Peekay's Struggles

REFERENCESBook 1 Understanding Childhood,Chapter 1Block 1 Study Guide and Audio-Visual Notes, Unit 1Video 1 Band 3 "Representations of Childhood"

Childhood, as we all know, is the state or period of being a child; the early period in the development of something (Merriam-Webster). The movie Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) illustrates five different children with each having different behavior, and they have one thing in common they are the only child in their family. These children are in the middle childhood, primary school age, around age seven or eight. What makes them different from each other is interesting. It allows the viewers to think if their behavior is either result of their experience or how they were raised. How they perceive things and how they behave are part of their cognitive development. The major domain of early childhood development is their cognitive development and the arguable aspects of the Nature-Nurture.

“The Power of One” by Bryce Courtenay is a novel which illustrates the harsh truths of the systematic racism faced during South Africa’s apartheid. Showing the oppression and abuse of African people Courtenay contrasts the injustice with the individuality of the main character Peekay. Courtenay uses Peekay’s unprejudiced and independent spirit to show how one person can help to heal the tensions between the oppressed and the oppressor.

Childhood is an important time in a person’s life, a time where one can be carefree and do as they please without having to worry about what others think of them. During this stage of life, children are groomed and prepared for the transition between childhood and adulthood to be as smooth as possible. However, in Heather O’Neil’s novel, Lullabies for Little Criminals, Baby throws herself into the adult world without giving any second thought or even having the proper knowledge to survive or even to manage herself. This causes her to follow the wrong paths and trust the wrong people. Baby grows wise beyond her years, and soon becomes stuck in the middle of the two worlds, as she is too young for the adult world but too old for the child world. This traps her with her having nowhere else to go except continue on the path she is already heading. Baby’s loss of innocence at such a young age showcases that one cannot properly mature and be ready for the future without having a stable childhood. This loss is shown through Jules’ lack of parental ability, her exposure to the adult world at a young age, and her struggle with herself. Adding all three together causes damage to Baby that no one should experience.

One of the main features of childhood studies is the idea that childhood is socially constructed. This means that not all childhoods are the same and that it may differ depending on the time in which it is taking place, as well as the social environment or the place that it is taking place. This can be seen at the Museum of Childhood, and how different times have shown changes in the way children act, play, dress, or ultimately are treated in society. Additionally it draws on key differences in the human societies affecting different childhoods in any given period or place, and can examine how the childhood in that given period is constructed. Furthermore a social constructionist looks at the consequences of any given factor and the impact it has on children.

The concept of childhood, is not a natural state, but it has been socially constructed through society and can only exist in a society that understand the term this has been reinforced through history. Another issue is how much of ‘childhood’ has been socially constructed (created and

Childhood is socially construted, this means it is only a human concept and the only reason that 'childhood ' exists is because society makes it that way. Over time childhood has changed as different norms and values over each century of life have been different and is still changing at present. Also in different places of the world there are different cultures and ethics so therefore their veiw of childhood will also be different. As Wagg (1992) states ‘Childhood is socially constructed. It is, in other words, what members of particular societies, at particular times, and in particular places, say it is. There is no single universal childhood, experienced by all. So, childhood isnt “natural” and should be distinguished from mere

Our childhood plays a significant role in defining the kind of person that we become and the type of life that we live.

Childhood is the age span ranging from birth to adolescence and its non-specific for it can imply a varying range of years in human development reference. The age ranges anywhere from 12 years to 15years with 18years being most common. Previous research done by sociologists focused on children primarily in terms of socialization and within the context of the family. The ‘new sociology of childhood’ argues that children inhabit more than one world, worlds that may well conflict those of adults, those of children 's own making, and those that children

Even when the children are faced with danger, they think nothing of it and quickly move on. The children’s journey through childhood is one of beauty and simplicity, as the children had no pressing worries in life and they finely made do with the little that they had.

After Peekay wakes up to Hoppie suddenly gone, he finds a note addressed to himself and the end stated, “Say always to yourself, ‘First with the head and then with the heart, that’s how a man stays ahead from the start.’ H.G.” (103). This quote means that it is important to think first before putting all of your feelings into what is that you’re doing. I noted that the author used rhyme in this quote. Rhyme can be used to remember things easily and the reason why the author used rhyme was so that the reader can understand that Peekay is going to continue to remember this quote and so that the reader can also remember what Hoppie said. Peekay wins most of his battles by having a plan first and then using his emotions to perform in the ring. This quote is what Peekay always said to himself during the whole story, meaning that he applied it to everything he did, especially boxing.

Hoppie begins training Peekay in boxing. He introduces Peekay to everyone as “Kid Peekay, the next welterweight contender” (70). Peekay is mesmerized by the world of boxing and develops an actual ambition to become welterweight champion of the world. When he is visiting Doc in the prison, he learns that there is a boxing squad at the prison. He says, “I’ve got to start boxing because I have to become the welterweight champion of the world” (187). When Peekay is a little older, he says, “Mrs. Boxall knew that nothing, not even marriage to Miss Bornstein, was allowed to stand in the way of my being welterweight champion of the world.” (274) Peekay is in love with Miss Bornstein, but he is more in love with the prospect of being welterweight champion. Later in the book, he mentions that he even values boxing over education: “I placed less importance on my intelligence than on my prowess as a boxer" (330). Peekay's heart was in boxing. He says, “The only totally independent thing in my life was my ambition to become the welterweight champion of the world. It was the only thing that couldn’t be manipulated.” (462) Hoppie is always with Peekay through the obsession with boxing he instilled on him. Peekay’s early interests have stuck with him and shaped his identity.

Peekay, as a child, has a greater understanding of the injustice of racism than most adults in the novel The Power of One because of his early life experiences. As his mother is unstable, Peekay is raised by a black Zulu nanny whom he loves. He is introduced to the racial hatred towards blacks because of this relationship, and Nanny describes it, saying, “In the matter of white man’s punishment, the black people already understand that the body can be broken by a sjambok but never the spirit” (Courtenay 14). At age five, Peekay is sent to a Boer boarding school where he is the youngest and speaks only English. Not understanding the tensions between the Boers and British, Peekay describes his reaction to the discrimination he faces, explaining,

Childhood has its own ways of seeing, thinking, and feeling which are proper to it/ child’s mind considered as a blank state to be inscribed by experience: the infant is often compared to a ‘white paper’ to be written over or to a plastic substance (wax) to be molded

Childhood as disappearing/not disappearing will be discussed within this essay. There is no universal definition for childhood however in the western culture childhood is a period of dependency, characterised by learning the norms and values of society, innocence and freedom from responsibilities. Sociologists such as Postman and Jenks would argue that childhood is disappearing however Opie and Opie and Palmer would contradict this.