Racism In The Power Of One

Text-to-Self

The story of Peekay in The Power of One is something everyone can carry with them throughout their lives. Peekay goes through many ups and downs that many people can relate to throughout the span of the novel. He faces bullies, racism, inequality, and many problems we still have to face today, decades later.

Ways I related to the book:

I related to how much Peekay enjoyed boxing because it reminded me of how much I enjoy dance. Once Peekay discovered boxing, he was desperate to learn as much as he could and be the best, and I was the same with dance.

Page 70, Paragraph 8: “The last thing I remember before I fell asleep again was the deep, comforting feeling of my hands in the boxing gloves. ‘The equalizers,’ Hoppie had called

Sadly, it still hasn't faded today. I’m lucky enough to live in an area where people are a lot less judgemental, but I still see the effects of racism daily. My extended family, who lives in a different continent, is scared to come visit because of the amount of hate alt-right groups have been spouting since the election. They're scared that if even our president is blatantly racist, what does it say for the whole country?

Text-to-Itself

One literary element that stood out in The Power of One is the way the author portrayed the large amount of conflict in the novel. Almost every chapter presented a new challenge for Peekay, and it was written in a way that never made it seem excessive.

Some major conflicts in the novel:

Man vs Man: Peekay vs the Judge and the

Racism seems to be a growing problem in America, and it should be diminishing as our society progresses. Many acts of racism shown in The Power of One have reoccurred recently.

Examples:

The white privilege that Morrie talks about when the police try to shut down their school is still very apparent today, especially in criminal justice systems.

Page 455-6, first paragraph “You think the police are there to protect you from the big bad wolf… To them we are starting a black revolution in a heartland of white privilege!”

Peekay’s first boarding school was full of Nazi sympathizers who constantly remind him that Hitler would “deliver the Afrikaner people from the hated English” (page 23, last paragraph). As we saw in the recent rallies in Charlottesville, there are still Nazi sympathizers today.

Another issue in The Power of One that is still present is bullying. The teachers and students around Peekay seemed to know that the other kids were tormenting him daily, but they didn't do anything to help him. Like Peekay, many students across America are bullied while the administrators at their schools do nothing to prevent