Describe a key relationship between two or more characters or individuals in the text. Explain how this relationship helped you to understand at least one of these characters or individuals.
In the novel, The Power of One by Bryce Courtney, there is a young boy growing up in South Africa surrounded by racism as he tries to find his inner power of one. There are some very important and special relationships in this novel but the one that stands out to me is the Relationship between Peekay, the main character, and Doc, a very good friend of Peekay’s. Doc not only helps and guides Peekay to finding his inner power of one but he also helps Peekay to appreciate his own intelligence and realize he does not need to camouflage anymore and he teaches Peekay to always think logically therefore viewing racism as a fallacy. The relationship Doc and Peekay had was a very special relationship and helps us understand more deeply about Peekay.
This key relationship between Doc and Peekay was the most important relationship for me in the book. Doc helped teach Peekay many important things and without his teachings, he wouldn’t be the strong and wonderful person he ended up being. One of the very important points that Doc taught Peekay was to appreciate his own intelligence and realize he does not need to camouflage anymore. When Doc and Peekay first met Peekay was very young but had already had some traumatic experiences at boarding school. He had developed this concept of camouflage and he was hiding his true self because he didn’t think he fitted in with the others. Doc soon realized that Peekay wasn’t showing off his true intellectual abilities at his new school because he didn’t want people to notice him for being smart. Doc told Peekay ‘to be smart is not a sin. But to be smart and not use it, Peekay is a sin. Absoloodle.’ Peekay was a very gifted child and he shouldn’t hide that, we can also understand that Peekay has this willingness to learn and Doc supports this willingness and teaches him music and all about cactuses and many things that are way above his year at school.
When Peekay gets older he goes off to boarding school for the second time, he begins to learn by himself with the grounding from Doc on how to use his intellectual abilities to do things like make money and teaching others his knowledge. Later on in the book Peekay meets the Judge again, who was the person at boarding school who caused all his problems and made him feel like he didn’t belong. He was the reason Peekay had this concept of camouflage his whole life. ‘I had become an expert at camouflage. My precocity allowed me, chameleon-like, to be to each what they required me to be.’ The judge was the person who hurt Peekay the most when he was little and Doc was the person that helped Peekay get through all of it. When Peekay meets the Judge again, Peekay stands up for himself, he didn’t feel scared anymore. He lets out all his anger from past experiences and beats the Judge up. I believe this was the point in time where Peekay finally fully drops his camouflage and can put the past behind him.
Doc is a very logical thinking man and never believed in anything that didn’t seem logical. He taught Peekay to think this way too and therefore they both believed racism was a fallacy. Doc was sent to Prison for just being german. ‘No spy but still a German.’ this is already one example of racism. Even though Doc was in prison his relationship with Peekay continued to grow and was stronger than ever. In the prison they learned together how bad oppression in South Africa really was, they saw together how badly the black prisoner was treated for not doing anything wrong. We can understand because of Doc teaching to Peekay about always thinking logically, Peekay believed that racism was a terrible thing and he believed everyone was equal and should be treated the same, no matter the skin colour. There was absolutely no grounding in science showing that whites were more superior. Peekay began to start questioning the beliefs of Christianity and the politics in South Africa, ‘if nobody is dirty and nobody works in heaven and black and white are equal, why can’t they live in the same place as us. Peekay believed that everyone was born good but were bought up to believe this evil concept of black people are so much less superior. ‘The photograph captured the exact moment when I understood with the conviction that racism is a primary source of evil designed to destroy good men.’ I think even though Doc being sent to prison was a bad thing, both him and Peekay learned a lot from that experience and especially for Peekay without it he would have never understood the the the effect of racism on his country.
Doc taught Peekay a lot of things but the most important thing was that he helped and guided Peekay to find his inner power of one. The power inside of you to find the courage to stand up against the wrong, the power to make your own decisions and the power to be yourself. Doc’s relationship with Peekay was really significant in helping Peekay to find his power of one. Doc told Peekay ‘always listen to yourself, Peekay. It is better to be wrong than simply to follow the convention.’ As Peekay grows up alongside Doc we begin to understand that peekay is a very strong-willed person and has the power to not only change himself to be a better person but to change others. For example Captain Smit was brought up to believe that black people are not equal to whites but Peekay shows Captain Smit that Geel Piet, a black man, is actually a wonderful man and is an equally good boxing coach as any white man. A very important part of Peekay’s journey to finding his power of one was after the fight he had with his first black opponent. In the changing rooms, something hits him and he almost sees the future of South Africa and the terrible things that will happen. ‘I saw South Africa. I saw what would come.’ and in his head he hears Doc say ‘You must try Peekay. You must try. Absoloodle.’ It was at this point in time when he feels like he has found his power of one.
In conclusion, in the novel, the Power of One by Bryce Courtney, the relationship that Doc and Peekay had was the most significant and special relationship. Doc taught peekay many things but the most important things he taught Peekay were to appreciate his own intelligence and realize he does not need to camouflage anymore, to always think logically and lastly, and most importantly Doc guided Peekay to finding his power of one.
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