Christopher Booker is a scholar who wrote that every story falls into one of seven basic plot structures: Overcoming the Monster, Rags to Riches, the Quest, Voyage and Return, Comedy, Tragedy, and Rebirth. Shmoop explores which of these structures fits this story like Cinderella’s slipper.
Plot Type : Voyage and Return
The Call
Peekay finds life at school to be oppressive and intolerable (to put it mildly), and just when things are at their darkest he is put on a two-day train to a town he's never seen, where his mother and grandpa now live. On the train he meets Hoppie Groenewald, who teaches him about boxing and inspires him to try to become the welterweight champion of the world.
The Journey
Peekay encounters many dangerous ordeals. His best friend, Doc, the music professor, is put into prison during the war because he did not register as an alien (he ditched his UFO before coming to town). Peekay remains true to him until he is freed, and meanwhile helps the prisoners and trains to become a boxer. A prison guard kills his favorite boxing coach, Geel Piet, and Peekay always remembers his advice.
Arrival and Frustration
At a new boarding school, an older Peekay is an unbeatable boxer and excellent student. He's a natural leader, but he doesn't know where he will get the money to pay for university and for boxing training to become a champion.
The Final Ordeals
Peekay fights a Zulu chief and wins—barely—affirming his place as a leader of the People. He decides to go to the mines to work and save money for school, but he suffers a terrible accident and only survives thanks to the sacrifice of a friend. He meets his old tormenter—the Judge—in a bar and must fight the big, strong, insane man or be killed. No pressure or anything.
The Goal
Peekay wins the fight, knocking out the Judge and carving his initials into his arm. He feels renewed, and the terrible, empty loneliness he has felt ever since he was a small child vanishes.