Post-Colonization as Seen in the Poor Christ of Bomba

One of the assumptions of the colonizers is that “the colonized nation embraced a set of
religious beliefs incongruent and incompatible with those of the colonizers and thus it is God’s
given duty of the colonizers to bring those stray people to the right path.” In the novel the
Christian missionaries were sent to proselytize the natives, to educate them and to eradicate the
cultural activities which do not agree with the Christian religion. The intention of the mission is
to teach people about Jesus Christ and to bring salvation to the natives however the religion
brought by the colonizers fails to improve the lives of the natives.

In The Poor Christ of Bomba Christianity became a tool for colonization: father Drumont
and father Le Guen and other members of missionaries became media to consolidate control over
the indigenous people and thus maintain the security of the oppressor. The religion became a tool
for the oppressor because of two reasons: first it made the people work hard believing that there
will be rewards in the afterlife for all their difficult labors; next is it made people accept and
forgive the abuses and sufferings under the oppressor because of their belief in God. These were
evident in the part wherein the women are gathered in sixa camp and in the part where people
work build new roads.

In Bomba the girls who are being prepared for Christian marriage live together in the
women's camp. These women were made to stay in the sixa for two to four months doing
manual work for more than ten hours a day," all in the name of being prepared to be "mothers of
Christian families". The women became vulnerable to exploitation because of the faith that they
have acquired but did not fully understand. Aside from the hard labor these women were also
subjected to sexual abuse from the men in the mission.

In the Congo village people were made to labor incessantly by the colonizers. Many
people suffered, and died but still many continue to work hard because of their faith. Many clung
top the hope of eternal life promised by the mission.
 On the other hand the exploitation made by the oppressors to the natives became an aid to
the missions to gain more converts. At time of crises and suffering the people embraced beliefs
that help them endure the pain. The mission gain many converts in the Congo, many people run
to the priest and to the mission to aid them in their suffering and to receive spiritual guidance.

Another reason why the natives got enticed with religion is the material goods and
technology that the foreigners have. They want to learn and understand them, to use them for
their own development. The local men believe, so the cook says, that the reverend father is
hiding the truth from them. They do not want to hear about God, eternal life, and matters of the
spirit. They knew these things long before the white man came. All they want to know is the
white man's secret: his airplanes, and other issues of his technology which the reverend father
does not want to divulge. Also some went into the mission to accumulate possessions just like
the foreign oppressors. That is evident in the character of Zacharia who joined the mission not
because he piously believes in god and supported the ideals of the father. He didn’t even give up
polygamy and even corrupted the sixa. He partook in the corruption—as a member of the
mission he had the chance to steal in the mission and eventually to build his own house and gain
possessions.

The failure of the mission in the end resulted from the clash of culture of the colonizer
and colonized the superficiality of religion for the natives and the corruption in the mission.

The natives, especially the men, are not willing to give up polygamy not just because it
was a part of their culture but also because it also shows their superiority in the community. Also,
what happened in the sixa reinforced their rejection of the mission. Their wives-to-be do were
not only taken away from them for months but some of the girls got infected with illnesses inside
the sixa while others would suddenly cut off their engagements due to the false promises that the
men in the mission gave the girls.

Father Drumont trusted too much the employees in his mission without realizing that they
too are doing things which are against the doctrines that he was teaching. He was blind with what
was really happening inside the mission as he was very busy with encouraging the locals to
convert into Christianity. He was also blind with the fact that the natives already know what was
in the doctrines and that what they really want from him are the secrets which made his country,
the colonizers’ country, progressive.

In the end, the mission destroyed it’s self and Father Drumont went back to his country a
disappointed man. His ideals did not come true and his expectations were not met.