen on his shoes, when he went about Toundibeing a malingerer.

·         They went towards the dispensary, then aconstable before the room marked, “Doctor’s

·         Surgery” cleared a path for them throughthe two deep patients waiting outside the door.

·         Inside was another constable who usheredthem in

·         The White Doctor was not in. He had been madeCaptain said that Constable. The African Doctorwas doing an operation and consultations wouldbegin as soon as he finished

·         The African Doctor was about 40 years. Hecomplained about the White Doctor neverbeing around yet having the key to the X-ray room

·         After examining Toundi with his stethoscope, hehinted that Toundi had a broken rib which hadperforated his bronchi

·         The Doctor wrote for 10 minutes and gave to Mendimto be sent to Gullet

·         At 6 O’ clock in the evening, the AfricanDoctor came with White Doctor and Gullet to see

·         Toundi whose temperature was 103. The WhiteDoctor re-assured Gullet that it was not seriousfor Africans

·         The African sara with scarred face under ared chéchia threatened Toundi when hemade signs of being thirsty

·         At midnight, Toundi pretended to be asleepwhen the Europeans came. This time M. Moreau waswith them. He said Toundi was a dangerouselement and that he shall work on himtomorrow

·         An African orderly in his white coatdirectly over his underpants advised Toundi toescape as he was the only one to tell thetruth

·         He said Toundi was good for Spanish Guinea or theprison cemetery

·         The constable in watch was snoring. Toundididn’t want M. Moreau to have him. He escaped at 3in the morning. The chance was slim but he tookit.

SUMMARY

  A Frenchman on vacation in Spanish Guinea finds a man by the name Toundi severely injured. The poor man die shortly after and the Frenchman finds on him a diary which he (Toundi) calls an “Exercise Book”. The Frenchman reads on afterwards.

Exercise Book One

  In the first exercise book Toundi lives with his family. His father beats him constantly and one day, he runs away from home after his father accusing him of taking his mother and grandmother to bed just to get him to be beaten. He got a rescue by Father Gilbert, a priest living nearby. His father comes to the home of the priest and tries to convince his son to come home but was to no avail. Toundi refused and denied his biological father (parents), after his mother gave him her blessing.

  Father Gilbert becomes Toundi’s new father and Toundi treats the father as such. Father Gilbert teaches him how to read and write as well as Catholicism. Toundi now shares in the Catholic faith.

  Painfully Father Gilbert dies in a motorcycle accident at the big tree where the two Israelites got crashed by one of the branches of the tree. This was just a few months after meeting Toundi. Father Vandermayer eventually sends Toundi to live with the Commandment, the colony’s supervisor. Here he is the Commandant’s houseboy and later his wife’s.

  Madame, the commandant’s wife arrives from France six months after Toundi’s stay with Commandant. She was friendly and considerate and beautiful that Toundi loved her smiles. Almost every man in the town   envied the Commandant because of her. Perhaps they wished she was theirs.

  The Commandant leaves to go on a tour again shortly after his wife’s arrival. Toundi is left with Madame, the cook, the laundry and the sentry to take care of the house. As time goes on, Madame sends Toundi to go call her lover the prison official M. Moreau. On and on Madame becomes code, disrespectful and hostile towards him.

  Madame’s bored state during the absence of the Commandant, her affair with M. Moreau. M. Moreau is perceived as ruthless against the Africans. Toundi’s first experience put a greater fear on him as M. Moreau whips two other Africans nearly to death.

Exercise Book Two

The second exercise book starts with the return of the Commandant from the tour. He discovers the affair of his wife with some other person. He was disturbed with her wife’s ruthless. His return was all the knowledge of his wife’s affair. He had a terrible argument with her and after some time they settle their differences.

  Madame’s coldness towards Toundi became more intense all because she knew the master knowledge of her affair lies just around her. All she wanted was to get Toundi out of the house. Sophie, the lover of the water engineer is accused of stealing workers money from the engineer with the help of Toundi. Toundi is taken to prison and tortured severely to confess that he was part of Sophie’s crime, which he knew nothing about.

  Toundi is held in a hut near the police headquarters. Fortunately for him, he meets a friend who works there. Mendim, feared by most of the native people because of his stature but he soon comes to be Toundi’s ally. When Mendim was given order to beat Toundi by M. Moreau, he craftily pour ox’s blood on Toundi to make him look like he has been brutally injured.

  Toundi becomes ill and taken to the hospital. They had to wait for a very long time before the black doctor, the only doctor left in the hospital came to see them. The white doctor there was promoted to captain. The doctor found out that Toundi’s ribs were broken and had punctured his bronchi.

  M. Moreau returns with the white doctor. He talks about punishing Toundi some more at the hospital. As soon as M. Moreau left the hospital, Toundi escapes still in his dizzy state away from the hospital and runs to Spanish Guinea, where he met his death.