Intro paragraph:
Thesis: Peekay and Johnny Day show the power of one through uniting individuals, receiving encouragement from others, and overcoming interferences that come their way.
Both the characters bring people together in order to create unity throughout a community. Peekay united the tribes of the concentration camp with singing about oppression. The tribes sat together and sang in African to the officers of the camp. They were singing against oppression and using words to describe how they felt. By singing together it shows what a group of people fighting for the same cause can do. Johnny Day climbed the quarry wall and ended up getting stuck. Since he becomes stuck, he brings everyone from the community together. Everyone below him is cheering, praying, or yelling at him to get down, but he keeps going. The crowd is described, "There they stood, shoulder to shoulder, ruler and ruled, richer and poorer, white and black and yellow and brown, with their eyes fixed on a small piece of whiteness halfway up the quarry face, and those of them who knew a thing or two knew that the boy was in a position of considerable danger" (Paton 100). The quarry represents apartheid and Johnny Day is taking on apartheid and climbing over it. Johnny Day didn't intentionally bring everyone together but because he was so small it brought fear for a child. (closing sentence here).
Encouragement is a big part of a person's life and it makes them a more confident and willing person. Peekay and Johnny Day need encouragement in order to show their independence. Peekay is given a chicken by an African medicine man. He shows Peekay how to be courageous and strong willed. Peekay faces an elephant as a test and doesn't move at all. Johnny Day is encouraged by the crowd below when he faces a challenge on the quarry wall. Johnny can't find a place for his feet and is very frightened. The author describes the difficulty of the ledge, "The ledge was so wide that he could turn himself about for the first time, stand with his back to the quarry face and look down on the hundreds of people below. Some of them clapped and cheered him; some of them looked at him out of troubled eyes" (Paton 100-101). The crowd is a huge influence on Johnny because it keeps him going even farther until he reaches the ledge he is climbing. (closing sentence)
Authority is a big factor in one's life. Being permitted to do something is usally the cause for the action. Peekay's life is interfered with when his boxing instructor, Geel Piet, is beaten to death by an officer. The officer beat Geel because he didn't sing with the others since he was planning an escape. Peekay overcomes this loss by remembering all of what Geel had taught him and continuing to fight against oppression. In front of the quarry there was a sign that had prohibited climbing. Johnny went ahead and climbed anyway regardless of the sign. Johnny ignored the sign because he was going towards something that he had wanted to do. This is the same idea of fighting against oppression because Johnny is rising against is by climbing the quarry wall. Authority is shown here, "The notice said, No Climbing by Order, only whose order is was, no one knew" (Paton 97). Johnny was going to show everyone that he was able to climb the quarry and that nothing would stop him. By climbing the wall, it brings together a community.
Both the characters bring people together in order to create unity throughout a community (how about a different word so it does not sound silly, unity in the community.)
The crowd is described ,
The crowd was dense, and the people, "stood, shoulder to shoulder, ...
use a comma:
Johnny went ahead and climbed anyway, regardless of the sign.
So your thesis is that they both do these three things. That could be more meaningful...
Think of a theme. What is the common underlying principle that causes them to do these things. Do they both represent the same theme? If you look for their common trait that makes them act this way, it might become a theme that sharpens your thesis and makes the essay more memorable...
:-)
