The Power of One Analysis

Which Africa? South AfricaIt is impossible to forget which country this novel takes place in, what with all the Zulu and Afrikaans phrases as well as the constant references to South African langua...

Peekay is the big man in this novel, even when he's a little kid. This is his story, with his secrets, dreams, and personal thoughts. He's not only a key player, he's the key player, and he tells t...

Growing Up is Not for WimpsThis novel is a classic example of a coming-of-age novel, because it tells of Peekay's life from birth until early adulthood, with lots of exciting risks and physical dan...

If the whole welterweight champion of the world thing doesn't work out for Peekay, he could definitely fall back on his announcing skills to make a living. The kid is full of the blow-by-blow sport...

This novel goes from start to finish like a train on its track, no turning back, no jumping around. You feel like you are living all of Peekay's childhood with him in real-time, because of the way...

The idea of "the power of one" is a recurring theme in the novel, and Peekay brings it up several times as he grows up. The first time he comes across it is when he has to go back to boarding schoo...

The very last image in the novel is described as Peekay leaves the miners' bar after kicking butt and taking names. It's the image of those old loneliness birds—the ones that showed up to lay the...

The story line is fairly easy to follow, even though there are a lot of characters to keep straight. Still, Peekay uses a lot of Afrikaans and Zulu words mixed into his English, which can make for...

Kids These Days…Peekay is sent to boarding school, where a mean kid named the Judge, who is a Nazi (complete with a swastika tattoo), tortures him mercilessly. He calls Peekay "pisskop," or pissh...

Peekay finds life at school to be oppressive and intolerable (to put it mildly), and just when things are at their darkest he is put on a two-day train to a town he's never seen, where his mother a...

Peekay is identified as the little guy, picked on at school and treated like dirt because he's different. The bullies at school kill his pet chicken, Granpa Chook, and he vows to never be made to f...

The author and his publisher set up the Power of One Australian Hero Award to reward people who work to change their world, just like Peekay. We're down with that. (Source) Bryce Courtenay's mom wa...

This book is pretty much a boy's inner world, so you shouldn't be too surprised when Peekay reaches puberty and starts to have certain fantasies—but don't worry, even then there's not much action...

Calvinism (1.7) The twin kitchen servants are named Dee and DumMoses (6.5, 13.28, 17.25)David and Goliath (6.32-34, 6.54, 6.77, 19.111)Romans 12:19, "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, sayeth the Lor...