Bryce Courtenay: The Labels Of Every Man

The Labels of Every Man Learned at a ripe age, what begins in the earliest stages of a child’s life becomes a mindset, an unspoken belief that settles into the back of their hearts. Generalizations, particularly stereotypes, are instilled within every child as a fundamental part of their core beliefs whether they accept them or not. They become a sort of instinct, a thought that no matter how detestable cannot be purged from their mind. In The Power of One, Bryce Courtenay acquaints Peekay with societal oppression and discrimination in the form of the Judge in order to ingrain the negative generalization of a rooinek into his judgement. Thereafter, Peekay unconsciously views himself as separate and inferior from others despite his attempts

As an Englishman at an all Boer academy, Peekay is the target of hateful revenge for the Boer concentration camps hundreds of years ago. He believes he is “doomed to be a pisshead for the rest of [his] life” because of the bitter, yet influential words of the Judge, his main tormentor (Courtenay 7). By assuming that he is “doomed”, Peekay is convinced that his eternal torture was inevitable because being a “pisshead” and a worthless human was an integral part of his identity. His heritage becomes his sole classification at school and consequently develops into a label of inferiority for the latter part of his life. This traumatic punishment influences his judgement even after boarding school, demonstrated in his reluctance to admit his rooinek identity to Hoppie because he believed that Hoppie “might think differently” of him (Courtenay 67). Peekay respects Hoppie as an adult and hides his identity because he feels that being a rooinek would degrade his reputation in Hoppie’s eyes. To go to the extent of consciously hiding his heritage, Peekay has solidified the idea of his inferior status into his personal

In his vision, a piercing white light evades Peekay’s mind and as the chants of the People become eminent, Peekay describes how “the light and the sound were one” (434). Peekay perceives the light as a “whiteness” that “sharpened” his pain indicating that the light was a representation of his white identity, the cause to the traumatic pain Peekay had to endure. The sound, on the contrary, symbolizes the People of Africa as their chant “Come back Africa” hinted at the hope and desire for the revival of Africa into one united force (434). Through understanding that both his identity as an Englishman and ties to the kaffirs were one in the same, Peekay breaks the barrier he believed would inhibit him from truly connecting with the People. Peekay is overcome with this prophetic vision in order to bring about the realization that Peekay “was a part of the crystal cave of Africa” (Courtenay 434). The crystal cave was discovered by Doc and Peekay and became a symbol of the history of South Africa in which harmony had existed between the people. By realizing that he was apart of this history, Peekay understands that he is no longer the “white child” of Africa and does not need to be restricted by racial differences. Peekay’s vision of the harmony of light and sound allows him to discards his