Within The Power of One, Bryce Courtenay creates many characters that influence the narrator’s, Peekay, life. These characters are often shown through contrasting characteristics. Geel Piet, a boxing coach and prisoner, trains Peekay in boxing so Peekay can achieve his life goal, becoming welterweight champion of the world. Geel Piet notices Peekay’s determination and coaches him through to his full ability. Geel Piet is a great wrestling coach, but what contradict this great skill is the fact he is very selfish. Geel Piet is a well trained boxer, giving him the skills to teach boxing efficiently to his students. While he is locked up in jail he learned how to box and got proficient at the skill. “After all [Geel Piet's] years of incarceration …show more content…
he was a polished performer, no less a maestro at his profession than Doc was at his, Perhaps more so, for as a procurer, Geel Piet was a genius.” (212) Peekay is speaking on what he has observed of Geel Piet.
Peekay speaks of his great skill with boxing and even calls him a genius for this skill. Geel is then compared to Doc. Doc to his music skills and Geel Piet to his boxing skills. Peekay admits that Geel Piet’s skill for boxing out does that of Doc’s and music. Peekay could potentially be biased being he does not see him in a future of music, but Peekay admits that Doc is his best friend, so it is saying something. Peekay was too young to join the team, he begged Captain Smith to let him train on the team, but not necessarily fight against other people. Peekay was nervous about Geel Piet, being that Geel Piet is a criminal. Peekay thought Geel Piet would not teach him because of his age, but Peekay was wrong, when he asked Geel Piet about joining he said, “‘I will help you to be a great boxer,’ he said simply. And that was how it all got started” (213) Peekay …show more content…
was instantly on the team and did not have trouble catching up to the pace of the other kids. Soon enough Peekay was very comfortable with his new coach, whether he is a criminal or not. Soon he starts fighting other people, the rule was Peekay had to be able to throw something heavy over Klipklop’s head. Peekay eventually achieved this goal. Geel Piet was no newcomer to the prison, he has spent most of his life behind the bars of this prison. While Peekay is within the prison, most of the men are rather kind to him. No one seems rude at all. Even though Geel Piet is a prisoner, he is happy and proud to perform his duty to these kids. While Peekay is watching over practice he notices, “The standard of the young boxers improved measurably under Geel Piet’s direction, for, despite his background, the old lag was a maker of boxers.” (Courtenay 216) This shows what great effect Geel Piet has on the players, even Peekay goes on to speak about the memory of Geel Piet in the continuation of the book. Peekay also uses the 8-Punch-Combo that Geel Piet taught Peekay in his matches. Geel Piet is a great, qualified coach, but he is willing to throw Peekay away to save his own skin. Teachers should be willing to do anything for their students, but Geel Piet selfishness holds him back from caring for the boys he is working with. Geel Piet is a talented boxer and he has a high minimum level for the kids he teaches. Geel Piet was watching over Peekay in the ring, when Peekay won, Geel Piet exclaimed, “Throwing caution to the winds, he yelled, ‘We have one, we have a boxer!’ The colored man’s intrusion into the general hilarity caused a sudden silence around the ring. Lieutenant Smit advanced slowly toward Geel Piet.
With a sudden explosion, Smit's fist caught him in the mouth.” (217) Geel Piet wanted to find a sutable boxer to train and teach his skills too, but he couldn’t find anyone worth teaching. This shows his selfishness because instead of teaching all the kids to the fullest he can, he would rather teach one student to the fullest potential. That happens to be Peekay. Peekay later finds himself in a bind, he has to fight a kid at school and wants to learn “dirty fighting” or rather street fighting, so he can take this kid down quick. He asks Geel Piet. “Geel Piet, I felt sure, would show me how to fight dirty as
well. But I was wrong. Perhaps it was because I was the first human clay Geel Piet had been responsible for shaping into a boxer,” (218) Geel Piet however decides not to teach Peekay these skills even though he knows them himself. A sign of selfishness. Geel Piet knows that if he teaches Peekay these tricks he could accidentally use them in a match and become disqualified, ruining the team. Geel Piet also knows that if Smit learned that he taught Peekay these moves, he might be beaten. Geel Piet is again saving his own skin. Peekay then grew as a boxer and had his first boxing match against a big, stronger person. Peekay prevailed and won against this boxer. Peekay was ecstatic. He went over to Geel Piet to hug him for the help, but Geel Piet stepped to the side. “I went to hug Geel Piet, but he quickly side-stepped. ‘No, no small baas, the lieutenant will come over and beat me.’ He grinned. ‘Today this black bastard is too heppy to have his nose busted.’” (232) This is selfish because he is trying to save himself to make sure he is not beaten. It is understandable that he does not want to be beaten, but maybe the lieutenant would not beat him out of happiness. What could be harmless about just a hug. In The Power of One, Geel Piet has two massive contrasting traits, his great coaching skill, and his selfishness. On one side his selfishness can be understandable for not wanting to be beaten after being beaten just by raising his voice, but being a teacher is usually a very selfless job.
Throughout the story, Taylor grows as a person and learns what it means to be part of a family. Kingsolver's choices for point of view, setting, conflict, theme, characterization, and style help support the plot and create an uplifting story with a positive message.
This boxing match, though he fails to beat Dragline, demonstrates Luke's ability and eagerness to disobey authority. Instead of personally dis...
... age of Gene Forrester. Because Finny causes Gene to grow up, we are able to realize that one must grow up to move on in life. In that process of growing up, several people impact your life. This novel shows us how our identity is basically created by those who are present in our lives; however we must not measure our abilities against another person (Overview: A Separate Peace 2). We are shown how the impact of one person can make a great difference. The goodness in people is what one should always take away from a relationship. This is shown in the relationship between Gene and Finny. The experiences Finny gives Gene cause him to grow up and become a better person because of them.
Novelist, Norman Mailer, in his narrative essay, “The Death of Benny Paret,” recounts his experience as he witnesses a first-hand account of the tragic death of the boxer, Benny Paret. Mailer’s purpose is to convince the audience that boxing is inhumane through the use of many rhetorical devices, such as simile, animalistic diction and syntax.
Throughout The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay, Peekay’s challenges he has to face causes his moral development to grow with him. Peekay went through so much in the beginning that affected his whole life. Through his experiences with The Judge, Hoppie and Doc, his confidence grew stronger.
Courtenay contrasts Peekay’s gloomy childhood experience with his courageous young-adult life to emphasize the strong emotional impact of the environment on one’s life. Being someone that often moves around different places, Peekay meets a variety of people and experiences different things. Courtenay uses Peekay as an example to demonstrate the direct effect of environment on one’s life. Peekay's brutal encounter with the Judge and Jury at the boarding school encourages him to revenge by being stronger and more powerful. The Judge and the Jury are Peekay’s bullies at the boarding school, they often “punish” Peekay.
...author uses satire to give a surprising twist in how the character’s behaviour and personality will affect the plot of the story. He who has both revenge and pride can really influence how he behaves in a positive or negative way, depending on his own judgment. His planning skills and actions are not very tactical or well thought out. Despite that his body is flexible and fast from training for preparations to kill Count Rugen, he is not able to use it correctly because of his foolishness and he cannot comprehend rationally. What he wants is stronger than how he should think with careful deductions before act while still has to learn to be self-reliant more regularly. Although his pride and talents of a fencer compensate for his weak brain, it is not enough to succeed in his goals if he is not able to anticipate what can happen and determine different possibilities.
His first show of strength is when he was the youngest at his boarding school yet out of everything he went through he would never cry. “One thing got to all of them more than anything else. They could not make me cry” (45). As a little kid Peekay was beaten and made fun of but nothing was worth making the Judge and his posse happy so he held in all his pain. As Peekay gets older he learns to stand up to what he feels is right. “Then you are trespassing and I must ask you to leave at once… It isn’t nine o’clock yet, Lieutenant. No one’s broken curfew” (450-451). Peekay finds out that the police does not have the right reason to be there because the ticket has the wrong school on it, therefore Peekay stands up for what is right and tells the police what he knows is right. The police tried to mess up Morrie and Peekay’s black people school but the police was wrong wrong the whole time. Peekay is also very strong when it comes to boxing. “Lemme tell you, I never have seen an amateur throw a perfect thirteen-punch combination before” (433). Strength from Peekay's boxing comes from the countless hours he has put in to win all the fights he has been in. Geel Piet has raised him right and taught him how to stick through every fight. Peekay’s strength came from various people that came into his life. He was raised to be strong when it came to boxing and stick up for what he knew was
...who wronged Tayo and his friends profoundly, he chose not accomplish it. He was also able to see deeper into the event that are happening in the world and how everything always has purpose or a deeper meaning, realizing that finding out and correcting the faults within ourselves will solve humanity’s problems instead of blaming it on each other. Tayo’s finally knew himself and now knows the world itself.
When Tommy finally slowed down, he was arriving in Toronto. He quite quickly found his way to Maple Leaf Gardens, and introduced himself to Punch, who was awestruck at his sight. This was no ordinary 16 year old boy. 7 feet tall, legs the size of tree trunks––how did he get like this? All these thoughts swarmed Punch’s head as he slowly snapped back to reality.
When Gil Pete says, “little beats big, when little smart,” he means that the point of boxing is to outsmart the opponent. You have to strategize to win. One must not just think with his fists, one must think with their head.
In Philip Roth’s novel, The Human Stain, Coleman Silk sought to fit into an everchanging society. Coleman’s secret hobby growing up was competitive boxing. This was something Silk enjoyed and Doc Chizner, his coach,
---- Two fighters and a boxing ring, the cheers of the crowd, and the contest of skill determining the outermost limits of the human mind and body; this is a story- a "condensed drama without words" the extended metaphor of On Boxing. Anything can happen in this "story" from death to undeniable victory, and it all takes place in the ring-the setting, explained through the interchanging of blows-the dialogue, and written by "the authority of Time".
In the novel The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay, heroism is expressed in many different ways and in different characters. According to the dictionary a hero is defined as “a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deed and noble qualities” (Webster). Forms of Heroism are expressed in ways such as, bravery, determination and intelligence.
Two boxers circle the ring, while waiting for an opening to deliver a knockout to their opponent. The crowd goes wild, the viewers have paid a substantial amount of money to witness a man falling to the mat; unconscious. Boxing is a martial art and combat sport that often turns into permanent damage. The intention of boxing is to win by hurting one’s opponent with delivering blows to their body and sometimes knocking them unconscious. The euphemistic of boxing is a human blood sport. Although boxing is a popular and active sport, there are other sports who do not intentionally try and physically hurt their rivalry. Boxing should be more controlled as a sport because it encourages violence, causes head injuries, and is dangerous.