Peekay

When novels are written it is essential that the characters are well developed and highly constructed. This is important in order to make the story realistic and believable and also help to appeal to and interest the reader. Therefore Bryce Courtenay in The Power of One constructed Peekay through speech, action, appearance and other pieces of information to help us empathise with him and see the bildungsroman through Peekay and therefore the author’s eyes. Courtenay also develops Peekay throughout the story through generic and language conventions in order to fulfill his purpose, appeal to the audience while writing through his context, the context of himself as Peekay. 

The way Peekay has been developed shows and portrays Courtenay in a ‘larger than life’ character form. This is because although Peekay was based on himself the purpose of his book was not to tell an autobiography but teach people about the hurt of life, the problems of racism and the idea of the independence important to the power of one. Therefore, through speech, he portrays Peekay as a very intelligent, logical boy though somewhat naïve to the illogical things of life. Courtenay shows through Peekay’s words and thoughts that although he was a smart, academic child and excelled at school, his mind was not up to date with the thinking of the world. He did not understand what death was as can be seen in the first chapter when the bullying at the boarding school started and he used this naïve mind set to create a camouflage. As the book develops so does Peekay’s speech, in two ways; first, Peekay becomes more able to develop and understand illogical things and enjoyed the stimulation of the mind that he received from talking to various characters such as Doc, Mrs. Boxall, Miss Bornstein and especially Hymie. However with this development came the large amount of blasphemy and swear that came from his mouth as he set out to reject God and become a spiritual terrorist.

His action also developed throughout the book, as a young timid boy he was a bed wetter and a frightened character, being bullied and abused. However as the book develops and Peekay meets Hoppie, the idea of becoming the welterweight champion of the world formed in his mind and slowly Peekay learns to stand up for himself, formulating the power of one. Peekay learnt to understand that “the power of one was the courage to remain separate, to think through to the truth and not to be beguiled by convention or the plausible arguments of those who expected to maintain power whatever the cost” (Courtenay 1989, page 442). Though Peekay’s boxing, he learnt to become an independent force, a person able to deal with life as it comes without the help of others who trust couldn’t be given. Peekay also went through the book thinking ‘first with the head, then with the heart’, helping him to overcome the issue of size and stature, his small frame able to overcome big by the end of the book when he could finally seek revenge and win the fight against the Judge.

Peekay’s character appears to be the small, incapable type of person, seeming to be weak and therefore often bullied. However throughout the book it is evident that though Peekay was small, an underdog of sorts, through the power of one and the advice of Hoppie, he was able to beat big and overcome the bad situations in life. He was always fighting those who were older and larger than he was and yet he never lost a fight, whether when boxing or while working in the mines. Peekay, though close to death on at least two occasions was able to fight through the situation and make it to the end.

Courtenay uses many generic and language conventions to formulate and develop Peekay both as a character and as a narrator. Through the use of metaphorical and other figurative language the author shows the narrator, Peekay, to be able to relate and understand people enough to explain things in an easier form through symbols. Courtenay develops Peekay’s character through this as well, especially at the beginning of the book when Peekay thinks death in fire and something that happens to pigs in a slaughter house. Construction and development of a character in a bildungsroman is essential to draw a reader in and help them understand the character and therefore empathise with them. Therefore the author must formulate a character through generic and language conventions, through his speech, actions, appearance and other necessary facts such as that of his circumcision, a reason for, in conjunction to his English heritage, being bullied.