Thursday, February 10, 2011

The Power of One Ch. 4-6

In The Power of One, written by Bryce Courtenay, Peekay’s allies on his journey are Hoppie and Henry Crown. Henry Crown was a shoe seller, and gave Peekay the name Peekay. “Peekay! Ja, that is a nice name for a brave person who is traveling by himself to the lowveld to meet his granpa.” (58) Henry was nice to Peekay, and also gave him multiple suckers for him to enjoy. He helped Peekay find his shoes, although they did not fit, and gave him more confidence.  Hoppie became Peekay’s good friend while they were travelling together and learning about boxing. “While my faith and my love were invested in my beloved friend, I’d been around long enough to know the realities of big versus small. Big, it seemed to me, always finished on top, and my heart was filled with fear for my newfound friend.” (90) Peekay finally found a friend, and cared enough about him to worry about him. Also, Hoppie was against Hitler and his actions. “Hitler is a bad, bad man and we’ve got to go and fight him so you can grow up and be welter-weight champion of the world.” (86) Not only did Hoppie agree that Hitler was a bad man, but also, Hoppie had faith in Peekay, which little have before. Also, Hoppie gave Peekay a dream and knowledge of becoming a boxer. “‘I know,’ I said excitedly, ‘you keep it coming all night into the face until you close his eye, then he tries to defend against what he can’t see and in goes the left, pow, pow, pow, until the other eye starts to close. Then whammo!’” (84) Peekay had found a new passion and he was excited to learn about boxing and how to fight bigger guys, like the Judge. Both of these men helped Peekay to grow as a person and to be more confident about him.

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