CHARACTER ANALYSIS
Sebastian LiPuma, Connor Tomlinson,
Tim Cira
THE JUDGE
Judge is a huge Afrikaans who traumatizes 5
year old Peekay at his first boarding school
 Judge makes Peekay his personal slave
“prisoner of war”
 Swastika tattoo on his arm
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MRS. BOXALL
librarian in Barberton
 a kind and generous woman who started the
mysterious Sandwich Fund which gathers food,
tobacco, money, and letters for black prisoners
and their families.
 has a weekly column in the local newspaper
called "Clippings from a Cultured Garden.”
 becomes great friends with Peekay and with Doc
 Loves classical music & Doc's concerts.
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PEEKAY’S MOTHER
Never know her name
 She has a nervous breakdown when Peekay was
young
 She is gone for a long period of time (years) which
Peekay calls “the nervous breakdown place”
 She goes back and moves in with Peekay and
Grandpa in Barberton
 spends most of her time eagerly trying to convert
people to Christianity
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GRANPA
spends most of his time caring to his rose garden
for his long-dead English wife
 smokes on his pipe a lot
 He always tells Peekay irrelevant stories when
Peekay goes to him for advice.
 He is racist but has respect for Inkosi-Inkosikazi
since they cured him of his gall stones
 He helps Peekay convince his mother to let him
teach the black inmates at the Barberton prison
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BIG HETTIE
An Irish woman who is obesse
 She Sits next to Peekay during Hoppie's boxing
match against Jackhammer Smit in Gravelotte
 She gets stuck in the train compartment
 She dies when the train reached the town of
Kaapmuiden after she stuffed her face with
food
 Big Hettie teaches Peekay the importance of
pride and courage
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Power Of One
Symbols
Lyndsay Sanchez
Hannah Tipton
Sydney Lawrence
Symbolizes death
It was a full moon when grandpa Chook and Geel
Piet both died
 Doc talks about his death in crystal cave Africa on a
full moon
 The final image of the novel is a full moon
 The opposite of the full moon symbol could mean
optimism and hope to overcome the horrors of
death
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When Peekay was young he was circumcised and he
was very ashamed and embarrassed and called it a
“hatless snake”
 Later in the novel Peekay sloughed his outer skin
and it helped him mentally get over his
embarrassment
 At the end of the novel the black mamba snake is a
symbol of danger
 It is a sign from Doc warning Peekay of the accident
in the minds
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Called the tadpole angel or Onoshobishobi Ingelosi
It’s a symbol of hope
The black minors used to call him tadpole angel and
he would get very embarrased, finally he accepted
the name
POWER OF ONE
Themes relating to the novel
- Camouflage and Survival
- Coexistence of Magic and Logic
- Relationship between Boxing and Fighting
Camouflage and Survival
• Peekay describes camouflage as an essential need
for survival against antagonists in someone’s life.
• Being yourself is an important thing but for
Peekay’s situation camouflaging your personality
can be a good defense against threats.
Coexistence of Magic and Logic
• In the novel, Peekay looks at magic as an
alternative method of perseverance. Logic will
keep you on a straight path but Peekay’s
symbolic magic is the true source of
determination.
Boxing Vs. Fighting
Becoming the Welterweight champion is
Peekay’s single most important goal held
closest to his heart. Boxing also helped Peekay
to realize his meaning of life and aided his self
doubt.
Fighting in Peekay’s point of view is an event
that would allow him to erase the torment of
his past and unleash the pain he has held in
for so long .
Doc
 “Intelligence is a harder gift. For this you must work, you must practice it, challenge it,
and maybe toward the end of your life you will master it. Cleverness is the shadow,
whereas intelligence is the substance.”
 Is an old drunkard German music teacher,
 Represents the world of logic and rationality, but he understands the mystical side of life
at the same time.
 Peekay summarizes his character: "Doc was calm and reason and order." However, Doc
tells Peekay that when truth is not at stake, it is better to choose mystery above logic.
 Doc's relationship with Peekay begins when they meet in the hills behind Peekay's home
in Barberton-Doc moved to South Africa from Germany fifteen years previously,
 His favorite word is “absoloodle"
 . Doc loves coffee, but he loves Johnny Walker whisky even more, drinks right before
every concert.
 Doc was a famous concert pianist in Germany, but during a concert in Berlin in 1925 he
froze up while playing Beethoven's Symphony Number Five, and has been terrified to
play every since.
 Doc becomes Peekay's piano teacher, general mentor, and best friend.
 Doc is very tall.
 Doc gets arrested because he is German and they think he’s a spy and has to spend the
years during World War II in the Barberton prison.
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Doc
 He mentor Peekay while in prison, and he barters giving piano concerts
(something which he hates doing) in order to be allowed to see Peekay each
day.
 Peekay with the help of Doc , Geel Piet and Mrs. Boxall start a system in which
prisoners can write letters to their families and Peeky would sneak them out.
 He tells Peekay that he loves him more than his life. Once Doc is liberated
from prison, he and Peekay return to their roaming about the Barberton hills.
 One of Doc's chief hobbies is to document different kinds of cacti, and he
teaches Peekay all of the prolific Latin naming system
 Together Doc and Peekay discover the "crystal cave of Africa," where Doc takes
himself to die.
 Only peeky knows where Docs body is.
 Doc's death has a great impact on Peekay, who is only accustomed to brutal
death (Grandpa chook, Big Hetti and Geel Peit).
 Peekay describes his and Doc's love for one another as "so fierce that it burned
like a flame inside of us." Doc teaches Peekay confidence, a love of music, a
love of learning, a love of Africa, and how to conquer his fears.
 “Okay, stand up, on this brick wall, stand on one leg, good, now close your eyes,
say three times "absoloodle".
Peekay
 -Narrates the story from the age of five up until the age of seventeen.
 -Peekay's mother suffers from a nervous breakdown, so he is brought up by his
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black Zulu nanny (Mary Mandoma), and his grandfather. Grandfather lives on a
farm.
-Best friend when he was a child was a chicken
-He is sent to an Afrikaans boarding school at the age of five.
-Peekay's Englishness creates great problems for him at school, where the older,
Afrikaans boys treat him brutally (traumatizes him) and give him the name
Pisskop" (pisshead) and the main bully is referred to as “The Judge”
-His childhood haunts him and leaves him with a deep-set insecurity and
vulnerability.
-He is not a self-righteous hero- Moreover; he does have the ability to do the
wrong thing.
-His grandfather sells the farm and they move with his mother in the city. His
mother is a crazy Christian and gets rid of his nanny and only keeps the two
maids (Dee and don) for the kitchen(and they take care of peekay)
-Peekay develops his own values.
-He excels at boxing, (started in the Barberton prison) not losing a match
throughout the novel.
“A waterfall begins from only one drop of water, sir. Look what comes from
that...”
PEEKAY
 -His boxing mentor is a black prisoner named Geel Piet, who stresses the importance of
footwork.
 -Peekay represents all sides. He is the mediator between the English and Afrikaans boys
at school in Barberton; the Afrikaans boxers call him a "proper boer" while his hordes of
black supporters believe that he is one of their chiefs, come to avenge them and challenge
the white government.
 -Peekay's mentors, Doc and Mrs. Boxall, claim that he is a genius, while the black South
Africans in the novel hail him as the Tadpole Angel, a chief who has come to lead them
out of white oppression.
 -Peeky is sent to the Prince of Whales School, becomes friend with levy. Levy and Peekay
go to business together doing mostly scams.
 -He tries to open a school for blacks with Levy, gets shut down.
 -When they graduates they plan to go to Oxford, but Peekay doesn’t have the money.
 -Becomes a grizzly, man who works with explosives in the mines, makes a lot of moneyalmost dies, saved by his Russian friend who dies because of it.
 -In the end he faces the judge again, who happened to be his diamond driller, he beats
him up.
 “First with the head, then with the heart.”
Giel Peet
 Geel Piet is a Cape Colored man who works at the Barberton prison.
 He becomes Peekay's boxing coach and teaches Peekay his famous eight
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punch combination (worked on footwork).
Geel Piet is most important, however, in that he teaches Peekay how to box
rather than fight and Peekay calls him an "artist."
Geel Piet is the only non-white character in the team of the Barbaton blues.
Peekay sees Geel Piet for what he is- a generous friend, and a stellar boxing
coach.
Geel Piet introduces Peekay to the shadowy world of prison black markets and
together they keep the prisoners with a supply of tobacco, letters, and sugar.
Geel Piet acts as a foil to Peekay in that he is described as a "limbo man"-the
man between white and black, the true man of Africa, liked by no one, and
hated by all.
Geel Piet is brutally murdered by one of the prison warders named Borman,
and thus becomes Peekay's first direct experience with the horrors of racism.
But he is remembered throughout the book, he is avenged because Smit beats
him up, and he later dies in a very painful way.
“yes boss”
Morris Levy
 Morrie is a very rich Jewish boy who becomes Peekay's partner at the
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Prince of Wales School.
“a token jew’
Morrie, who is a foil to Peekay, teaches Peekay the tricks of businessgambling and he and Peekay set up all kinds of "scams" together.
Morrie, like Peekay, is an "outsider" because of his Jewishness, and
Morrie has to put up with racism.
Morrie is a loner, an intellectual, a fine joke-teller, and a generous
friend.
He undergoes a catharsis during the course of the novel-through Peekay
he comes to know black people for the first time in his life, and he
becomes extremely invested in the night school that he and Peekay start
for the black boxers at Solly Goldman's gym.
When Peekay does not win a Rhodes scholarship, Morrie wants to pay
for him to attend. He is prepared to defer his own degree in order to
study with Peekay.
He does not understand Peekay's boxing dream, however, and wants
Peekay to become his law partner.
Morris Levy becomes a very good friend of Peekay
Lieutenant Smit
 Lieutenant Smit works at the Barberton prison and is one of the
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boxing coaches.
Brother of the well-known boxer, Jackhammer Smit.
Which is why he and Peekay initially strike up a friendship
because Peekay saw Jackhammer Smit fight against Hoppie in
Gravelotte.
Smit, a reasonably non-prejudiced man, avenges Geel Piet's
death for Peekay by beating up Borman.
Yet Smit is not entirely against racist attitudes-at his
introduction, he allows his colleague Klipkop to beat one of the
servants for an offense that he did not commit.
Smit is very proud of peeky, and respects him for his heart when
he fights.
“a proper boer”
 Jeff B
 Totis Jusakos
The Power Of One-The Hero’s
Journey
By: Abi Gardner & Bridget LaPorte
The Ordinary World
The hero, uneasy, uncomfortable or unaware, is introduced
sympathetically so the audience can identify with the situation or
dilemma. The hero is shown against a background of environment,
heredity, and personal history. Some kind of polarity in the hero’s
life is pulling in different directions and causing stress.
The boy, later known as Pisskop, got his nickname because of
the trial he was put through by two other boys. He was told
to kneel in a shower and was then peed on, he was later told
to pull down his pants.
The Call To Adventure
Something shakes up the situation, either from
external pressures or from something rising up from deep
within, so the hero must face the beginnings of change.
Pisskop is introduced mainly sympathetically , started to
earn respect from his peers for holding the record for the most
beatings in his school, on the other hand he’s still physically and
verbally beat down and tormented. This is also when he
realizes his love for boxing.
Refusal Of The Call
The hero feels the fear of the unknown and tries to
turn away from the adventure, however briefly. Alternately,
another character may express the uncertainty and danger
ahead
Peekay puts on a tough exterior, when in reality he is
easily broken down and hurt.
Meeting With The Mentor
The hero comes across a seasoned traveler of the worlds
who gives him or her training, equipment, or advice that will
help on the journey. Or the hero reaches within to a source of
courage and wisdom.
Peekay meets Hoppie Groenewald, who Peekay uses to
compare lives with. He is introduced as Peekays mentor and
uses the boxing plot as “mentors in education”.
Crossing The Threshold
At the end of Act One, the hero commits to leaving the
Ordinary World and entering a new region or condition with
unfamiliar rules and values.
Peekay is being forced to grow up very fast, causing him
to adapt to new settings of life, with very few memories from
his past.
Tests, Allies, & Enemies
The hero is tested and sorts out allegiances in the Special
World.
Jackhammer Smit’s loss to Hoppie in the boxing ring
taught Hoppie’s mentor (Peekay) the idea that small can still
prevail over large, with the understanding that Jackhammer is
one of the toughest boxers to beat.
Approach
The hero and newfound allies prepare for the major
challenge in the Special world.
When Peekay gets off the train at Barberton and
suddenly realizes there is no one he knows awaiting his arrival,
he sits and wait for his nanny to pick him up. When his mother
picks him up in the car with a pastor, he realizes that his
mother wants him to become more Christian again.
The Ordeal
Near the middle of the story, the hero enters a central
space in the Special World and confronts death or faces his or
her greatest fear. Out of the moment of death comes a new life.
During the Eastern Transvaal boxing championship Peekay
is put up against his three biggest rivals, Du Toit, Geldunhuis, and
Killer Koon. This opposes as the biggest challenge to Peekay in the
book, and he even used the title when he says “The power of one
was stirring inside him”, helping him remember all of his mentors
and help along the way.
The Reward
The hero takes possession of the treasure won by facing
death. There may be celebration, but there is also danger of
losing the treasure again.
Geel Piet is the man who Peekay becomes friends with
while in jail, they make a deal for Geel to help Peekay become a
boxer then soon join the Barberton Blues, a boxing team. When
one of the other guys on the team gets sick Peekay fills in for
him, gaining his reward for being on the team.
The Road Back
About three-fourths of the way through the story, the
hero is driven to complete the adventure, leaving the Special
World to be sure the treasure is brought home. Often a chase
scene signals the urgency and danger of the mission
Peekay ends up winning the championship for Geel but
after awhile he has to go back to normal life and return to
prison. He goes back to reality after his triumph.
The Resurrection
At the climax, the hero is severely tested once more on
the threshold of home. He or she is purified by a last sacrifice,
another moment of death and rebirth, but on a higher and
more complete level. By the hero’s action, the polarities that
were in conflict at the beginning are finally resolved.
Every so often on holidays Peekay would return to where
his prison was located and he doesn’t enjoy it as much as his
new small town life. He’s noticed that people are leaving the
prison more accomplished such as being more literate.
Return With The Elixir
The hero returns home or continues the journey, bearing
some element of the treasure that has the power to transform
the world as the hero has been transformed.
When being home Peekay returns to see his rival Judge.
To Peekay, winning the world championship boxing match was a
great enough fight of it’s own to where he doesn’t have to put
up with the pitiful fights of his old rivals.
The Power Of One
Plot Map
Hector Torres
Anthony Saab
Exposition
The book starts with a white African boy named
Peekay that is being messed around with and bullied by
the Judge.
“The Judge ordered that I be beaten up only a little at a
time. A punch here, a flathander there, and if I could
stop being a pisskop he’d stop even that, although he
added, for a rooinek, this was probably impossible.”
Conflicts
Peekay struggling to discover and keep himself in what is
pretty much called “The Power Of One”
This is due to him having such a horrible childhood in a
boarding school.
“The power of one is above all things the power to believe in
yourself, often well beyond any latent ability you may have
previously demonstrated. The mind is the athlete, the body
is simply the means it uses to run faster or longer, jump
higher, shoot straighter, kick better, swim harder, hit further,
or box better”
Climax
When 17 year old Peekay comes Face to face with his
childhood bully, "the Judge."
When they are about to brawl
“’He been sniff gelignite, he crazy! Run, Peekay. That
Boer kill you!’ The Judge dropped from the bar and
with an angry roar charged toward me. A powder
headache as severe as his could cause temporary
insanity, and I knew he was capable of killing.”
Dénouement
The book ends with Peekay beating up The Judge.
The Judge had a tattoo of a swastika on his arm and
Peekay put his initials on it and left him in a pool of
blood and vomit.
“I had waited a long time for this moment. I knew
exactly what to do. The Judge was the bull, and I was
the matador. It was I who would shape the fight.”