Respond to the following questions in your journal. Use complete and grammatical sentences..
- What is the connotation of the word vultures? Write an acrostic poem for the word Vultures. The poem should highlight the same theme found in Birago Diop’s Poem ‘The Vultures’
- How does Oyono present the effects of colonialism and the spread of French assimilation policy on the native peoples?
- To what extent do you agree with this statement? ‘Houseboy is both a satire and a comedy’.
- What are the following people’s perceptions of Toundi?
Father Vander Mayer Commandante Susan Decazy - Perception
- Toundi, the protagonist, laments "Who are we black men who are called French" Imagine that you are Toundi, before your escape to Spanish Guinea. Write a 6-10 line ‘I am’ poem about who you are.
- What can happen when the “real you” gets lost in other people’s perceptions of you?
- How does Toundi perceive himself? Post your comment on the blog.
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How does the author characterize the agents of assimilation?Educators- M. Salvain (31-32)Priests- Father Gilbert and Vandameyer (15)Administrators-Commandante- Panther Eye (28)
Toundi initially perceives himself to be of less worth than the whites and seems to idolize them. He weighs the worth of those from his native land and finds them to be of less worth than the weights. He therefore begins to strive to be a perfect Frenchman. Later on in the book his perception of himself changes as he realizes that being African was never a bad thing and that the white men are just as flawed,if not more, than the black. Therefore by the end of the book, he perceives himself as a lost soul no longer African but not a Frenchman either
ReplyDeleteThank you for this Joshua, what informs your conclusion about Toundi's self perception? What evidence/illustrations can you draw from the text?
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning of the story we notice the determination of Toundi in embracing the French culture. Toundi’s perception of the white men is one of gratitude because he has been honored the chance of being a part of them. However, as time passes realization hits Toundi as he is part of neither the French nor the Africans. This is because of the constant reminder of his inferiority. Toundi gives in his best in order to please his master; he has devoted his life to the Commandant. Nevertheless, this does not change the fact that Toundi is “black French” and is not the same color as the colonizers. Toundi presents himself as; “the dog of a king is a king of dogs” which displays how Toundi is amidst the Europeans and the Africans, but has no specific culture. It also portrays how he degrades himself to the value of a dog. Towards the end of the story Toundi says; “What are we black men who are called French?” This question insinuates the betrayal that Toundi has encountered by thinking of himself as a French man. He realizes that all his hard work and loyalty in order to impress his master was a waste of time. Therefore, Toundi undergoes an internalized conflict of identity.
ReplyDeleteToundi starts out his story as a proud assimlie he is Christian, he wears clothes and is the 'kings of the dogs' as it were, he is a Frenchman . Though he is not white he finds ways to admire them and defend them. However after working for the whites for a while he begins to see flaws in what he used to admire. For example their devotion to religion, throughout the story he soon realizes that this was jut a means of colonial control used to by whites to always have the upper hand. towards the end of the book he questions what it means to be a French man and whether he meets the quota. which then leads him to wonder where does he really belong? its a question that haunts him to the end
ReplyDelete~before the death of father Gilbert~
ReplyDeleteProgressively, the transformation of Toundi from boy to man found him evolve from a rescued pup to the ''King of dogs''. Given that Oyono only gives us Toundi's childhood experiences from a much later period of his life after his departure from his village life, we gain the critical analysis of an older boy -more likely a man- who makes out that father Gilber used to treat him and his kin like animals, e.g like the incidences when he, father Gilbert, used to toss sugar cubes to the children and watch them fight over it like dogs over bones. The use of k-9 imagery and the proclamation of Toundi viewing himself as a 'king' over his kinsmen because "the dog of a king is the king of dogs" unravels that Toundi percieves himself as a bestfriend to and servant of the colonialists. As a result, his disatisfaction of being African, leads Toundi into having prejudistic views that cause him to belittle himself and his kin while sanctifying the colonialists. An example of this is how Toundi feels priviledged about giving himself the opportunity of brushing his hand under the cheeks of white girls during communion. In effect we see a man fanatical about the french and prejudistic about his own race given his early apprenticeship with father Gilbert.
~After the death of father Gilbert~
Toundi starts becoming more self aware, he still has pride over himself but this soon also grows to include the Europeans after he learns that the commandant is not circumcised...He feels untouchable {we see this pride reach its maximum potential as Susan Decazy begins to cheat on her husband and in the process embarassing herself and her lover infront of Toundi ~ however I am not sure whether the cook joking about certain embarassing incidences for the madame could also have influenced Toundi}
~After Toundi is arrested and sent to prison~
We continue to see a continuity of Toundi's full headed behaviour(pride), however we also start seeing a growing negritudism in Toundi. - -> Black pride (fierté noire,il françaises Mitred)... This is why Toundi would have rather run away and risk his chances of dying somewhere isolated than rather put his life in the hands of Susan Decazy's lover and the doctor.
-Deadwin
Toundi feels that he is more important than the Africans because he is assimilated but he is still not accepted as much in the white society, he is actually used by the white people. He refers to himself as the "King of dogs" which signifies that he feels he is better than the Africans, but he is still very naive and he is not aware of him being used by the whites. He feels more proud when he notices that the commandant is uncircumcised and he realizes that he should not be afraid of the whites and not be like them as they are not what he thought they are. He feels that he is more African than French and he is proud of himself as an African.
ReplyDeleteAt first, like many Black Africans during colonial times, Toundi is in awe of the white men. He is mesmerized by their hair, their pale skin, the way they dress and their wealth. Toundi is portrayed to be a gullible young boy - all it took to be deceived by the Whites was a few sugar cubes. Because of this Toundi as the Black African feels inferior to the Whites, and so when he is given the opportunity to be assimilated he takes it. As Black French man, Toundi perceives himself to be more superior than the other African men, not realizing that to the Whites, there was a very slim, almost nonexistent- boundary between the Black French and the Black African. Towards the end, Toundi realizes this and he tries to go back to his African roots - only then does he realize the beauty of his heritage, but it as though it is too late.
ReplyDeleteSAIMA:
ReplyDeleteInitially Toundi perceives himself as a Black Frenchman, but as he sees the cruel reality of the world, he starts to realize that he is just like any other black man and not really superior to others like he initially thought he was. At first Toundi thought that he was superior to unassimilated black people, but he still knew that the whites were superior to him. He thought that he was the “king of the dogs” which means that he thought he was black but a superior type of black just because he was assimilated. But as the story gradually develops, Toundi realizes that the whites treat everyone the same, they don’t treat the assimilated better, they just want to exploit them and change his culture. Toundi starts to become proud of being an African rather than think of himself as a black Frenchman. Toundi starts to have conflicts within himself about his true identity, whether he is African or a black Frenchman, and by the end of the book he ends up being neither.