ipl-logo

Bryce Courtenay's The Power Of One Essay

817 Words4 Pages

The Power of One Essay “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.” In the book The Power of One, by Bryce Courtenay it begins with a young boy named Peekay. Peekay had a rough childhood. His parents sent him off to a boarding school where he was constantly bullied and tormented for two years. Peekay was the smallest kid there and didn’t know how to stand up for himself. But after he left the boarding school, he was introduced to boxing and his life turned for the better. Past events can shape someone's activities and attitude in life as the reader can see it in Peekay. Early childhood events shaped Peekay’s activities later on in his life. …show more content…

Constantly being picked on resulted in an attitude of hopelessness and insecurity. The bullying in his childhood caused him to have a negative attitude toward life. It would be hard to be positive when he had no family or friends in his life and a school where people treated him like garbage. But as soon as he became a boxer he became popular among his classmates: With some forty kids of my own age I was now undisputed leader, a situation I must confess I found to my liking. Being somebody after being nobody for so long was a heady experience but I also found it, on occasion, a bit onerous. Fights had to be settled, bullying stopped and the small kids set straight when they did things wrong. (Courtnay 175) After learning how to box, Peekay became popular. He beat the bullies at school and now everyone looked up to him. This gave him the confidence he needed and his whole attitude on life had changed to a more positive approach. This is a good thing as he learned what it felt like to be at the other end of this situation early on in life. Finally having success in life built the confidence Peekay needed to change his attitude. This just goes to show how past events can set a person's attitude and change it later on in

Show More
Related
193 Words | 1 Pages

His grandfather had fought as an amateur and his father had boxed professionally. His first boxing match was when he was 6 years old, and he won the match. As he kept working out in the Resurrection Boy 's Club Gym, he started winning a lot of matches. By the end of his high school career he had an astonishing 225 wins, and only five losses. He had become a national Junior Olympic

Read More
543 Words | 3 Pages

Years of suppressed hurt and anger made him an asset to the team because of his aggressiveness in the sport. He felt proud from the admiration he received from his peers, a sense of satisfaction and

Read More
812 Words | 4 Pages

He was one of the biggest boxers of all time in this time period and made huge turning points in the history of boxing.(http://www.proboxing-fans.com/boxing-101/history/1920s-boxing/) He provided a distraction for people when they were going through hard times in the depression. He was a way for people just to watch something to get their minds off other things happening. He was a big celebrity figure that broke through the fighter = criminal mentality in that time. Which changed the way people looked at boxing. (http://www.proboxing-fans.com/boxing-101/history/1920s-boxing/)

Read More
713 Words | 3 Pages

He gave people hope that they can turn their life around during the depression. He lost everything including his children as many Americans did. However, he got that back by boxing which was all he had in the end. He thought risking his life was worth getting his children back, which inspired many people. In addition, made lots of people risk everything.

Read More
801 Words | 4 Pages

He suffered from depression and stopped working out at the gym. He gained weight and got terribly out of shape. Physical injuries and illnesses both contributed to his life problems. The end of his military career impacted him by having free time to himself which he mainly spent with his family.

Read More
1477 Words | 6 Pages

He loved sports and competition. He once said that “It kills me to lose. If I'm a troublemaker, and I don't think that my temper makes me one, then it's because I can't stand losing. That's the way I am about winning, all I ever wanted to do was finish first. " I believe that this shows how serious he took his sports.

Read More
854 Words | 4 Pages

This goes to show that by exploring his options and opening up his mind to things helped pull him out of this dark place he was in and start thinking of how he was affected by his environment and many other things. He realized that his environment, genetics, or just bad luck affected him more than he thought it did when he was younger. He shows how thankful he is when he states, “People who taught me that no accident of birth-not being black or relatively poor, being from baltimore or the Bronx or fatherless-would ever define or limit me”(5) and when he states, “What changes was that I found ii was surrounded by people-starting with my mom, grandparents, uncles, and aunts, and leading to a straight of wonderful role models and mentors-who kept pushing me to see more than what was directly in front of me, to see the boundless possibilities of the wider world and the unexplored possibilities within myself”(5). These quotes demonstrate how thankful he was for the people that helped take care of him and change him for the better even if he didnt treat them lively for a while. This shows that if you surround yourself with kind, loving, and caring people, you can

Read More
605 Words | 3 Pages

Emerson states that “Envy is ignorance; imitation is suicide”(370).In the novel A separate Peace written by John Knowles which takes place in New hampshire during war. Gene is a Character with jealousy and a person that would always want to be better than anyone. A Separate peace demonstrates how Gene’s envy and imitation of finny affects him, affects his relationship with finny,and achieves his peace. Gene’s envy and imitation of finny affect him. One way gene is affected is that gene cannot be himself so he decides to put on finny clothes.

Read More
745 Words | 3 Pages

In his attempt to discover his purpose in life he had to go against his entire community, lose his wife, and even violate the rules he had followed his entire life. This proves that once he faced difficult situations he was capable of fighting for his true character without allowing others to decide for

Read More
65 Words | 1 Pages

There were two sorts of witches in Elizabethan times: Black witches and White witches. Dark-skinned witches were seen as the Devil 's admirers who conducted in magic with a specific end goal to cause pain. White witches, thought to be "Healers" by individuals from their town, were seen as precious individuals as the group, who used magic to help, for the most part by curing

Read More
1111 Words | 5 Pages

Many people also feel that this book is irrelevant to student’s lives. However, kids should learn what life would be like for kids at their age in a different time period. Like what was stated before, in a history class, when we learn about the history, we learn about the straight facts, not as much of the personal lives of people living in that time. Since the novel is showing the personal recollections of one boy in the time period, students can identify the similarities between the two lessons. Since the similarities will be present, the students could make connections to both of the

Read More
757 Words | 4 Pages

Insecurity is the uncertainty or anxiety of oneself which an abundance of teenagers have been found to struggle from. Sometimes, a person's insecurities can cause them to be someone who they are not. However insecurities are usually caused by someone mocking you of your differences, which eventually causes themselves to try to exemplify someone they believe is better than them self, instead of expressing their differences. In A Separate Peace, John Knowles exhibits a teenage boy, Gene who is strained with insecurity because of jealousy and a lost Identity.

Read More
304 Words | 2 Pages

“He had given me the power of one, one idea, one heart, one mind, one plan, one determination”(). In the novel The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay, the power of one, as shown by the quote is to focus on the one. Hoppie gives Peekay his first idea of the power of one, a solid idea of where one stands. One idea of how they feel and where they are going. Peekay takes this and usis this power of one throughout the novel.

Read More
331 Words | 2 Pages

The Power of One is a story that I consider to be very heartwarming and motivational. Reading this novel guides me to learning new ways to strengthen mentally and physically. The story never disappoints me, but surprises me with countless life lessons. At the very end, I never got bored but always got hooked to the fight scenes. The last scene is emotional, considering the journey Peekay goes through.

Read More
517 Words | 3 Pages

Peekay has lost everyone close to him. Its terrible and nothing anyone should ever go through yet he does and still, he is able to push through and become an amazing, for the most part, young man. Bryce Courtenay has written a powerful novel called Power of One. A story of a struggling young boy, his life, and how he must overcome, adapt, and push through many obstacles. In the end, Peekay gets to pursue his dreams and becomes a very educated, very strong, and powerful young man.

Read More

More about Bryce Courtenay's The Power Of One Essay

Related Topics

Open Document