The Evolution of Peekay in the Power of One

There have been many novels written about the experience of being born black in America but only so few have been able to give the reader a vivid point of view of what African Americans have gone through for generations. The book “Between the World and Me” by Ta-Nehisi Coates is a very sympathetic letter to his fifth teen year old son Samori. Coates explains his experiences in the past on how being born into the world as a “Black Body” is considered as a disadvantage in America. Coates grew up with strict parents that were consistently keeping a keen eye on him always having his father constantly beating him and an always anxious mother. But as he grew older and had a son of his own he then realized the reasons behind his parent’s actions.

The film, “the Power of One,” followed the life of a boy named P.K. from a small child to a handsome young man. It showed all the hardship and tragedy he had to endure throughout his life. Although the movie could have focused more on the apartheid, it instead portrayed the vulgarity of those times through the eyes of an English boy. As time went on, P.K. slowly began to realize the full severity of the apartheid. It was difficult for a child to comprehend how horribly people could treat one another for no apparent reason.

The protagonist of The Power of One, Peekay, suffers many hardships throughout his childhood because he is different, and consequently develops a camouflage to help himself survive. In the beginning, it is used as a life-saving disguise, however, throughout the novel Peekay’s technique and uses change. Peekay learns how to use his camouflage to not only survive but thrive, announcing, “The camouflage was intact and I’d moved up into the next evolutionary stage. From knowing how to hide my brains I had now learned to use them” (Courtenay 40). Nonetheless, Peekay’s illusion undergoes other changes upon meeting a prisoner named Geel Piet. A member of the shadow world, Geel Piet is a halfcaste old man, who had mastered the art of concealment.

Judge, the leader of Peekay’s tormentors, gets a swastika tattoo and leads the children in chants of “Heil Hitler!”(Page 31) before telling Peekay that “Hitler[...]has now come to march the rooineks into the sea.” This violent and explicit threat frightens Peekay, unaware(as was the Judge) of the location of Germany or Britain. As such, he needs someone to be with him in case this is the outcome. That someone is his beloved chicken. “Granpa Chook, we’re in a lot of trouble,” he says. “Can you swim?” Though naive he may be, Peekay genuinely fears for the life of Granpa Chook and wants to ensure the chicken’s safety in case of being marched into sea. This concern is a further sign of his affection for the chicken. However, things go downhill very quickly once Peekay has his face, hair, and hands smeared with feces and is forced by the Judge to eat

Once Martin Luther King Jr. the American Minister announced, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” What Martin Luther King Jr. is saying here is that injustice can spread out everywhere unnoticeably quick and it can shape everyone’s identity. Just a bit of injustice can modify a person from their thinking to their physical forms. To go through injustice is a big deal, and to act on it is rare. In Arnold Junior’s diary, A Diary Of Part-Time Indian, By Sherman Alexie, Junior is faced with multiple injustices, and to act on them, he leaves the reservation and goes to a “White people only” school, Reardan. The ones that he left behind have a much hatred on Junior, but he knows better than that. He can’t look back. The only choice left for him is to keep going forward. Similarly,in the book A Long Way Gone, by Ishmael finds himself at a loss because he had lost all his family and lots of his friends during the civil war in Sierra Leone, and he doesn’t know where they are or if they are alive or dead,he is suddenly joined the government and is known as the boy soldier. He is hurt everywhere. He doesn’t know anything at all, but he has to keep going. Many individuals like Junior and Ishmael faced with injustice suffer great loss, but in order to prevent more loss from happening, they have to take big risks. This might lead to much hatred from those left behind. However, when they draw on an inner resilience they are able to succeed in their quest for justice.

Melba Beals, a young African-American, was part of the Little Rock Nine: a group of nine African-Americans who integrated into Little Rock’s renowned all-white school, Central High. In Beal’s memoir Warriors Don’t Cry, the main character Melba desperately survives through the acts of prejudice brought towards her in her white environment around her. These terrifying experiences throughout Melba’s journey reveals to the reader that a successful journey of one is always heavily assisted by important figures around that person.

Having integrity is more challenging for one than one may think or imagine. Those who possess integrity are individuals who are essential to the many changes that have occurred over time in our world. The impact of someone with true integrity is important because not only can it create change for the better but it will also inspire others to act with integrity as well. An example of this is Nelson Mandela, a man who grew to fight the discrimination around him in South Africa sacrificing his freedom and putting his life at risk. His actions against racism have changed south Africa Forever and inspired others to think the same way which one can see from the amount of followers that he had around the world. To Kill A mockingbird by Harper Lee is a book about the Finch family, Scout, Jem and Atticus Finch, living in Maycomb. The characters are faced with a society of people who are prejudiced towards those who are different from themselves in one way or another. Throughout the course of this book integrity is crucial for the development of the characters and their actions against discrimination. The film The Power of One directed by John G. Avildsen is about a boy, Pk, who grows up in South Africa first living with his mother and after her death with a man named Doc. Pk becomes a symbol of hope to the kafirs as he begins to help them in the prison. Assuming his role in helping the kafirs, PK begins a life of proaction against the condescendence towards the native african

Later in life when Doc, Geel Piet, or Big Hettie all died, Peekay could have thrown in the towel but he worked through it. He didn’t let anything big or small influence his goals. With the help of the Judge’s endless torment, Peekay became a more self-dependent and strong

He learned how to deal with this but he had emotional scarring from it. The person who had the most impact on peekay in this effect is the judge who tormented peekay throughout his life. The whole time peekay is in boarding school the judge torments him both physically and emotionally. He is the reason peekay learned how to be alone and deal with whatever gets thrown his way because he had to. Throughout Peekay's childhood, he learned to be resilient and learned to persevere when things get

Back in chapter four, Peekay first is introduced to one of the most important characters in the novel, Hoppie. He earns this title because he is the one who introduces the art of boxing to Peekay. “‘Boxing is the greatest sport in the world….The art of self-defense is the greatest art of all, and boxing is the greatest art of self-defense. Take me, a natural welterweight, there isn’t any man I have to be afraid of….I’m

"White people wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she lived among pigs; Negroes wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she was white”. Mayella Ewell is a poor, 19 year old that lives with her father and siblings. She is usually home by herself and has to take care of the house and the younger kids. She gets abused by her father and is mistreated by him often. Class, race , and gender all can limit the amount of power that Nineteen-year old Mayella Ewell, can have.

During the meal the couples were much more inclined to share food as well, picking at each other's food. The cases in which

His first friend in boxing was Hoppie Groenewald. Hoppie told Peekay that he could become the welterweight champion of the world, and this made Peekay want to become a boxer. Hoppie gave Peekay advice that he would hold on the forever: “First with the head, then with the heart” (Courtenay 102). While training at the Barbertown prison he met Geel Piet, Lieutenant Smit, and Solly Goldman. Geel Piet was Peekay’s first real boxing trainer, and Peekay became immensely close with him. Geel Piet was largely responsible for the spreading of “Tadpole Angel”. He also taught Peekay how to “dance” with his feet, which later came in handy for Peekay. When Geel Piet was brutally murdered by Borman, Peekay was heartbroken. “Inside me the loneliness bird cackled” (291). Solly Goldman was the best boxing trainer in South Africa. He taught Peekay many boxing moves including his famous thirteen-punch combination. Lieutenant Smit was one of the boxing coaches at the Barbertown prison, and he and Peekay strike a friendship when Peekay learns that he is Jackhammer Smit’s

Have you ever been judged because of where you were born? Have you ever been judged because of the way you talk, the color of your skin, or the things you value? Has this then lead to serious conflicts? The books, Now is the Time for Running, by Michael Williams and Out of Shadows, by Jason Wallace, are both realistic fiction books taking place in Africa. In Now is the Time for Running, it is about a boy named Deo and his brother Innocent. During this time, the government is not just and is killing a lot of people. Everyone in Deo’s family dies beside his brother, and they have to escape to South Africa. While in South Africa, Deo and his brother are not accepted because they are foreigners. The book Out of Shadows is about a kid named Robert

Life does not always take the easy path for all of us. Bryce Courtey writes about Peekay, who is an English boy, that does not have the easiest life although it may seem like it. Peekay goes through a lot of heartbreaks, in the form of death, but ends up coming out on top. With Peekay traveling around and forming new relationships he grasps the traits everyone would love to have.