A few words of zeal can possess egregious impact on a child, against the thousands uttered in spite of them. This belief remains intact for the protagonist of Bryce Courtenay’s novel, The Power of One, as Peekay’s hardships rattle him endlessly until he encounters Hoppie Groenewald; a mentor who creates the basis for Peekay’s newly found hope, strength and self- worth. Although their time together is only a smidgen compared to the length of the young boy’s continuing journey, Hoppie’s lessons, masking themselves as overly kind gestures in Peekay’s perspective, abide as long-lasting morals with which his life is uided.
These lessons commence with the behavior the mentor demonstrates towards Peekay. Endearment is an action that Peekay experiences after a stretched period of psychological chaos when first encountering Hoppie. The mentor may see his own gestures as nothing more than basic manners, but the budding boy sees this as the water showering his trampled, withered petals to help him grow further. One example would be how Hoppie speaks informally with Peekay, addressing him as “boetie”-meaning “brother” in the language spoken in the novel-compared to how others such as Mevrou and the Judge poke to him as if he were inferior, due to his English roots.
Furthermore, upon the discovery of Peekay being a “rooinek”, Hoppie continues to treat the boy as an equal, in a sense teaching the boy that no matter his origin or experiences he goes through, he should believe that his existence is of value; he is just as capable as any acquaintance he stumbles across and, therefore, deserves the treatment being given to him. Hoppie laughs with, hugs, feeds and converses casually with Peekay, compared to how others in his past insult, beat and treat him as no more than flotsam floating down their river.
These ehaviours provide Peekay with a fresh sense of self-worth, allowing him to forget about his past, along the lines of how he internally exclaims that his old self, along with Grandpa Chook are now dead, and march in the direction of a brighter future. Introducing Peekay to the sport of boxing opens new doors for the naive boy, as he realizes through his observation of Hoppie’s comments on the sport that the personal salvation he hunts for may lie in this method of energy exertion. As the two forge on with their familiarization, it becomes evident that Hoppie is a boxer with great knowledge gained from participating in the port.
Of which some knowledge prevails as morals that guide Hoppie through life, as they present themselves in succinctly uttered advice the boxer provides to the inexperienced boy. Subsequently, Peekay begins to form feelings of comfort and a type of faint familiarity when the boxer uses boxing jargon, kindling a spark of interest and confidence within him. This interest peaks further as Hoppie begins to address Peekay as the next “welterweight champion”, providing the boy with a stronger sense of confidence in his ability to possibly participate in the sport.
However, these acknowledgements may originate rom how Peekay interprets the sport. Hoppie presents the sport as an activity that anyone can earn a victory in, no matter their past experiences, ethnic origin or size. The determinants of victory are based solely on one’s actions in the ring. Peekay reaches this understanding when the large boxing gloves are placed on his small hands and Hoppie addresses them as the “equalizers”; the symbols of a sport in which both players become equals when in play, both losing all identity and leaving their chances of dominion over their opponent to how they use their physical ability.
With this knowledge, Peekay redevelops is previously shattered hope from hereafter, possibly leading himself into a career as a boxer. However, hope and strength go hand in hand and Peekay learns to gain the latter from the encouragements of his mentor. Hoppie’s words of wisdom almost entirely cleanse Peekay of his self-deprecative thoughts, as the sagacious mentor teaches Peekay to embraces his differences and use them to his advantage.
Upon the discovery of Peekay being of English descent, Hoppie does not place the boy’s ethnic origin against him and instead teaches Peekay that having a certain identity that is discriminated against by certain eople makes him no less of a fighter than them. The same encouragement is made by Hoppie when Peekay ponders as to how those smaller in size have the ability to win: it is a matter of their assets to their advantage, rather having their introspection clouded by the disadvantages kept in mind.
Furthermore, what Peekay believes to be wrong, such as his perspectives, habits, etc. , is proven right by Hoppie. For example, when Peekay allows himself to cry in the presence of Hoppie, the mentor encourages the behaviour and makes a statement along the lines of crying being a healthy behaviour, as urturing one’s emotional health is of equal importance as the nurturing of one’s physical and mental health. Discriminatory beliefs such as the definition of masculinity being a lack of emotional sensitivity, racism, shown when Peekay was attacked for his ethnic background, etc. nduce their eradication from Peekay’s idea of how to be the ideal person. This remains due to the positive mindset of Hoppie bearing a strong influence on Peekay, as the young boy stays very vulnerable at the time due to his previous traumatic experiences. Moreover, the cause of Hoppie’s positive perspective is due to his participation in oxing, as he addresses the boxing gloves as the “equalizers”: the eliminators of discrimination.
Alongside Hoppie’s words of encouragement come his words of advice, which he presents in a subtle, yet memorable manner to Peekay. Many of the words of advice he gives are in relation to boxing but possess the ability to have application as general life morals. For example, in the many bits of advice he provides to the attentive and vulnerable boy, he exclaims that the sandwiches Peekay packs for lunch are now dead due to being in an institution and how one us that sandwiches from an institution are not healthy for a boxer.
In this single comment, Hoppie indicates to the young boy that places such as institutions are places where death can occur, that they are not the most beneficial place to be when attempting to keep the elements of oneself alive. This deeper meaning stands true as Granpa Chook and Peekay’s “old self” die in an institution: the boarding school. Abundances of Hoppie’s lessons from being a boxer and his own personal life experiences are wrapped into verbally comprehensible statements that Peekay will be able to find a meaning behind subconsciously, as it is in his most susceptible state where he bsorbs the most.
Therefore, Hoppie Groenewald stands as more than a passing mentor, but rather the architect who builds the base or frame of what is to be an advanced, stronger version of Peekay. The scarce amount of phrases Hoppie voices paves over the plethora that destroy what is left of “the old Peekay”, blessing Peekay with a clean slate to continue the rest of his life’s journey with. The young boy receives a sense of hope, strength, self-worth as well as morality, through his adventures with the boxer and thus, will keep the lessons he has learned from the elder in a special place of his heart.
