52 pages • 1 hour read
Bryce CourtenayThe Power of One
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1989A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Granpa Chook
Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses child abuse as well as racist violence and language.
Granpa Chook is a symbol of “the People” and an important part of Peekay’s early character development. He is one of many black Orpington chickens raised on the farm where Peekay is born. Inkosi-Inkosikazi gives the chicken to Peekay after teaching him “the trick of the chicken sleep” (14). He explains that the bird is a symbol of the bond between Peekay and the Zulu medicine man (14). Though Peekay describes the chicken as a sad specimen with a bare neck, bald head, and “battered” cock’s comb (19), he quickly begins to regard the chicken as “pretty exceptional” (17). This alludes to the state of “the People.”
The narrator expands the initial significance of Granpa Chook when he explains that the chicken was “the first living creature over which [Peekay] had held power” (18), reflecting Peekay’s power and privilege as a resistor and an enactor of racism. Peekay goes on to say that the “not-so-dumb cluck [finds] a way of getting back on even terms” (18). While this observation initially annoys the narrator, his annoyance quickly turns to admiration and respect for the bird’s ability to adapt and survive, similar to the respect and admiration that Peekay later feels for Geel Piet.
Bryce Courtenay anthropomorphizes Granpa Chook, attributing a human intelligence, defiance, and character to the chicken. Peekay’s anthropomorphism and attachment to Granpa Chook reveals his isolation and loneliness, a response to his alienation by his peers. When the boys in Peekay’s dormitory mock him by declaring that “an old kaffir chicken [has] come to visit Pisskop” (26), Peekay defiantly embraces the connection between himself and the chicken, claiming Granpa Chook is his friend. This foreshadows the symbolic role that Peekay assumes as “Onoshobishobi Ingelosi,” speaking to the novel’s theme of Race, Racism, and Power in South Africa.
When the Judge kills Granpa Chook, Peekay gives the rooster a burial before stating that “South Africa’s first victim in the war against Adolf Hitler was safe at last” (50), connecting his early experiences at school to the larger socio-political tensions in South Africa.
Size and Power
Peekay is highly conscious of the relationship between size and power due to the abuse that he experiences at the hands of the Judge. This shapes his early understanding of the world. Hoppie Groenewald’s brief tutelage and victory over Jackhammer Smit, a character whom Hoppie describes as a “big gorilla” (86), provides Peekay with hope to change his status as a passive victim of abuse. The boxing match demonstrates that “small can beat big if you have a plan” (100). While the connection between boxing and size is apparent, Peekay adds that this “small triumph over big” demonstrates that “[he] was not powerless” (98). Peekay’s narrative reflections of what boxing means to him establish a motif that connects the relationship between size and power to The Power of the Individual, a theme that highlights one’s control to overcome size as an obstacle. First physically but later this includes overwhelming social obstacles such as racism as well.
Physical size is an analogy for socio-political minoritization throughout the novel. When Peekay acquires the nickname the “Tadpole Angel,” he asks Geel Piet about the moniker and its significance, noting that “nothing is accidental” according to Zulu naming; “a name is chosen carefully so that it is a good description of status or of some characteristic that unmistakably belongs to the recipient” (229). Peekay becomes a hero to “the People” because he represents the hope to overcome the systemic oppression of white supremacy and control, although he unconsciously reinforces white supremacy as the heroic figure. This motif therefore underscores the larger theme of Race, Racism, and Power in South Africa.
The Justice System
The Judge, his jury, and other references to the justice system fit into a motif that symbolizes the institutionalization of racism and Apartheid. The motif is established during Peekay’s early experiences at boarding school when he is taken to the senior dormitories to stand before the Judge. Peekay describes the episode as a “trial” and a “travesty of justice” (4). The narrator uses sardonic, hyperbolic descriptions to describe the bullying that Peekay experiences as a child, illustrating his inability to understand the situation at a young age.
The Judge is frequently portrayed through this motif, but he only appears at the beginning and conclusion of the novel. The Judge’s reappearance at the end of the novel symbolizes Apartheid as an evolution of the racism and resentment that festers underneath the surface of South African society after World War II.
The Art of Boxing
Doc and Geel Piet create parallels between artistic expression and boxing by teaching Peekay about the skill and finesse demanded in both areas. For example, Geel Piet instructs Peekay to “box with [his] feet” (231), comparing a good boxer to a dancer. He encourages Peekay to think of the sport as an art form that emphasizes skill over brute force. He adds that Peekay’s speed and footwork will make him a match for much bigger opponents. Boxing as an art rather than a fight parallels the novel’s suggestions about the intellectual and socio-political forces required to resist Apartheid.
Doc echoes this sentiment from the musical side, noting that Peekay “couldn’t lose [because he] was playing Mozart” when fighting a much larger opponent in his first match (255). Later, when Doc is allowed to perform for the prisoners in Barberton prison, Geel Piet arranges for Peekay to conduct the prisoners while wearing his boxing uniform and gloves.
After Geel Piet’s murder, Doc renames the “Concerto of the Great Southland” performed for the prisoners at Barberton Prison to “Requiem for Geel Piet” (298). He performs the piece at a concert for Barberton and the Transvaal Inspector of Prisons, who describes the music as a “work of true genius” (299). He goes on to say that “whoever this Geel Piet was, we know from his name that he was an Afrikaner who is honored by this music” (299). Doc’s final tribute is a symbol of the bond that developed between the two men and alludes to the parallels between boxing and art.
