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Triumph Over Adversity
By definition resiliency is the ability to recover from depression or adversity and throughout the Novel The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay, the Protagonist, Peekay, endures many hard times in which he shows resiliency.
One of these extremely hard times is the death of his chicken and best friend, Grandpa Chook. The Judge's brutal murder of Grandpa Chook left Peekay scared, upset, and vulnerable. Grandpa Chook was not only Peekay's friend, but also his guardian. Whenever Peekay was in trouble, whether it be with Mevrou or the Judge, Grandpa Chook was always there to save him, thus his death was an extremely hard thing for a young boy with no friends. Neverthele ...view middle of the document...
Peekay never knew his real father and Doc was the only fatherly figure he had ever known. His death caused a real setback in Peekay's mind, where he could no longer think of his dreams of being the Welterweight Champion of the World, but only of how distraught he was over the loss of his "father," Doc. The second reason Doc's death hit Peekay so hard was that after experiencing only the brutal deaths of Grandpa Chook and Geel Piet, Doc's peaceful death was something he was unable to comprehend. As a result he could not move on. So, to find closure, Peekay climbed to the Crystal Cave, and it was there that he showed his resiliency because when he came down, all he could think about was becoming the welterweight champion of the world.
Yet Another Hardship for Peekay was when he did not receive a scholarship to Oxford. Although his friend Morrie offered to pay his tuition, Peekay refused because he wanted to make a living for himself. In an attempt to triumph over this hardship, Peekay went to the mines of South Africa as a grizzly. Despite all odds, after working in the mines and nearly experiencing death twice, Peekay was still alive and finally had enough Money for college. Once again, Peekay found a way to recover from the disappointment of not getting a scholarship and thus, showed his resiliency one more time.
Throughout this Novel, Peekay always has some adversity he needs to overcome. Whether it be the brutal death of his best friend, Grandpa Chook, the peaceful one of his fatherly figure, Doc, or the rejection of a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University in England, Peekay overcomes it, thus showing how very resilient he is.
