"I wasn't quite sure what death was . . . and I knew that death wasn't as good as life." The year is 1939, and Hitler's radical ideals are spreading rapidly not only through Europe, but in South Africa as well. Peekay, the protagonist in Bryce Courtenay's novel, portrays the hardships and anxieties experienced by a young boy who is deemed an outcast by his colored peers.

The novel begins with a five-year-old boy and his internal struggles after his mother suffers from a nervous breakdown. Soon after, he is torn away from the refuge of his Zulu nurse and transported to a boarding school where white English-speaking people are considered outsiders. Throughout his time at the boarding school, he is pursued and humiliated by the older boys in the most degrading ways. One of the most relentless bullies named the "Judge" shows his cruel brutality to the little boy. All this time, he pours out all of his troubles to his only friend - a kaffir chicken named Granpa Chook.

The little boy's life becomes more torturous as his tormentors begin to threaten his life when the news of a war declaration gushes throughout the school. Cries of "Heil, Hitler!" erupt from the South Africans, who vow to avenge the Boers by forcing the British to march into the sea. Because of the boy's English heritage, he is now under punishment as a "prisoner of war" to the Facist-influenced African children. On the last day of school, the Judge and his gang seek to humiliate and debase the English boy. Traumatized by their actions, the boy's spirit is finally broken when the persecutors kill his beloved chicken. Even when escape from his oppressors seems unfeasible, a little miracle emerges and puts the little boy at ease for a while.

Now, at six years old, the last term of the school year comes to an end for the boy, when his family gives him a train ticket to travel to Barberton, in Eastern Transvaal, where his grandfather and mother await his arrival. Before he leaves for home, the Mevrou of the boarding school takes the young boy to a Jewish-run shoe store and buys him a pair of oversized tackies. There, the owner of the store graciously names the boy Peekay. While on his journey back home, he befriends a lightweight boxing champion named Hoppie Groenewald. During a boxing match that evening, Peekay realizes that "small can beat big." Although their friendship is short-lived, Hoppie leaves behind the impression of "first with the head, then with the heart."

Upon his return

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