Life in the mines

Peekay decides to take a year of school off to work in the copper mines. He decides to do this because pay is high and to build strength for boxing. But he also leaves for the mines because he wants to make a decision by himself. Peekay feels that his camouflage, molding to what others wanted, is suppressing who he really is. Part of the power of one is the ability to make decisions for oneself.  His failure to get a scholarship to Oxford changes others’ view of Peekay. This causes Peekay to realize that up until now, he has allowed everyone around him to mold him into who they want. Peekay’s feels that his decision to go to the mines is truly his own, not based on what others want of him.

In the mines, Peekay is still significantly influenced by his past. He never drinks. He’s seen how Doc’s alcoholism physically affects him during piano lesson. He decides not to box in the local league. At home, he was idolized as Onoshobishobi Ingelosi, Tadpole Angel. He doesn’t want to stand out that much. This desire not to stand out doesn’t stop him from learning to his full ability because Doc taught him it was wrong to play dumb. He becomes the first person to pass the international blasting license in 7 years and the youngest person to ever pass it. Peekay, though seemingly independent, is still making decisions based on the ideas of others. Young children are forced to accept the values of their parents, because that is all they know. What makes a person mature and independent, as Peekay has become, is the ability to use their judgment to choose what values they discard, which they keep, and which they incorporate into themselves.

Onoshobishobi Ingelosi vs. Gideon Mandoma

The proposal to have Peekay fight with the future chief Gideon Mandoma made him realize how connected he is to the African people. The following of Onoshobishobi Ingelosi had grown from a few prisoners into 10,000 people in a town Peekay had never been to. Peekay originally attracted the attention of the prisoners when he helped Geel Piet smuggle tobacco, sugar, and salt into the prisons. Word of his boxing skill also spread, and he became a symbol to the prisoners as a warrior, fighting for African people. He also helped deliver prisoners’ letters. These letters are probably how people outside the prison heard of Onoshobishobi Ingelosi. These people spread the word further, which started the attendance at Peekay’s school boxing matches. Africans working near helped Peekay with small things, like doing his chores. Then he is asked to fight. When he hears he must fight the future chief, and that if he loses he won’t be Onoshobishobi Ingelosi, he considers throwing the fight so the legend will die. He says that he should fight because if he didn’t, he would embarrass everyone who has helped him. But he also knows how important he is to the people. He is a symbol of kindness, of power, of respect, of hope. He was kind to prisoners. He is powerful in the boxing ring. He respects their culture, unlike the vast majority of whites. He is the hope that there are more whites like him, whites that would take a stand and stop the persecution of the African people. If they lost their hope in their culture, the only thing besides the physical land that remained after European imperialism, then that too would be swept away, lost forever.

The Crystal Caves of Africa

When Peekay gets home for Easter break, he and Doc go on an overnight trip to a waterfall and to examine a cliff that possibly contains limestone. The real reason for the trip was that it would likely be Doc’s last adventure. Though he was healthy, he was over eighty years old. He was still in good enough shape to climb the cliff, and he found limestone and a cave. The cave was full of massive crystal stalactites and stalagmites. The cave had taken hundreds of thousands of years to form. The crystals and a ledge formed what looked like an altar. Doc is stunned by the cave’s beauty, and wants it to be his final resting place, to have a crystal form over his body over the course of thousands of years. Doc doesn’t observe any religion. Marie tries to convert him into a reborn Christian, but he refuses. This is because the crystal cave gives him a different type of immortality to pursue. Doc wants to become part of the crystal cave, his body made immortal by crystal. The cave is a symbol for the old Africa, before outsiders came in and soiled it. Harsh, jagged, yet beautiful, and completely empty of outside life. Doc pursued this beauty in life through music. He found it in the prisoners and their work songs. His Requiem for Geel Piet attempts to capture this beauty. His cactus collecting is another attempt to see Africa’s old beauty. Both seem harsh and unfriendly until you get to know it. But by dying in the cave, Doc will become part of the beauty he seeked for years.

Morrie Levy (Chapter 17-18)

Morrie Levy was Peekay’s first close friends that is his peer. Before, Peekay had become close friends with a chicken, a train guard and boxer, a pianist and cactus collector, and a half-black prisoner. Most of these people were adults, and passed on value lessons based on their experience. Morrie provided equally valuable lessons, but more based on money, gambling and risk-taking. Because Morrie was a peer of Peekay, he was more able to understand and help Peekay with his problems. Morrie was able to go to all of Peekay’s boxing matches to get information about Peekay’s opponents because he was a student, making it a lot easier to attend. Morrie’s knowledge of business helped Peekay earn pocket money though betting, as a bank, and on the Miss Bornstein School of Correspondence Notes. Morrie was much more able to understand and give advice about Peekay’s peers because they were his peers as well.

While Morrie was in the same social group as Peekay, he had a vastly different background. Morrie was a Jewish boy from a successful family. Peekay was poor, and suffered the death of some of the few people important to him. Peekay wanted to fit others expectations, while Morrie wanted to defy them. Peekay’s ancestor persecuted others. Morrie’s ancestors were persecuted, especially in the recent world war. These differences led to their different interpretations of the same event or idea. Peekay believed that the Charge of the Light Brigade was one of England’s finest hours, won by brave English men. Morrie thought that the English were so successful both then and in other conquests because the generals didn’t respect their men. They used their men as cannon fodder, and the men were stupid enough to comply, until the English eventually won. Peekay was biased because of his constant exposure to the idea of British superiority, and that was the only version he knew. Morrie had a personal connection to the horrors of the Holocaust. After knowing of so much death, he considered human life more valuable. With his other close friends, Peekay molded himself to accept their values. Morrie clashed with Peekay’s values, opening his mind to new perspectives and ultimately, forcing him to decide what he valued.

Geel Piet and Lieutenant Borman (Chapter 14-15)

Lieutenant Borman killed Geel Piet as an attempt to increase his control of the prison. Lietenant Borman’s main method to maintain control was to intimidate the prisoners by abusing them. This usually worked, and earned him the nickname Shit for Brains from the prisoners. Lieutenant Borman wanted to specifically kill Geel Piet because of his special status as a boxing instructor. Geel Piet had gained respect from both the students and the other instructors for his knowledge and skillful instruction of boxing. However, because he was a yellow kaffir, racism still kept Geel Piet from obtaining much status. Being half kaffir, half white put him at the bottom of the social order. This made it easier for Lieutenant Borman to target him.

Peekay bonded with Geel Piet over boxing, the smuggling of tobacco, salt and sugar into the prison, and transcribing and sending the prisoner’s letters. Peekay also wasn’t racist, unlike most of the people in that time. Peekay was probably the closest person to Geel Piet. Seeing him dead greatly upset him. Captain Smit swore to avenge Peekay. Captain Smit cared very little for a kaffir, but he did care about Peekay. This lead to the interrogation of Lieutenant Borman by Captain Smit and Klipklop in the boxing ring. Lieutenant Borman was beaten up and humiliated, and a prisoner saw. Word of his humiliation greatly diminished his control. Lieutenant Borman’s shrinking size and diminishing health symbolized his decreasing power. Because Lieutenant Borman had shoved a donkey prick up Geel Piet’s arse until entrails spilled, it’s fitting that it was rectal cancer that was plaguing him. This is symbolic for the fact that when he killed Geel Piet, Lieutenant Borman also killed himself. 

Peekay the Boxer (Chapter 12-13)

Peekay’s victory at his first fight was an affirmation of everything he had learned about boxing. Everyone Peekay fought was significantly older and heavier than him. They also were all more “fighters” instead of “boxers”, throwing powerful but inaccurate punches. This is especially true in Peekay’s last fight. Killer Kroon was a year older and almost 40 pounds heavier than Peekay. He was a “fighter” and won quickly in the previous rounds with knockouts, while Peekay was a “boxer” and won on points. During the fight, Peekay dodged Killer Kloon’s power punches and wore him down, scoring lots of points until Killer Kloon had an asthma attack. Like the fight between Jackhammer Smit and Hoppie, the more nimble boxer was able to get in a lot of scoring punches, wear down their opponent, avoiding powerful but easily avoidable punches. This shows Peekay that finesse and speed trumps raw power, aggressiveness, and size. Part of Peekay’s success is also caused by how uncommon it is for boxers to box like Peekay does. Peekay’s opponents aren’t used to fighting people who emphasize skill instead of strength, and don’t know how to beat him. Meanwhile Peekay, due to his relatively young age, can only box against older, bigger kids. Peekay hasn’t developed into a fighter, not only because his mentors teach him otherwise, but because he can’t win as a fighter. This fight is a great example of this, and will help stop Peekay from developing into a fighter when he has the strength to do so.

Peekay and Geel Piet (Chapter 11)

Peekay and Geel Piet are very similar. Both are persecuted due to race. Peekay was persecuted at boarding school because he was English, and Geel Piet is persecuted by society because he is half black and half white. They also differ from their peers in boxing technique. While most people Peekay fought were aggressive, “fighters”, Geel Piet taught Peekay to be a, “boxer”, focusing more on defense and footwork. This aligned with what Hoppie taught Peekay about boxing. Both have to earn Lieutenant Smit’s respect. Peekay does this by working for months to get to a point where Lieutenant Smit will let him box. Geel Piet had to slowly display his knowledge of boxing, until Lieutenant Smit let him teach kids. Through this, their shared passion of boxing is expressed. The problems of racial discrimination was much worse for Geel Piet than it was for Peekay. This is because Peekay was only persecuted at the boarding school, while Geel Piet was persecuted everywhere. Like Peekay, Geel Piet figured out how to survive the system. If Geel Piet went free, he would have to figure out how to deal with the new forms of discrimination against him. Staying in prison is safer because Geel Piet knows how to get himself in the least amount of trouble possible. This understanding is partly why Peekay agrees to bring Geel Piet tobacco, and later sugar and salt. Peekay understands that resisting oppression in even the smallest ways, like refusing to cry when the Judge bullied, makes surviving under that oppression easier.

The Wolves in Doc's Head (Chapter 10)

Doc’s alcohol problem was brought on by stage fright resulting in public humiliation. Being booed off stage in Berlin ruined Doc’s confidence in his playing ability. He now couldn’t even play the part he messed up on in private. Losing what he had worked so hard for led to depression. In an attempt to cope with the depression, Doc started drinking. He tried to silence the “howling wolves in his head”, which was actually the booing from the Berlin audience, not from alcohol itself. When the sergeant arresting Doc poured whisky over the piano, Doc wasn’t just upset because the whiskey would damage the instrument. Before it was a mental problem, but now alcohol was physically affecting Doc. Despite this, Doc turns to alcohol one more time. Doc drinks some whiskey to silence the wolves in his head so he can successfully perform the full Beethoven symphony. Doc doesn’t drink enough so that he becomes intoxicated. He used alcohol to calm his nerves so much that even just a taste gave him his confidence. After this, Doc no longer needed alcohol. His success empowered him to overcome stage fright in the future.

Alcohol typically further ruins people’s lives, but Doc was able to use it to support himself. Without it, he would fall into despair any time he tried to play piano. Alcohol makes people forget their troubles. Most people use this effect of alcohol so that they can ignore and run away from their problem. Doc used alcohol to face his problem head on, without being impeded by his past mistakes.  

The Lord (Chapter 8-9)

When Peekay is reunited with his mother, he discovers that she has become a born-again Christian. To Peekay, his mom is not only reborn, but a completely different person. She is now totally devoted to the Lord. Peekay has trouble with the concept of God, and initially thinks he is a just a person. His mother pressures Peekay to open his heart to God, but he doesn’t because he doesn’t fully understand what God is. This creates conflict between Peekay and his mother which further separates them. The separation had started when Peekay was nursed by his Zulu nanny instead of his mother. Peekay bonded to his nanny more than his mother because the Zulu nanny both provided him with food and was in physical contact with his nanny more. When Peekay calls the Lord a shithead for advising his mother to send his nanny away, he shows he cares more about being with his nanny then listening to and adopting his mother’s beliefs. This is the main reason his mother is upset. His mother doesn’t want to admit that she let another woman become Peekay’s mother figure, so she bases her punishment because he insulted the Lord, not her.

Peekay met Doc when he took a picture of him sitting on a rock. They quickly became friends, and later Doc convinced Peekay’s mother to allow him to teach Peekay piano. He taught Peekay about piano and cacti, but he also taught him to think and listen to himself. This directly conflicted with his mother’s pleas to blindly accept the Lord. The emotional separation between him and his mother, and the new mentoring by Doc pushes Peekay away from the Lord.

Peekay the Welterweight (Chapter 4-6)

When Pisskop left the boarding school, he started a transformation. The kinder, more accepting personality of Hoppie allowed for this growth. Mevrou's harsh rules and racist judgments were longer forced on Peekay. Hoppie let him take off his tackies, and even found a way to replace them with nicer tackies that actually fit. Instead of letting Peekay eat the gross sandwiches packed for him, Hoppie paid for Peekay to eat the much nicer train food. Hoppie accepted Peekay. Mevrou hated Peekay because of his English ancestry, but Hoppie turned being English into a positive. While Mevrou hated Peekay for things his ancestors did, Hoppie accepted that the past is over and that you can't feed your hate on the past. In the boarding school, the Judge was dominant because of his age and size, but Hoppie introduced the idea that small could beat big. He demonstrated that having a plan could let you win regardless of size when he beat Jackhammer Smit, who was 60 pounds heavier than Hoppie. Hoppie also taught Peekay that being confident can unnerve your opponent. Jackhammer Smit taunts Hoppie to try to upset him. Hoppie responds calmly, and it is Jackhammer Smit who becomes frustrated and angry, which inhibits Jackhammer Smit during the fight. Hoppie encouraged Peekay to take risks. Peekay bet on the boxing match with money that was supposed to be for emergencies. Hoppie introduced Peekay to boxing. Most of the other lessons were taught with relation to or justified by boxing. More importantly, it also gave Peekay something to be passionate about.