Blog Entry 7

Blog 7

Peekay is a very special kind of character. He has a different personality and I find that his boxing name that was given to him while he boxed for Klipkop and the Barberton Blues, ‘Gentleman Peekay’. Peekay was the alternative name for Pisskop and ‘Gentleman’ showed his upbringing. He was a tortured boy and yet he didn’t seem to want to lash out at anyone in anger. Instead he was a gentleman. Another thing about Peekay is his way of describing things, although we know it is not Peekay describing these things. He has a unique style of saying things. An excellent example of this is whenever he is on the train. Usually people like you and me hear the constant clickity clack of the rails, but not Peekay, he hears Hoppie’s voice whispering in his ear ‘first with the head, then with the heart’. Another more crude example is when he reaches a certain part of puberty and he is hit with the ‘sex lightning’. It is also his style of writing throughout the book. The words seem to grow with age, just like Peekay does. The older Peekay gets in the book, the more mature the words sound when he is ‘writing’ them. Just little things like this, him describing them like that, it is like those exact words were in the back of my mind but the way Peekay says it is like a new style of vocabulary has sprung to my mind. Another thing I find special about Peekay is his willingness to learn. He listens and has the incredible gift of being able to remember everything. He soaks up everything he is told. I find it quite hilarious that the first idea that someone tells him positively becomes his dream. Hoppie tells Peekay that he is going to become the world’s greatest welterweight champion for boxing, and this is when Peekay is only six years old. This is his dream throughout his whole life. It just goes to show that any amount of positive feedback or input can change a child’s life forever. Another thing about Peekay is his determination. He seems to have this steely look on life and he grits his teeth and takes whatever is thrown at him. His life is much like his boxing career.  I just find that the way whole book is intertwined is fascinating, how he always finds ways to overcome the impossible. The language conventions that Bryce Courtenay uses to describe Peekay are different but effective. Some places things are spelt wrong or things are described in a child’s way, just to show the naivety of Peekay.