The Power of One - Smith

You always hear people say history will repeat itself. The statement is simple and only four words long, however they have massive and complex consequences some good, others bad. This is exactly what Bryce Courtenay portrays in The Power of One, which follows a young boy around South Africa as he grows up as a white boy in a black dominated area. Although, The Power of One is fiction, it still addresses many social issues of the time, and like the saying says, many social issues of today. First, it is important to note that this book follows Peekay from ages 5 - 17, which is from 1939 - 1952. He lives in South Africa and is English. For the beginning of his life he is the only or one of the only white kids. Keep this in mind as you think about how Courtenay connects to two time periods with one novel.

One of the most recurring social issues throughout history is racism, especially when it is the white suppressing the black population. Today racism has really been brought to center stage due to one presidential nominee, black lives matter/ rallies, and worst of all a movement towards a war against police. We are in the beginning of a possible downward spiral that could spark even worse conditions for all involved. This is very similar to South Africa during this time. Apartheid in South Africa was worst between 1948 - 1994, the period directly after the novel concludes. Peekay is an exception to apartheid, he was seen as Zulu chief in the body of a white man, “I was a child of Africa, a white child to be sure, but nevertheless Africa’s child... the dark hands that had bathed me and rocked me left me with a burden of obligations to resist the white power” (343). Throughout the whole book Peekay inspires the blacks, while stunning the whites with his victories. This could be what the nation needs right now as it began the descent into increased tensions between races. Additionally, during this time you had the Holocaust where millions of jews were killed because of their religious beliefs. Nowadays nobody is getting killed, but parallels can be drawn with Muslims in America. Today there is intense hatred from many against Muslims and people of Middle Eastern descent all because of how they look and their religion. Today the United States finds themselves in the beginning stages of intense racism and hatred, Courtenay used Peekay to battle these evils, and if no middle ground can be found the US may have multiple situations that are out of control.

One of Courtenay’s main themes was the use of camouflage for survival. Peekay had to try to blend in with the other students at boarding school to try to avoid more beatings from The Tudge. As he got older he learned to camouflage his insecurities with great success, and even learned to camouflage sub-legal activities with beneficial programs while visiting the prison. “I had become an expert at camouflage. My precocity allowed me, chameleon like, to be to each what they required me to be” (478) this quote shows how Peeka learned to adapt and hide in different situations. Today two groups of people stand out as the people who try to camouflage themselves from society. First off, the LGBT community has often had to hide themselves from society. For many people in the community they fear showing who they really are out of fear of what those close to them think as well as what society thinks. In doing so they will hide their true feelings telling themselves it’s only a phase, or taking steps to hide their emotions. Many in the LGBT community are proud about their feelings, but still countless of people hide, leading some as far as ending their own life so they never have to confront other people about it. Another group of people that has become masters of camouflage, although not to the same degree, is teenagers around the world. Teenagers today have learned to camouflage themselves by conforming to what their peers think. This leads to kids changing the way they dress, the activities they do, or just really small things nobody knows about them in order to avoid attention. It is this camouflage that has gotten teenagers a bad rap over the years because it doesn’t let the good side of everyone shine only the fact that everyone is currently playing Pokemon Go. Camouflage can be useful as Peekay used it to his advantage getting stronger every time, while now people use camouflage to only hide and never face the problem that people are hiding from.

Lastly, on a more optimistic note, Courtenay allows Peekay to find purpose in the pursuit of knowledge and in boxing. From a very young age Peekay decided that he was going to be the welterweight champion of the world, and was driven to learn as much as he could to help him succeed. Today, more than ever before, can people learn what they are passionate about and pursue it better with the use of technology. Technology has been beneficial overall with the pursuit of knowledge because it gives you the ability to access information that could not otherwise be reached. Or for those who just want to comprehend something, there are multiple interpretations of the same thing that makes it easier to understand. Now there is also a better understanding of the human body as well as technologies that help athletes reach their greatest potential (even in boxing).

Humans can not see the future, nor can we change the past. But sometimes similar situations will occur. That is exactly what happened in The Power of One as both then and now there is racism and discrimination against races and religions. Peekay hid his insecurities to grow while now people will only hide. But not all hope is lost as technology helps people find and explore their passion.