Overcoming Obstacles In Bryce Courtenay's The Power Of One

Everyone has faced an obstacle in their life that has either knocked them or they just kept going and dealt with it in order to overcome it. Sometimes an obstacle or odd can be so bad that a person just wants to give up, but Peekay never did. He was determined through the entire book to become a champion boxer after he was inspired by a friend. He was knocked down by many people, but no matter what happened to him, he came out on top and never backed down from the obstacle or odd that stood in his way. In the book The Power of One, Bryce Courtenay uses the theme overcoming overwhelming odds to prove that determination is key, that even the littlest person can be the strongest, and that giving up is not an option to matter what.

Bryce Courtenay

Peekay faced many obstacles thrown his way by people knocking him down and some of them even told him to give up on his dreams of being a champion boxer, but he was determined to not give up and let them win. He wasn’t going to let bullies determine his future and his determination and perseverance is what kept him going and he was able to overcome all of it and succeed in the end. The people around him started to shape him to what they wanted him to be and Peekay thought that he had to listen to what they wanted in order to be a champion boxer, but it wasn’t until the end of the book that he discovered what was happening and he knew that he had to take back control of his life by stating. He wasn’t going to let anyone else push him around by stating, “All my life I’d been pushed around. By the judge. By the Lord. By the concept of the Tadpole Angel” (Courtenay

Peekay was small and young for the things that he wanted to do. Physically, he was too small compared to the other boxers, which made it hard for him to compete against others and many people didn’t believe that he could succeed in boxing because of how small he was. He made it farther than people thought he would, considering the difficulties that he faced. Many people told him to stop or give up because of his size, and even the referee at one of the matches said, “Let the boy grow a little bit, wait till next year. He’s champion material, too good for a mismatch” (Courtenay 248). Here, the referee tried convincing Peekay’s coaches to pull him from the championship match because he was too small on the outside, but Peekay proved that he could win no matter how big his competitor is. Courtenay uses Peekay’s struggles to prove that he was a great boxer even when he was small to illustrate the concept that even though someone in small on the outside, they can be one of the strongest people. Mentally, Peekay was by far too smart for his age and many people around him made fun of him for it or some people took advantage of him at school. The Judge was a character that played a huge rule in Peekay’s life and it all started when the Judge took advantage of Peekay and made him do his math homework so that he could get good grades. Peekay had to listen to what the Judge told him