From the onset of the novel, it is clear that Toundi has a fascination with the white men that rule him, even if he does not yet understand why. His first admission to the reader is that he keeps a diary because it is a “white man’s custom,” not because he feels a need to. He begins following Father Gilbert, a white priest, because of the sugar cubs he tosses to African boys. He does not really connect with Father Gilbert until h

The arrival of the Commandant’s wife, whom Toundi refers to as Madame, at first seems to be another way for Toundi to elevate himself, but instead causes his eventual demise. The arrival of the Commandants wife allows Toundi to forget any respect he had lost for the Europeans because of the Commandants failings. He worries about her beauty, but is realized to see she is the most striking woman he has ever seen. This is because he is now able to serve the most beautiful woman in colony and thus once again can believe himself to be better than his peers.

Toundi’s downfall follows as his love for Madame and what she represents causes him to act foolishly. He is unable to interpret the signs from Madame that he is venturing beyond his “position” in life. She warns that he has already “got as far as being a Commandant’s houseboy,” implying he should be happy with how far he has gotten. Toundi, however, is not content and still dreams of being with Madame. As his lust for Madame become quite clear to everyone in the house, Toundi’s life comes closer and closer to collapsing. He is unable to stop talking about her affair with Moreau. He claims that he feels bad for the Commandant, asking himself how he can get rid of his “ridiculous sentimentality” that makes him worry over the affairs of others. What he fails to grasp is that it is really a feeling that he is the one who has been wronged that strikes at him. By cheating on Toundi’s master, Toundi no longer has the same connection to Madame, and if she is someone else’s woman, she cannot be his.

The sexual tension that is immediately evident between Toundi and Madame plays an integral role in the remainder of the novel. Beginning with his introduction to Madame, when she blushes upon shaking his hand, Toundi clearly lusts for the wife of his master

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