Bryce Courtenay's The Power Of One

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Summer Independent Reading “You cannot open a book without learning something”─Irish proverb In every book there is a lesson to be learned, something useful to be carried away, or at least a saying or phrase that can help you to fulfill your life the best you can. In The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay a sentence that I could not get out of my head throughout the entirety of my reading was when Hoppie Groenwald said to Peekay, “first with the head and then with the heart.” Hoppie ultimately inspired Peekay to begin boxing and this quote stayed with him for the remainder of his story. In easier terms I believe Hoppie was trying to express to Peekay that you must first think of what you’re going to do and then strike with all your…show more content…
Peekay used “the power of one” to carve himself into a well known and respected boxer in Africa. With the help of Hoppie Groenwald and Doc along with Geel Piet, Mrs. Boxall, Morris Levy, Lieutenant Smit, Rasputin, Solly Goldman, Miss Bornstein, and the rest of Peekay’s mentors he became very successful. Even though all those people helped Peekay along the way he was able to be independent and carry himself as a great boxer all on his own. He did not always need to count on someone to win a match; Peekay would practice as hard as he could to bring out his best performance in the ring. Following Peekay in his journey and seeing how he succeeded without always having help and support was a huge eye opener for me. I realized that it may be good to have a little assistance here and there when you need it, but ultimately you must be able to count on yourself because you determine your own destiny. Becoming independent is something that everyone has to experience sooner or later and a great place to start is with something small like a sport and then move on to bigger things in life such as getting your first job, your own home, and starting a family without your parents always at your side. I thought that The Power of One was definitely one of the most inspiring and well written books I have ever read. It had so many life lessons hidden deep inside the context of every page and every chapter. The challenge was just recognizing each simple lesson and applying those lessons to my

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