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Book Summary: The Power Of One By Bryce Courtenay

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The only way to survive and prosper is to fight. The Power of One written by Bryce Courtenay is a literary masterpiece. This book is captivating and insightful on how life was for a white boy growing up in South Africa. In this enthralling novel the author faces many hardships, and it has sensational perspicacity on cultural analysis, character analysis, and thematic analysis. The Power of One starts out detailing the author’s five-year-old self. Peekay’s mother has a mental breakdown and is out of the boy’s life by the time he is five. The boy grows up with his grandpa, his Zulu nanny, and Gideon Mandoma who is the nanny’s son. Peekay and his contrasting family live on the province of Natal, South Africa. Since the boy’s mother has a mental …show more content…

One important character from this book is Karl von Vollensteen. His alias in the book is “Doc”. Doc is Peekays best friend and teacher. He is a very dependable guy who gets Peekay through the tough times in his life. Doc is a scientist and a musician. One of the most valuable lessons he taught Peekay was the value of knowledge. Doc is an outsider like Peekay; he is a German scientist living in South Africa. Most of Docs relations are based off of intellect not emotion. Doc lives alone and isn’t really the best at connecting to people, but Peekay is a different story. He connects very well with Peekay and shows a lot of love for him. Doc goes off into the crystal cave and never come back. He leaves a letter for Peekay to find. The letter details how much of a friend Peekay was to Doc and how much love the two have for each other. "Always listen to yourself, Peekay. It is better to be wrong than simply to follow convention. “If you are wrong, no matter, you have learned something and you will grow stronger. If you are right, you have taken another step toward a fulfilling life” (Courtenay, 157). This advice is very important to Peekay because it gives him a critical eye when it comes to society and school. Doc preaches the idea that you can think for yourself and it is okay to not follow what everyone else is doing. Going on your own path and thinking for yourself is a good concept and Peekay takes it to

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