Houseboy

A houseboy is typically a male domestic worker or personal assistant who performs cleaning and personal chores. The term has history within British colonialism, military contexts, as well as in the Gay community.

British Commonwealth

Historically, houseboy was a Commonwealth term for a male housecleaner. He was usually, but not always, a person of colour who worked for an English family living in a Commonwealth country. A female housecleaner was called a housegirl. Houseboys and housegirls often had to wear a uniform. Famous British golfer J. H. Taylor, who was an orphan, worked as a houseboy for the parents of golfer Horace Hutchinson at their home near Royal North Devon Golf Club.

Military

Houseboy was also used as an American slang term originating in World War II for a native boy who helped a soldier perform basic responsibilities like cleaning, laundry, ironing, shoe-shining, running errands, and the like. However, unlike the American "bootleboy" or British "batman (military)", a houseboy was not employed by an officer or noncommissioned officer but by the entry-level soldier or private as a means to reduce a very heavy workload or to cut corners on a large amount of work. The employment was at first condoned but later, and especially during the Korean War, soldiers who were caught employing a houseboy faced stiff penalties because a lot of them became expert thieves and could be either bribed for information or have their relatives kidnapped or killed for helping Americans. By 1982, Korean houseboys were again permitted (as at Camp Casey), and were generally middle-aged men conspicuously older than the young troops they served.

Houseboy (novel)

Houseboy is a novel in the form of a diary written by Ferdinand Oyono, first published in 1956 by in French as Une vie de boy (Paris: René Julliard) and translated into English in 1966 by John Reed for Heinemann's African Writers Series.

Plot summary

The story starts in Spanish Guinea with a Frenchman on vacation, who finds a man named Toundi, who has been injured and soon dies. The Frenchman finds his diary, which is called an "exercise book" by Toundi. The rest of the story consists of the diary (exercise book) that the Frenchman is supposedly reading. There is no further discussion of the Frenchman after this point.

The first "exercise book" starts with Toundi living with his family. His father beats him constantly, and one day Toundi runs away from home to the rescue of Father Gilbert, a priest who lives nearby. His father comes back for him, telling Toundi that everything will be all right if he comes back. He rejects his father's offer and after this point no longer acknowledges his birth parents.