The Power of One and Cry Freedom - Triumph against adversary
Uploaded by mysticivory on Oct 17, 2001
"The most potent weapon of the oppressor is in the mind of the oppressed” – Steve Biko
Triumph means to be victorious or successful and an adversary is someone you compete against or fight, like an enemy. So to triumph against your adversary is to defeat your enemy. “The Power of One” and “Cry Freedom” are two different stories, written by two different people, but both have the theme “Triumph Against Adversity”. Both of the stories were set in South Africa during the times of a white ruled government where black people were considered inferior to white man and were treated so.
“The Power of One”, written by Bryce Courtney, is about a young boy (Peekay) who stands up to racism in the white-ruled South Africa of the 1940’s.
At the young age of five, Peekay was sent to boarding school where he received endless torment from the other kids because he was the only English person there. After years of ill treatment from the leader of the kids, the judge, and his young followers, Peekay finally decided to stand up for himself. This is an example of how Peekay triumphed against his adversaries.
After boarding school, at the age of six, Peekay was sent back to live with his family. There he befriended Professor Von Vollensteen (Doc), a German man who was a teacher of music. Not long after they met, Doc was arrested by police, suspected of being a German spy. At the court hearing, the Judge declared that Doc be acquitted of all spy charges. However he was charged with being an unregistered alien and the court ordered that he be detained for the duration of the war. He was sent to Barberton Prison where he was one of few white men there.
Peekay regularly visited Doc at the prison. It was obvious to Peekay on his first visit to the prison that black people were considered inferior to white people. Because Doc was white, he was treated well and given special privileges that no black man would ever receive. These privileges were also granted because the Kommandmant wanted Doc to play the piano at the bi-annual visit of the inspector of prisons. So to keep Doc happy until the concert, he could do almost as he pleased. Because Doc allowed do his own thing, he had triumphed against his adversary.
At Barberton Prison, there was a boxing team that...