Granpa Choook The Power Of One Analysis

Granpa Chook’s Impact on Peekay’s Boxing Bryce Courtenay explores the main character Peekay’s journey in The Power of One by incorporating powerful symbolism. These symbols, such as a chicken and a pair of boxing gloves, are significant to Peekay’s maturation. Through various obstacles in his journey, Peekay gradually discovers how to unlock his true potential. The relationship between Peekay and his chicken Granpa Chook sets the basis for Peekay’s boxing career, thus enabling him to defeat both mental and physical opponents. The brutal murder of Granpa Chook represents Peekay’s first encounter with emotional pain. At his Afrikaans boarding school, Peekay’s only source of security from the routine torments of the Judge was Granpa Chook, “the toughest damn chicken in the whole world” (29). Being “the toughest damn chicken”, Granpa Chook serves as a role model and guardian for Peekay. When Granpa Chook was pummeled to death by the Judge and his gang, Peekay is stripped of …show more content…
Although Granpa Chook’s influence is not obvious, the pain caused by his death forever stays with Peekay. Boxing enables Peekay to appease and tame the loneliness bird, which is a physical representation of Peekay’s mental struggles. Peekay can control these mental struggles by following Hoppie’s dictum, “first with the head, then with the heart”. By thinking with the head first, Peekay prevents his emotional weaknesses from dictating his boxing. Boxing also provides a sense of security to Peekay; in a way, boxing replaces Granpa Chook. When Peekay slips on Hoppie’s pair of boxing gloves, he thought “the gloves felt like old friends. Big, yes, and very clumsy, but not strangers” (68). Like Granpa Chook, who was an “old friend” and a “clumsy” chicken, the boxing gloves provide Peekay with a sense of familiarity. Peekay uses boxing as a way to regain his control, but it is also a comfort to