Overcoming Inspiration In Power Of One By Bryce Courtenay

In order to succeed, one needs passion, challenges, and inspiration. Becoming a welterweight world champion doesn’t come suddenly, rather it’s a lengthy process that tests determination and perseverance to become such a great athlete. Without the overconsuming desire to overcome his odds, Peekay would be satisfied with failure. He wouldn’t have done all things he did to stand up for himself. In the book Power of One, Bryce Courtenay incorporates the theme, overcoming overwhelming odds, to display the impact of inspiration, give depth into Peekay's characteristics, and show how there is difficulty in accomplishing success.

Inspiration can come from anyone, anywhere, or anytime. For Peekay, the inspiration came to him because a random security

guard that talked to him on his train ride home. Hoppie, the guard from the train, flat out told the little boy that when he grew up, he was going to be the next welterweight boxing champion of the world. And without Peekay knowing a single detail of the sport, he accepted the mission, simply because he was inspired. Bryce Courtenay uses the theme, “overcoming overwhelming odds” to example how anyone, including Peekay, can get through difficult times with a touch of inspiration. Courtenay expressed Hoppie’s belief in Peekay when he said, “Remember, you are the next contender. Good Luck Boetie” (Courtenay 103). Hoppie continuously told him that he believed in Peekay’s future of boxing. Courtenay’s purpose of this quote was to motivate Peekay to fight for what he deserves. He had been dealt a pretty bad deal with life, but Hoppie inspired him enough so that he would overcome and make the most of it. Without setting such a highly difficult goal, he wouldn’t have the same motivation to get through what he had. The inspiration that Peekay received added just enough willpower to overcome his overwhelming odds.
Throughout the book Peekay’s personal characteristics start to come about. Without Bryce Courtenay including all the horrible things that Peekay encounters, readers wouldn’t be able to see his true attributes. In chapter twenty-four, Courtenay writes, “My whole life has been a testament to using the human resources around me, to winning against the odds” (Courtenay 494), to describe that Peekay has to adapt his lifestyle, which ends up teaching him lots of lessons. He had minimal experiences with other people and had no idea what to think when he got to boarding school, therefore he was bullied a lot. All of these experiences at school, as well as later on in his life helped him adapt to his surroundings and fight off the odds. He tried a personal method of “camouflaging” to not allow others to understand his emotions. Peekay developed this tactic into his survival and is shown when Courtenay wrote, “I learned that the greatest camouflage of all is consistency. If you do something often enough and at the same time in the same way, you become invisible. One of the shadows” (Courtenay 208). This quote adds to the theme because Peekay has to change his expectations and characteristics if he wants to be able to become boxer. Without adapting, he wouldn’t have the ability to overcome his odds. In the end, Peekay learns how to exactly overcome his hardships by changing his mindset and actions based on his environment.