The main character in the book The Power of One, Peekay, has met many characters throughout the story. There are myriad opinions on who influenced Peekay the most. Some believe that Geel Piet affected Peekay the most, while others deem that Doc influenced Peekay the most. One person who affected Peekay the most is Hoppie Groenewald. Hoppie influenced Peekay substantially, even though they met for only a few days. He was Peekay’s first friend who is a human and not a chicken. His influence gave Peekay hope that he might be able to survive in this world against a stronger opponent. Lastly, Hoppie instilled and started Peekay’s passion for boxing, which he never gave up on. Hoppie gave Peekay a new dream, which was to become the welterweight champion, and not to survive the …show more content…
He was also a boxing enthusiast who box in his spare time against opponents who seem bigger and stronger than him. Peekay first met him when he was in a depressing part of his life. He helped the Judge with his homework and graduate, but the Judge broke his promise and killed his first friend, Granpa Chook, by stoning him to death. Peekay lost the hope to live a happy life because he believe that all that will happen is the big winning when going against the small, however Hoppie proved him wrong. Hoppie was going against a hefty and burly opponent; Jackhammer Smit who is a mine worker. The author of this novel, Bryce Courtenay, described Smit’s stomach which “...looked like plaited rope, and his shoulders seemed to loom over the smaller men” (Courtenay 88). Peekay lost hope in Hoppie, believing that Hoppie is done for, and that small will never prevail against the big. However, Hoppie sparked his hope when he “...stood over the unconscious body of his opponent. Then he brought his gloves up in an unmistakable salute to Jackhammer Smit” (98). This was the moment that Peekay felt like he might have a chance to stand up for