Blog Entry #8 - Representation

Courtenay has represented certain characters in certain ways; ways that he intended would serve his purpose, which was to entertain, yet inform readers about the problem of apartheid and the idea of strength and determination.  This story contains both adults and children, the main character being a child himself.  Just like the adults, Peekay has his own personal attitudes, values and beliefs in life.

                  There are many adults in this story, the main ones being Hoppie Groenewald, Doc and Geel Piet. Some are friends of Peekay but others, such as Mevrou, are not as friendly. Hoppie Groenewald is a boxer that Peekay meets on the train and he is the man who inspires Peekay to take up boxing.  Hoppie is very friendly to Peekay after he endured so many torments from the judge in boarding school. By introducing Hoppie into the text so soon after the judge, Hoppie is represented as a true friend who is kind to Peekay. Doc is a drunken German man that Peekay meets behind his house in the hills. Doc is also very kind to Peekay as he presents the world in a mystical yet wonderful way. Doc becomes Peekay’s piano teacher, mentor and best friend. As Peekay is the protagonist in the story, he is portrayed as a very likable character. Due to this, anyone who is his best friend will also be portrayed as a likable character. Therefore, those who are nice to Peekay are represented as friendly people. Geel Piet is a worker at the Barberton prison and becomes Peekay’s boxing coach. He is the man who teaches Peekay an important boxing manoeuvre.  It is due to Geel that Peekay is able to defeat his enemy on the last pages of the book. Courtenay has represented all adults in specific ways in order to build the storyline. He has also done this to the children.

                  The main child in the bildungsroman is Peekay and Courtenay has represented him as the hero of the story; the protagonist. He has done this by the use of Peekay’s speech, action and interaction with other characters, as well as with the use of generic and language conventions, as discussed in previous blog entries. The judge in the story is represented as the antagonist, the bad guy. As Peekay is portrayed as the hero in the story, we are made to empathise with him and feel the emotions he feels. In this way, Courtenay has represented the judge as the antagonist. As Peekay is the protagonist, the person who harms or hurts him is represented as the antagonist. These two distinctions are what form the storyline and make this book so popular.

                  Peekay was a victim of racism, though he himself did not have a problem with racism. He was not a racist boy, so he has a good attitude towards all people. He believes that everyone is the same, despite their skin colour or race. He values life, which is evident by the way he fights through the bullying and doesn’t just give up. He also values his family, which is clear by the way he misses his nanny and his mother when he is at boarding school. Peekay also believes that he can become successful and he can achieve his dreams of becoming a welterweight boxing champion. He believes in dreaming and determination to achieve his goals. 

Blog Entry #7 - Main Character

The main character of this story is a boy called Peekay. While he was at boarding school the boys would call him ‘pisskop’ which in English means ‘piss head’. His name changed when he walked into a shoe shop and the shopkeeper did not think that ‘pisskop’ was an appropriate name for a young boy. The shopkeeper then dubbed him Peekay.  Courtenay has crafted Peekay as the protagonist by his speech, actions, appearance and by the way he interacts and compares to other characters. He has also used generic and language conventions to portray Peekay as an innocent but naïve young boy.

The speech in this bildungsroman is meant to portray Peekay in a certain manner and also present certain characteristics of Peekay. Peekay is narrating the story when he is older, telling us about his childhood. This is just like Courtenay telling us about his own childhood from the present age. While Peekay is narrating his life from age five to seventeen, we can sometimes hear the mature adult shine through in the text. This is a reminder for us that the story is being told by an adult about a child’s life. Early on in the story, Courtenay introduces us to Peekay’s understanding of death, or lack thereof. We learn early on that Peekay is a naïve yet innocent young boy who still doesn’t even understand what death is. While the narrator seems to keep a distance between the mature self (vocabulary such as ‘stentorian’) and the younger self, he often portrays events as they would be seen through a young boy’s eyes. Peekay’s speech is very childlike at first however throughout the story we see him grow in maturity through his speech. Dialogue seems to increase once he is away from the judge. This occurs mainly after spending time with Doc.

Throughout the story Peekay usually acts in a very calm and rational way in situations. For example, whenever he would get bullied by the judge he would not fight back. He simply allowed the other boys to ostracize him without a word. Peekay would only do as he was told out of fear of the consequences if he didn’t. Peekay’s actions in the book were mainly for the benefit of others and by this we can see that although he is still very young, he does have a lot of common sense. At the beginning of the story, Peekay is unable to fight the judge due to his small stature and his adolescent views on the situation. However, as the book progresses we can see Peekay develop from a young, naïve boy into a man as he finally faces off against the judge and wins the fight.

We are not told much about Peekay’s physical appearance apart from that he is a small, white English boy. This could be because Courtenay felt it more important to focus on the emotional aspects of the character rather than on the physical appearance. From what we are told it is quite easy to form a picture in one’s mind of what the character looks like so it seems insignificant to give a lengthier description.

Another way that Courtenay portrays Peekay in the bildungsroman is by juxtaposing him with other characters. On his own we know who Peekay is, but when he is compared to other characters such as the judge, we are able to gain a full sense of his personality and characteristics. When Peekay is with the judge he becomes very quiet and submissive which is a way of his survival. Next to the judge, Peekay is conveyed as a quiet yet nice young boy. When Peekay is with other characters such as Hoppie Groenewald or Doc, he becomes much more relaxed. We can see from his interaction with others that he starts off as a naïve boy with little knowledge about certain aspects, yet he grows in maturity and learns to fight against evil, both physically and mentally.

The generic and language conventions used in the story also help in the construction of Peekay’s character. Generic conventions are conventions that allow a text to fit into a specific genre. The genre of this book is a bildungsroman which if a coming of age story. The goal in this genre of story is maturity and the audience follows the protagonist as he gradually achieve it. We are first introduced to Peekay when he is five and told about his horrendous ordeals with the older school boys. We are made to sympathise with the main character as he struggles with certain hardships. Through this technique we are able to feel the same emotions as Peekay and therefore feel part of the story. Courtenay has also used conventions such as plot, setting and climax to tell Peekay’s story. By knowing the setting, we are able to understand where Peekay is situated and how that has an effect on him. The plot and the climax also build his character as we see him mature from a young boy who couldn’t fight his own battles to a mature young man who learns how to solve his own problems and not allow for such bullying.

Courtenay has also used language conventions, namely dialogue and narration, to construct Peekay’s character. Through his speech and the speech of others we are able to gain a good understanding of Peekay’s character as he develops through the story. The dialogue of Peekay is very minimal to begin with, however as he matures, his dialogue increases as he becomes comfortable expressing his emotions. The deep descriptions Peekay gives of certain matters emphasises to the audience how some things affected his life on a big level. 

Blog Entry #6 – Narrator and Tone

From the very first line of the story we are told that the story is written from a current perspective of past events. Peekay is telling the story from the future as an adult looking back on his childhood. It is clear from reading the first few lines of the story that the main character is the narrator. The story is told from first person point-of-view which is seen by the use of ‘I’ and ‘my’ used already on the first page. By Peekay being the narrator of this story, we are able to gain an insight into his thoughts and emotions without him telling us in dialogue. Courtenay has used a certain writing technique in his book called stream of consciousness. It presents the actual thoughts going on inside the characters mind. This method lets the novelist present a more intimate view of the character than other point-of-view techniques allow. It is as if Peekay trusts the reader with the questions and thoughts running through his mind. Courtenay’s own context has affected the stream of consciousness of Peekay as Peekay’s story is very similar to that of the author. Through Peekay’s train of thought we can see Courtenay’s own views shining through.

Narration is important for the reader to be able to visualise the setting and the events. A good example of this is on page 160 when Peekay is describing the porch at his new house. ‘The doorway from the kitchen led out onto a wide back stoep which, unlike the front of the house, was level with the ground and looked out into a very large and well-tended garden. The fragrance of hundreds of rose blossoms filled the crisp dawn air…’ From reading this we are easily able to visualize the setting that Peekay was in. Even though we are told the story from a child’s point-of-view the descriptions are very detailed which can mean that we sometimes forget the Peekay is still very young. However, Courtenay has wonderfully mastered the narration to the point that the readers can automatically feel the same emotions as the character.

Through the narration of the story Courtenay has created a tone of naivety which portrays Peekay as a young, innocent boy with a limited understanding of certain aspects. One of these aspects is death. Peekay ‘wasn’t quite sure what death was.’ He ‘knew it was something that happened on the farm in the slaughter house to pigs and goats and the occasional heifer’ (Page 2). However, we must remember that at this time he was still only a five year old boy. Courtenay has created the feeling of naivety while still informing the audience of events in such a way that the readers don’t feel as if a five year-old boy is telling the story. 

Blog Entry #5 – Symbolism and Intertextual References

In every culture there are symbols that have meaning to people. For example, in my Christian culture the cross can represent spirituality. The colour black can symbolise death and evil while white can symbolise life and purity. The Power of One also contains numerous symbols that convey specific meanings to different people. Intertextual references can also be found in the story such as references to the Bible and to the story Alice in Wonderland.

                When Peekay started to attend boarding school, the trauma he experienced caused him to wet the bed every night. When he returns home, his nanny calls the local witch-doctor Inkosi-Inkosikazi to help cure Peekay’s ‘night water’. The doctor tells Peekay to close his eyes and takes him on a spiritual journey to three waterfalls, a river and ten stepping stones (page 16 and 17). He then tells Peekay ‘when you need me you may come to the night country and I will be waiting. I will always be there in the place of the three waterfalls and the ten stones across the river’ (page 17). The doctor opened Peekay’s mind up to dreaming. He taught Peekay that the mind could be calmed with a little imagination. The three waterfalls, river and ten stepping stones that Inkosi-Inkosikazi is referring to are not real; they are simply symbolising a peaceful and serene area where Peekay can escape to when times get tough. He used this method often, such as when he is getting bullied by the judge and again when he went back to the crystal cave where Doc had died.

                High on the judge’s left arm is a swastika tattoo. We first hear about this tattoo in the second chapter. At the time the judge reveals his tattoo, the Second World War has already started. This means that Hitler was already in power and his actions and words has started to influence the whole world. The judge tells Peekay that ‘God has sent Adolf Hitler who will deliver the Afrikaner people from the hatred English!’ (Page 27). The swastika is a well-known symbol that was adopted as the symbol for the Nazi Party of Germany. These days it is known to be associated with voluminous numbers of violent and unnecessary deaths in World War II. Therefore when the audience reads that the judge has a swastika on his arm, they resent him for it as that means he accepts and represents Hitler and his ideas. By using this symbol, Courtenay has manipulated the views of the reader to cause us to dislike the antagonist.

                Mentioned several times in the bildungsroman is the ‘loneliness bird’. This loneliness is how Peekay sees himself. It is what he often felt while staying at the boarding school. Peekay first speaks of the birds on page 60 where Granpa Chook is killed. He often speaks of the loneliness bird laying eggs inside of him, such as when he learns that Nanny had left. ‘I tried very hard not to cry. Inside me the loneliness birds were laying eggs thirteen to the dozen’ (Page 173). This portrays the strong sense of seclusion that Peekay felt. The loneliness bird was ‘laying eggs’ inside of him. This is, of course, a metaphor that highlights just how lonely Peekay was. At the very end of the book we hear about the birds vanishing after Peekay defeats the judge.

                Throughout the book the full moon is mentioned. The experiences of Peekay that we read in the story, the full moon symbolises death. In chapter nineteen we learn that his is due to there being a full moon in the sky on both nights when Geel Piet and Granpa Chook died. (I would like to quickly add that Granpa Chook himself is a very symbolic animal in the story. He symbolises hope and gives Peekay the courage to carry on). However, on the very last page we hear about the full moon even when nobody has died. ‘Outside, high above me, a full moon, pale as skimmed milk, floated in a day sky.’ This could symbolise the death of Peekay’s hatred for the judge as he got his vengeance. Following this description Peekay tells us that he felt clean and that all the bone-beaked loneliness birds had banished. These two symbols that have been used throughout the book with negative connotations now symbolise optimism and hope. They allow Courtenay to end his book on a satisfying note for the readers.

                A major intertextual reference in the story is the references made to Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.  For example, in chapter eight, Peekay narrates ‘The path running up the centre of the garden looked like the sort of tunnel Alice might well have found in Wonderland (Page 160).’ This is a direct reference to another well-known text. Peekay’s reference to this particular text reinforces the fact that he is still a young boy. This is also reinforced when he says in chapter eighteen that the cave looked like ‘an illustration from a fairy tale’. Another example is the names of the kitchen maids Dee and Dum. When reading this we straight away think of Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum, the famous pair from the famous story.           

                The Bible is another intertextual reference found in The Power of One. Already on the third page, God is mentioned while Peekay is being bullied for the first time. Peekay says ‘I closed my eyes and said a silent, sobbing prayer. My Prayer wasn’t to God, but to my nanny.’ Even though Peekay does not recognise God in the right way, He is still acknowledged. Wherever God or the Bible is mentioned in this bildungsroman, Courtenay does not go into detail, therefore not making religion an overly important aspect of the story. It is clear that Peekay does not believe in God. He even says on page 6 that praying to God ‘seemed to have the least effect.’ Peekay’s mother was a devout Christian so it is interesting how Peekay did not follow in his mother’s spiritual footsteps.

                Different symbols can have different meanings to everyone. It is how we as individuals interpret these symbols that determine how we interpret the text.  Courtenay has cleverly used a wide range of symbols in the text to portray his messages. This was also achieved by intertextual references. 

Blog Entry #4 - The South African racial ideology in the 1930s-1950s

Humanity has a natural tendency to judge others based purely on outward appearance which is why racism has been an issue in society for many centuries. A major issue in South Africa in the twentieth century was the concept of apartheid. Apartheid literally translates to ‘apart-ness’. Apartheid was the segregation of different ethnic groups in South Africa and it lasted for most of the 1900’s. This tension between groups originated mainly from the Anglo-Boer war and the events preceding this war.  The 1930’s, 40’s and 50’s were the years when the idea of apartheid began to develop though there was already much tension between cultures prior to this time.

                Apartheid in South Africa is generally known for the segregation of the whites and the blacks; however there was also racism between whites with different backgrounds such as the Dutch and the English Africans. This is seen in the bildungsroman in the hostile relationship between Peekay (English) and the judge (Dutch). Throughout Peekay’s life the animosity between races grew. In 1936, the blacks were removed from the voter’s toll. They were not considered worthy enough to vote. The system of apartheid was launched in 1948 by the South African government. At this time South Africa was governed by the British since they defeated the Afrikaners in 1902 during the Boer war. The system of apartheid was supported by the Dutch Reformed Church as they suggested that the Afrikaners were God’s chosen people while the natives where subordinate. In this year, the Afrikaner National governments lead by Prime Minister D. Malan ordered research to be conducted into the application of the official apartheid policy. In 1950, the Population and Registration Act authorised the government to classify South Africans according to their race. Racial segregation was extended by allocating certain parks, buses, libraries, restaurants etc. to the blacks. Separate homelands for the major black groups were created in 1959. The government at that time was judging individuals solely on their skin colour. The whites thought of themselves better than the blacks. This racism towards blacks is still around today but is not as malicious.

It is interesting how Courtenay decides to focus mainly on Peekay’s boxing career rather than on the issue of apartheid. This different point of view of South Africa during that time gives the story an interesting spin. Racial ideology during the 1930’s-1950’s is very evident in The Power of One and can be seen by the way Peekay is treated by the other boys. As it was the whites who were in government, it wasn’t until a man named Nelson Mandela became the President of South Africa in 1994 that the blacks regained some power and authority. 

Blog Entry #3 – The Anglo-Boer War

The Anglo-Boer war affected the relationship between different cultures in South Africa for centuries after. It was a war that was fought between the British and the Afrikaners from 1899 to 1902. Around 500,000 British fought against 87,000 Afrikaners, or Boers. The Boers won some of the earlier battles but ultimately lost to the British. The two races were fighting for the political and economic control of the region. There was already a lot of tension between the British and the Afrikaners prior to the start of the war. In 1899, the British began a massive build-up of British forces in an area supposedly encased with gold as they were angered over a harsh treatment of the British. Afrikaner President Paul Kruger demanded the withdrawal of the troops and threatened war if they ignored his demands. The British did not comply. The war officially started on the 12^th of October 1899 by the Transvaal and Orange Free State.

The British were the people who created the world’s first concentration camps and many Boers died in these camps from diseases, malnutrition and persecution. The British used these concentration camps as a means of controlling captured populations. Human rights did not exist in those camps and many women and children were abused and forced into labour. The British lost almost 30,000 men fighting, while the Afrikaners lost around 5,000. More than 20,000 Afrikaner civilians were lost in the concentration camps. Over 60,000 men, women and children died as a result of this brutal war. In 1902, the British exhausted the Afrikaners into surrender. On the 31^st of May both the British and the Afrikaners signed a Treaty of Vereeniging where the British accepted the submission of the Afrikaners. The British promised to pay three million pounds and promised the Boers that the black majority would not be included in government until the rule returned to the Afrikaners. This decision unfortunately made the apartheid of the twentieth century a very possible outcome.

After the war the English became known as Rooineks as a result of their way of fighting. Instead of wearing dull uncoloured uniforms when fighting in battle they word brightly coloured red uniforms hence the name ‘Red necks’ or Rooineks in South African.  

The hatred towards Peekay in the book is based on the bad treatment of the British towards the Afrikaners and since Peekay spoke English, he ‘spoke the language which has pronounced the sentences that had killed their grandfathers and sent their grandmothers to the world’s first concentration camps…’ (Page2). The war was well over at the beginning of Peekay’s life however he was still severely tormented because of it. It is clear that there is still so much hatred around even so far past the war. Peekay was just an innocent child who was wrongly being punished for his ancestor’s actions. 

Blog Entry #2 - Author's Context, Popularity and Audience

The Power of One was written by Bryce Courtenay who based the book on much of his own life. Courtenay experienced many similar emotions and situations as Peekay did in this bildungsroman. Courtenay was born in 1933 in South Africa and was in a similar situation to Peekay. He grew up as an illegitimate child which in those days was considered shameful and was sent to a boarding school where he learned to survive. Just like Peekay, Courtenay moved to Barberton after boarding school. He met a perpetually drunk man called ‘Doc’ in the hills behind his house and they spent a lot of time together, just like Peekay does in the book. Courtenay then went to a private high school and attended an English University. While at this university he fell in love with an Australian woman, Benita, and followed her back to Australia. The main similarity between Courtenay and Peekay is that they both suffered as a result of racism.

            Courtenay’s own attitudes, values and beliefs are reflected in the text and his writing was influenced by his own personal context. By growing up in those certain circumstances, he is able to voice his personal experiences, which makes this story more realistic. This is a very powerful tool because then the story seems more real and the reader feels they are a part of the story. While I was reading this story, it didn’t take me long to become engrossed in the novel and for a while I actually thought that the story was based on a true story. I guess in a way it kind of is; it is based on the life of Bryce Courtenay.

Even though we had to study this book for English class, I was looking forward to reading it. I had heard of the title before and also of the author. I knew both of these were well-known so I thought it should be interesting to see what all the fuss was about. I was also given a very fat copy of the book published by Penguin Books which got me a little excited. I think the reason why this book is so popular among audiences is because it can make you cringe, smile, laugh, cry and empathise in a very short section of text. The story has sold millions of copies and many glowing reviews have followed. One certain review by Clive Turner shows just how much the book was appreciated: ‘By far one of the best books that I have read in a long time. The story gives an interesting insight into the struggle between black and white South Africans and the lengths that some people will go to bridge that gap and prove that above all colour does not matter…’ Many other reviews on the novel follow this same suit and though bad reviews are around they are quite rare. Popularity is achieved though the way the themes and ideas are portrayed to the reader in an interesting and emotional way. Courtenay has pulled his readers into the story by playing on their emotions and by presenting the themes of the story in a realistic manner. 

When writing The Power of One, Courtenay intended it to be read by the older population of Australia; however his book reached a much larger audience. It is clear by the language in the story that would not be suitable for children. It is also clear from reading the book that the style of writing would not appeal to the younger audience. The story line is such that it can appeal to a wide range of personalities so many different people can enjoy the story. Adults can appreciate and understand the promoted themes and values while young adults can enjoy the thought-provoking circumstances and events that transpire through Peekay’s life.