Focusing on some of the motifs mentioned in class (use your in-class notes as reference), write three paragraphs supporting one of the motifs and integrate 3 different quotes which support your points. This is excellent practice for your in-class essay on Tuesday. Remember to use MLA format when citing.
After you have finished your paragraphs, read another classmates' writing and provide constructive criticism. This week, even if you're first, you must peer review another's post. Post your paragraphs by Monday at midnight -- you get some extra time this holiday weekend!
61 comments:
One of the most prevalent motifs in this book was the necessity of education. Despite the fact that there is a great famine going on, William's father still sends William to school for as long as possible without paying the fees. At that time it was "Every man for himself" (139). Because the maize hadn't grown yet and there was no food from the year before because weather conditions destroyed the crop. William's father was an uneducated man who knew that for his son to get out of the cycle of sustenance farming he needed an education. It may seem wrong to take advantage of an already under-funded school, but the above quote shows that you had to do what you had to do regardless of other people.
William's father desperately wanted him to make it in life and receive a quality education. Knowing this, William got books out from the library and studied, trying to keep up with his classmates. He did this because "If you want to make it, all you have to do is try" (281). He poured his heart and soul into staying educated and look what he has to show for it. His windmills brought power to his family and helped his town, he finally got to go back to school, attend conferences all over Africa, visit the United States, attend the first pan-African school, and now he attends Dartmouth. It can be easily said that he has made it.
Throughout the book William learns not only about engineering and other traditional school subjects, he also learns to help other people and that one success can open the door to a whole new world, one he could only dream about previously. "Everyone shares the same hunger, son. We must learn to forgive" (159). This is said by William's father after some starving people eat some of their corn. This shows that William was also encouraged to learn to be empathetic and to realize that sometimes you must give some of the little that you have to other people in need, because you yourself have been in that situation as well. The motif of education recurres throughout the book, but not always in the traditional sense.
Poverty is a huge problem in our world today and is also a reoccurring motif in The Boy Who Harnesses The Wind. As a result of poverty, William and his family suffered through the famine. "Everyone has the same hunger, son. We must learn to forgive" (159). Says Williams father regarding the thieves that stole some of their maize. These thieves are stealing because they too are suffering from poverty and therefore have no other way to get food.
It is extremely hard for William to construct his windmill when him and his family don't have any money. William resorted to digging through trash and old machinery. He wanted to make life easier for his family which is why he decided to build the windmill in the first place. "I try, and I made it" (268). This is how William explains his motivation to build the windmill even under the tough reality of poverty.
William was able to pursue his dream even though it almost seemed impossible. In William's eyes anything is possible as long as you try. "If you want to make it, all you need to do is try" (281). That is the ending line of William's story. He chose to say that because he really wants to send the message that people's dreams really can come true even if they are suffering through poverty as well.
Ben-
That was very to the point and easy to read and you opened my eyes to some things that I hadn't thought of before.
Noah-
It's great you addressed the importance of education. Education is the one thing that his father hoped to provide for William and I think it's great that you've brought it to people's attention.
One of the most important motifs in the Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is hunger. Hunger plays a major roll in William’s life, and his country. There are two droughts throughout this book, which play a major roll in William’s childhood and how he develops as a young child. Because of the drought William’s family can’t spend any money for his education, although this is a bad thing it gives William the chance to go to the library on study things that interest him. “I know, but I want to know about this” (163). This is what William said to the Librarian when she was asking why he wanted books about electricity and “diodes.” Though the drought was obviously a bad thing that happened to Malawi, William did have an advantage that he could focus all his attention on what he cared about, rather than all the different topics taught at a school.
The motif of hunger is also important in this book because when people go through tough times, it highlights certain characteristics in each person’s personality. When William learned of the harsh consequences of the boy who stole his cousin’s “dowe” William asked his father what he would do if they caught someone trying to steal their crops. His father replied “Everyone has the same hunger, son. We must learn to forgive” (159). This shows how compassionate William’s father is. William looks up to and respects his father very much, and how the readers can see his father’s personality in a tough situation allows the readers to connect deeper and understand William’s point of view better.
After the droughts have gone by, and William’s family has plenty of food again, readers can tell that his family is starting to feel better. Through some jokes and laughs William says “We all laughed about it now, because it was only during the better times that we truly acknowledge the bad ones” (185). This shows how living through the famines and starvation allows his family to appreciate the happier times even more.
Life in the small town of Kasungu, Malawi where William grew up is anything but easy. Throughout the story, we read astounding accounts of a famine epidemic sweeping the country, and incredible poverty following in its wake. While many of the Malawi people begin to lose hope, William uses his strong determination to carry him through these dark times. After dropping out of school, William begins to create his own windmill from used scraps near his schoolyard. "Finally, I decided that whenever someone shouted from the schoolyard, 'William, what are you doing in the garbage?' I'd just smile and say 'Nothing, only playing"(189). This demonstration of perseverance while all of his peers and neighbors mocked him, shows just how much he cared about science and the determination he had to achieve his dream.
While the people are waiting in line for maize, a man in front of Willaim collapses from hunger. "…and he collapsed. To my horror, the crowd simply stepped over him"(108). This quote shows the desperation of the time, and how easy it soon became to lose the determination one might have had before. Most people would probably say that they would help the man up in that situation, but despondancy hits in and the idea of feeding their families and making it through the famine alive, people would be surprised how they would really act. In this way, William's efforts to create alternative energy is even more admirable, for his environment and conditions.
"If you want to make it, all you have to do is try"(289). The very last line of the book leaves us with a resolution that instills the motif I chose of determination even further. Throughout the book, people were told they wouldn't make it. If William hadn't put his dog down, perhaps he too would have had the determination to last a little longer. The idea that you can do anything that you dream about if you try is a comforting idea, and William's story definitely proves this point. The motif of determination was reoccurring and very accurate in the novel The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
One of the re-occurring motifs in this book was William showing determination to be successful. In The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind William would go to the library and read for hours even though he could have been helping at the house or trying to find a way to make a little extra money. Instead, William had faith in his father to support his family so he and his sisters could focus on the future as his friend Geoffrey said when William and Gilbert would got to the library, Geoffrey would say " Go ahead, Waste your time"(172).
William also showed perseverance and determination by going to school as long as he could every year even when he knew that his family didn't have the money to keep him in school. William even would sneak into school and keep quiet in the back corners as he would only listen to the teacher so he could still learn. As William says "I had to calculate my movements carefully" (180), because if he was causeght he would be embarrased in front of the entire class which, as a young kid seems like a terrible thing to happen which shows the risk he was taking to be able to learn
Lastly, William showed extreme determination building his windmill because, even though their were not many resources, He used everything he could. One thing he did which i thought was amazing was that he knew womens shoes had the right kind of rubber to make their prototype so they spent all day looking for a shoe. "All day geoffrey and i dug through the rubbish pits at his house, Aunt Chrissy's house, Socrate's house, and finally my house" (173), which i thought showed extreme determination, especially to find a small piece of rubber.
Being resourceful is a very important motif used in The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. Because he was living in a poverty-stricken country, William Kamkwamba had none of the resources manufacturers in the United States would use to make a windmill. With great determination, William searched through scrapyards, neighbors’ backyards, and underneath the ground to find all the materials necessary to build a working windmill. What might seem like trash to the villagers and other people, would be a treasured components William searched for. Since William was resourceful enough to find all the necessary parts to build a windmill, he eventually built a very successful windmill which was “Just a flash at first, then a surge of bright, magnificent light”(203). With his great use of resources, William not only gave his village electricity, but also great pride.
In times of great crisis like the famine in William’s country, the villagers became very resourceful. As food ran low throughout each household, the villagers were forced to use every bit of the maize and pumpkins including the peels. William and his friend Charity also tried to cook the hide of a goat which would have been thrown out during normal times. “Normally this would make a terrible stench,” but due to their hunger, all they “smelled was cooking meat”(119). If the village had a successful harvest that year, they would have thrown out the goat skin and the maize and pumpkin peels, but the desperate times they faced caused them to not waste anything.
Although William had great perseverance and determination to build his windmill, he would not have been able to without one essential resource, the library. Since William couldn’t understand English very well, he was lucky he found books that had “lots of pictures and diagrams which [he] found easy to understand”(162). Amazing events like the construction of a fully functional windmill in a poor country can start with just a little bit of reading.
Xavy-
I thought you had great explanations and support for your motif of hunger. However, I believe there should be more detail about how the famine and starvation actually help William's family appreciate happy times. It was a bit vague.
“To me, he was the biggest, strongest man in the world.” This quote is from William talking about his dad, this quote really hits home in terms of Williams love and admiration for his father. Threw out the book William will mention how strong, brave, and kind his father was to him and all others around him. Williams love for his father is extremely strong and that seems to be a very big part of the book. Williams love for his family. “At recess, talk of soccer was replaced by tales of hunger” This quote is a quote is about the starvation and the desperation to survive that had replaced this small towns usually nice atmosphere. This quote reminds us that everyone in this town is suffering, Even the kids. "His body was to weak to make any real noise, just a panicked whine that came deep within. He knew I was leaving him." This quote is about Williams dog dieing. In a lot of ways, even though William is surrounded by suffering and death. The death of his dog seemed to effect him a lot more than usual. William tryed to tell himself that it was only a dog, but inside he knew that he loved that dog as he loves his family.
The main theme of this story seems to have a lot to do with family, loss, and suffering. a good family is something that you need when you are surround by suffering and I think William understands that most of all.
Hansol- I really liked your motif, and the three very different examples of resourcefulness in the story. I'm not sure that the first quote backs up the rest of your paragraph (about scrapmetal and creating the windmill) as well as it could. I'm sure you could find a quote towards the middle, directed completely to the salvaging of parts.There were a few minor grammar mistakes, but otherwise a really great job!
It takes a truly remarkable person to change the world, and what makes William Kamkwamba even more remarkable is that he did this at age 14 without any resources. In The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, William tells his story as he builds a life-changing machine out of nothing. William showed extraordinary devotion to this project, but that was not the only time that devotion is displayed in the book; it was a reoccurring theme that could be seen throughout the story in not only William, but other characters as well.
The first sign of true dedication is seen in William’s canine companion Khamba. William was ridiculed by his friends at the trading center for having this mangy friend, so William made every effort to get Khamba out of his life. He kicked up the dirt and cursed the dog off, but nothing could break his dog’s loyalty. Through William’s outbursts, Khamba was devoted. Through the famine, Khamba was devoded. To the death, Khamba had undying devotion to William. As William mournfully recalled that dismal day, he knew that “the rope hadn’t budged. There’d been no struggle… When Khamba saw me leave, he’d given up his will to live”(148).
In addition, devotion is seen in William’s family throughout the devastating famine that struck Malawi. The crisis grew steadily as time went on and food dwindled until there was none left at all. “As if overnight, people’s bodies began changing into horrible shapes. They were now scattered across the land by the thousands, scavenging the soil like animals. Far from home and away from their families, they were dying”(134). Many fathers, if they hadn’t died already, abandoned their wives and children in a final effort to survive. Families were ripped apart by death and desertion, but not William’s family; they remained devoted to each other and not surviving as individuals, but surviving as a whole.
As well as being loyal to his family, William was completely devoted to the windmill that he set out to build. There were numerous setbacks along the way, including having trouble reading the informational text books, finding materials at the junkyard, creating his own materials, finding money to fund his project, and being called crazy throughout his village. Building the windmill was a long and grueling process, and “each piece told its won tale of discovery, of being lost and found in a time of hardship and fear. Finally together now, we were all being reborn”(2). He plowed through every obstacle, and as a result, his mission was successful.
This success resulted in William changing himself, his family, his village, his country, and ultimately the world. He provides inspiration for people of all ages and shows that to make a difference, all it takes is devotion to your aspirations and goals.
Jonathan -
I thought that the best part of your response was the quotes that you chose. They were very powerful, and I thought that they all were very important to the story. Your quotes were also supported well with your thoughts and other details from the story. I think that your last paragraph might work really well if it was at the beginning, so that people know what themes to be looking for as they read. You should remember to use apostrophes for showing possession, like "William's," but otherwise I thought that your response was great!
One of the motifs in The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind by William
Kamkwamba is determination. In the book, William and his village
experience a famine. William and his dog Khamba go out hunting in
order to try to find some food. William then constructs a mechanism that
lures animals in and sling shots them into a pile of bricks, “ When the birds landed to eat the chaff, I’d pull the rope and release the sling, slamming the birds into the wall of bricks” (62). The fact that his dog and him have to wait for long lengths of time for the birds to arrive and that William constructed this machine takes a lot of determination.
Another instance of determination in this book is when William drops out of school and decides to study on his own, under the mango tree. With no education, the determination William shows to get one is astonishing. He is very motivated and goes so far as to teach himself what he thinks he needs to learn in order to catch up to his peers, “What did you cover today in geography?” “Weather patterns.” Can I get your notes tomorrow?” “For sure” (161).
Lastly William shows great determination when he is sifting through the scrap yard for pieces for his windmill. The school kids nearby constantly make fun of William saying things like, “Hey look, it’s William, digging in the garbage again!” (188). William had to go through this and look around for rare, miniscule pieces in a scrap yard. And looking for the pieces wasn’t the hardest deed either, he had to conjure up this idea of building a windmill just from looking at a picture, all this takes a lot of determination.
Claire- I liked your points about Khamba and his devotion to William. Like you said, I now see that other characters were devoted as well. The way you summed up that paragraph was good also. Your quote supported your points perfectly
Community is one of the most important motifs in The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind. Throughout the book, William receives both support and ridicule from the people in his town. When he spends hours in the junkyard looking for windmill parts, he is treated as a crazy person, and children in a nearby school shout insults at him. "Even days when I tried sneaking past, someone would spot me through the open window and yell, 'There goes the madman off to smoke his chamba!'"(188). When the mothers of the children who see him find out about his work, they tell William's mother. She is not a source of help for William, but of discouragement: "'What's wrong with you?' she said… 'I mean, look at this room! It looks like a madman's room. Only madmen collect garbage' "(189). When William's community does not understand his efforts, they are hostile to them.
After the success of the first windmill, however, the ideas of the townspeople about William change, and they become far more supportive. The first time the windmill is displayed for a crowd, they see the error of their ways: " One by one, the crowd began to cheer. They raised their hands in the air, clapping and shouting… 'We doubted you, but look at you now!' "(204). From then on, many people in the village come to admire the windmill and congratulate William. He has won the support of his community through a clear demonstration of the value of his invention.
However, there were two people who William never needed to win over. His father supported him in the face of pessimism by his mother, keeping the family tolerant of his 'project': " '…[my mother] told my father, 'He's never going to find a wife… how will he care for her and feed his family?' 'Leave the boy alone,' my father said. 'Let's see what he has up his sleeve' "(189). William's father was always supportive of him, even before there was any evidence that the windmill would work. The other person who helped WIlliam from the start was his friend Gilbert. Gilbert's family had more money than the Kamkwambas, so Gilbert would use his own money to buy parts for the windmill: " 'My father gave me some small money,' said Gilbert. 'Let's use it to buy the dynamo…' 'Zikomo kwambiri, Gilbert,' I said. 'Thank you very much. You're the greatest friend I ever had' "(193). Several times, Gilbert helped William with the things that he could not pay for. The windmill would not have been possible without his friendship. Ultimately, it is William's community that gives him the ability to accomplish his dream.
Max,
I think that your main point about determination is correct. It required a strong will for William to complete the windmill. The quote about hunting seems to be more about patience than anything else, although I can sort of see your point, and the other quotes worked great for the topic. Determination is an excellent motif to write about.
A motif from The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind is perseverance. Throughout the entire book William discusses his experience with struggling against the majority, and as a result being the laughing stock of Malawi for quite some time. William did not quit when he was faced with a problem, and that was because of the strength he possessed within himself. The quote that best describes this observation is “I went to sleep dreaming of Malawi and the things made possible when you dreams are powered by your heart”(280). William is fortunate in that he has a heart full of inspiration and the need to succeed. The enthusiasm William expressed, especially while researching windmills, was refreshing and reassuring.
William was not born and raised in the most convenient area of the world. He came across with school and at home, supporting his family through the famine. When William was forced to drop out of school he took matters into his own hands. William went to the library and read books on engineering, windmills, alternative energy, etc. He did not let the consequences of a sticky situation affect his right to learn. William proves his ability to solve any problem when he says “the light goes off and I’m stranded. But I’m already thinking of a plan for having a battery”(209). William was always thinking positively and for what he could do to better the results. He was able to handle poor quality, but worked hard to avoid it.
One of William's motivators was his father, Trywell. From the beginning of this book there is one adjective William uses to describe his father, strong. After sharing his experience with the stolen gum and being saved by his father, William says “My father was strong, and feared no magic” (6). He shared stories with us about his father’s accomplishments and life as a young man. It seemed as if William aspired to be his father and looked up to him in every way. William then shares that he does not intend on turning out like his father, poor and struggling. William wanted to learn from his father’s mistakes and live a life that was much more successful than his. While respecting his father, William wants to prove he can be a stronger person.
Ben- After reading your post, I thought about how much William had to overcome along his journey to creating this windmill. I hadn't thought too much into the subject of poverty because William never complained about the tools he was forced to work with. Poverty plays a huge role in why this story is so inspiring and impressive.
In The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, one important motif was determination. Times were very tough in Malawi when William was growing up. He came from a family of farmers. When farming policies changed due to the new president, times got tougher. William’s family had to do the farming themselves. “But without the help of seasonal workers, it was up to me and my cousins to help keep our farm running” (55). William knew he had to help more with the farm, and instead of being upset he accepted this and worked even harder. He was determined to keep his farm running and his family alive.
Even though William had next to nothing, he kept trying to build his windmill and experiment with other things to help his family and village so that they could have electricity. On several occasions his experiments and contraptions wouldn’t work or they broke, but he continued to fix them and come up with better ideas so he could accomplish his goal. In the book, he mentioned a very important lesson. “If you want to make it, all you have to do is try” (281). William lived by this during the entire time that he was trying to make a windmill and run electricity into his home. He never stopped trying to reach his ultimate goal.
During the time that William was studying windmills and making his own, it would have been very easy for him to stop studying and working on the windmill, but he loved his creations and the thought of helping his family too much. His tutor once told him, “‘whatever you want to do, if you do it with all your heart, it will happen’” (275). Since William did love his windmill, he kept working, even through tough times, and although many people doubted him and discouraged him, eventually, he accomplished what many people thought was impossible.
Sumner- I thought you had really good examples of perseverance and your quotes worked well. I liked how you used examples that aren't just never giving up. I also liked how you included William's father and how William looks up to him, but wants better for himself and you seemed to include many aspects of the book, like poverty and education, which I liked and thought worked well.
Throughout The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, William Kawkwamba frequently references his struggle to get an education. His largest struggle is his family’s inability to pay his school fees, which amount to about $80. William desperately wants an education, because to him, education is the only way he can find a way out of his town. He even says when receiving his exam results “...I wanted to become a scientist- not just any scientist, but a great one...”(121).From the very start of the story, William expresses an extreme desire to find a way to help his small impoverished village. He believes that the best way to do this is to get out of his town and to a larger city where he can make some money and become a person of influence.
William uses his time out of school to his advantage by spending time at the library teaching himself. While he struggles to learn on his own, he makes progress and continues to try to keep up with his class at school. He also struggles with the fact that the very community he is trying to help shuts him out because they believe that his self taught experiments are crazy. However William perseveres and during his time away from school, his already fierce desire for knowledge becomes even hungrier and he becomes a better student. The fact that the town made fun of him actually helped to spur him on to greatness. In response to one person asking him why he was digging in a trash heap he responded “Nothing. Just building something. You’ll see”(184). With the success of his first windmill, William and his community become more confident in his abilities and start understanding that maybe he can make a difference in his community just by staying where he is.
Once William became famous and was sent to a private school, his greatest struggle was mastering the English language. “At first I was a bit ashamed of my poor English, especially after hearing five year old children speak better sentences than I could” (274). William had to work harder than the other students to get the same benefits from his schooling. But once again, William’s remarkable desire to learn and help his people overcame all of his difficulties and he was successful in the end.
Araya- I really liked the way you used many different examples of determination for your paragraphs. I thought that it was important for you to point out the fact that he was also determined to keep his farm running since that is ultimately what kept his family alive during the famine.I think a lot of people, myself included, tend to focus on how he kept working on the windmill during the famine and not that he kept working on the farm as well.
-Noah
I am glad that you covered the big part that education had to play in this book. It is very easy to loss sight of it becuase the book is also full a suffering and hunger witch can draw that eye away from education. Well done!
Chris-
the two things I would suggest you do is in the first paragraph try to find reason showing how William is determine without making him sound only interested in himself, also in the last paragraph you started talking in the first person which we aren't suppose to do
In the book, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, an idea that was prevalent throughout the majority of the book was determination and patience. William’s father was a great example of determination and patience. Early on in William’s parents’ relationship, his father had troubles with alcohol, fighting, and the law. After being confronted by the local reverend, Kamwamba fought the temptation of alcohol and fighting. However a few nights later, his father became drunk again and took part in fight. The consequences were high and his destination was jail. Not wanting to go to jail, he devoted himself to God and his wife. The next morning he told his wife, “Today I’m turning to God. I’ve seen the signs, and now it’s time to change”(36). Although he failed once, Kamkwamba’s determination to do what’s right prevailed over evil.
Later on in William’s father’s life, his brother John presented his father with a great opportunity to make good money by working in the fields.Although it required a lot of hard work and effort his father was up for the challenge and they moved to Wimbe. William’s father worked tirelessly in the fields in order to make a living for the family. After working in the fields he then would come home and continue building their house to cover their heads. “After ten long hours of working in the sun, my father would come home and then start working on building our new house”(39). This determination and perseverance allowed their family to start off right with a roof over the heads and some money to support the family.
This great influence provided William with great tools to succeed in life. Although he wasn’t the best student, William always worked hard to get the best grades possible. When his family was forced to pull William from school due to financial problems, William put it on himself to continue his education in the library. Everyday he would go to the library and study a new subject. One day, he discovered the powers of wind and electricity and decided to bring electricity to his home. Over the next few months, William searched endlessly in the scrapyard for materials needed for the windmill. “There goes the madman to smoke his chamba”(188).Despite the constant taunts from observers, William worked even harder to achieve his goal. William worked through many doubts and obstacles but he continued to persevere. After months of hard work and patience he completed his goal proving that determination and patience can conquer even the toughest goals.
Xavy-
I really liked what you said about hunger bringing out certain characteristics in people. Another thing you could've touched on is the fact that hunger can also bring a family together in order to survive.
One of the biggest motifs in The Boy who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba is determination. A good example of that is that William was given nothing in the way of parts or support from other people, but his determination helped him pull off what he was trying to do, which was give his family electricity and a water pump. Without his determination, he would’ve had no chance. The only research he could do was to learn about electricity and see pictures of windmills. All he told people in his first TED conference was “I went to library…and I get information about windmill…and I try and I made it”(265). He didn’t need peoples’ support. All he needed was his determination.
Another motif in this book is poverty. This sort of ties back to determination, because his country was so poor he couldn’t have made the windmills without determination. When William came to the states, he says things that demonstrate his poverty to the people around him. Despite not knowing what Google was, he was surprised that he would be staying in a hotel, as he says: “Hotel? I’m staying in a hotel? I thought for sure I’d be sleeping in one of those guesthouses near the boozing dens where the poor people stay” (258). If William hadn’t been in a very poor place, his feats of making the windmill wouldn’t have been as impressive. He had pictures in limited books to look at, and all he wanted was to provide his family with half the resources that are taken for granted in America.
A third motif present in this book is education. Really the role education plays in the book is a strengthener for the other topics, because William gets very little of it. If you think about it, if his family could pay for his secondary school education, it would be much less of a surprise and an inspirational story that he built the windmill and knew how to make switches and circuit breakers. Another role education played was that while other kids were busy going to school, William was building something that was beneficial to his family.
Oops, forgot to add my last quote for the third paragraph. It is "If you want to make it, all you have to do is try" (281).
One of the motifs that stuck out to me in the book, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind the most was determination. William and his family were starving along with all of the other people in his town in Africa. He set his mind to find ways to prevent this starvation from happening, but it ended up being very difficult. With not a lot of maize growing or tabaco to sell, they made very little money to buy food and didn't have a lot to make food. When William's mom made cakes to sell for profit, most of them just ended up being stolen from people who were desperate and didn't have the money to pay. William travelled one day to get maize, and where he ended up was a brawl of people. As the maize was growing lower, people were getting pushier. People were being trampled, but William stayed through to get what he went the for. "No magic could save us now. Starving was a cruel kind of science" (151). People are no realizing that they can't do much more to save themselves. Just hope for the best, pray, and save up on food.
After William wasn't able to attend school he was determined to still get the education he needed. He would go to the library everyday and pick out all these books and read them. He was particularly interested in the science and building books. He soon got an idea from all these books that he would build something to show all the people that he could do something to change what was happening where he lived. Find a way to stop hunger and people dying. He was going to show people that you don't need a proper education to make a big difference. "I did it," I said. "And I'm going bigger now. Just wait and see!" (204). William showed people that he could actually do something to change what was happening in the community, he had the strength and believability of what he was doing to pull him through and carry on.
All of the people doubted William and were believing that he was a madman for doing all that he was doing with collecting scraps. "What's wrong with you?" she said. "Your friends don't behave this way. When you go to Gilbert's house you don''t see this kind of thing. I mean, look at this room! It looks like a madman's room. Only the madmen collect garbage" (189). Soon after working on his project for a while, the people then looked upon William and the windmill he had built. He showed them how it worked by making a light bulb light up. This worked! And now William has used this power and energy from the windmill to start bigger changes in his community. This is all because he had the determination to do so.
One of the motifs in The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is to emphasize the importance of community. As a young boy, William faced many obstacles during his life. Because of poverty, and a lack of education, William did not grow up always knowing that he was going to eat each night. Similarly, William almost never had the right tools he needed to conduct his various experiments. The added struggles brought on by the lack of resources made everyday tasks hard, yet William was able to construct a windmill, when no other person in the village could. It was through the support of his community that William was able to persevere long enough to build a windmill.
Because there were not many new technologic things to buy around Malawi, William was forced to look around the scrapyard and find odds and ends to piece together in order to build his windmill. Things like bicycle wheels and chains were among the large number of reused pieces that William used inside his machine. Even with a large amount of junk to sift through, William still could not find all of the materials. For the crucial pieces like the Dynamo, William relied upon his friend Gilbert. " 'My father gave me some small money,' said Gilbert. 'Let's use it to buy the dynamo…' 'Zikomo kwambiri, Gilbert,' I said. 'Thank you very much. You're the greatest friend I ever had' "(193). At this stage of William’s life, it is very important for him to be able to depend on his community to supply him with things he cannot afford to buy himself. Indeed, if not for his friend, the completion of William’s windmill would have been slower or perhaps non-existent.
Another way the community helped William was to give him an incentive. William had though many times that his work might not pay off, and that he could not generate electricity. But then the famine struck, and a new sense of urgency consumed William's project, not only could he build lights inside his house, he could also set up irrigation that would help the farmers grow their crops. Instead of thinking solely about himself, William’s attention turned to how could he help his whole community, and because that was a bigger job, it sparked more determination. “I went to sleep dreaming of Malawi and the things made possible when you dreams are powered by your heart”(280). Because of the care William had for his community, he was able to find the strength to continue building.
Nathalie- Your interpretation of the book was very eye opening to me in many ways. In my analysis, I focused on the positive ways the community affected William by showing support and giving him an incentive, however you write that the community also pushed him away- a point that I forgot. It seems as if the community both aided and harmed William's quest to build a windmill. I thought that you chose very powerful quotes and did an excellent job explaining their complexity.
A motif used through out The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba was William’s dedication to his community. William’s Malawian village did not have electricity, which was a major setback especially for farmers in the village. The farmers had to depend on the rain to water their crops. One year through out Malawi the rain flooded the fields, and then there was a long period of drought, which killed off most of the farmers crops. The drought and flooding caused a countrywide famine. Due to the famine William’s family didn’t have enough money to pay his tuition fees so William started to go to the library. William read an old science textbook about the windmill and how it generates electricity. “The wind would spin the blades of the windmill, rotate the magnets in a dynamo, and create electricity... All I needed was a windmill, and then I could have lights... But most important, a windmill could also rotate a pump for water and irrigation... another person had built them... I felt confident I could build one, too” (168-169). So William decided to make a windmill for his village mainly to give the town light and to rotate a pump for water and irrigation.
Since William didn’t have money to buy materials for the windmill he went to the town scrap yard. William spending a lot of time in the scrap yard made the villagers think that William was wasting his time. “At first I’d tried to explain the windmill, but they just laughed and said, ‘Iwe, you’re wasting your time. This junk is good for nothing” (188). This quote shows William’s dedication to his community because he never gave up when the villagers doubted him.
Another example of William’s devotion to the community is when he finished his windmill.” ‘I told you I wasn’t mad!’ One by one, the crowd began to cheer... ‘We doubted you but look at you now!’ ‘I did it,’ I said ‘And I’m going bigger now. Just wait and see!’” (204). This quote shows that his community is giving back and giving William their full support. William had fulfilled his mission to give his community electricity and now is going to give them another windmill.
Lindsay I think you did a great job writing about the motif of community, I really liked how you further explained your quotes
During harsh times like famine, people struggle just to get by and help those around them. A strong motif in the Boy Who Harnessed The Wind, was Williams determination to help his family and him get to a more fortunate place. The story showed that after the brutal times have past, there will be better times ahead. Throughout the story William had to fight to help support his family during the great famine. He explained how “the trading center became a kind of ghost town during the famine, despite being full of starving people”(137). This trading center was the central point in Wimbe, William’s hometown, which was never inactive. William elaborates how the trading center was a main artery of Wimbe, so when it was like a ghost town that everyone had had been defeated by the famine. This reference shows the struggle to maintain daily life.
As weeks came and went, more locals died due to starvation and malnutrition. William is one of the few who is able to survive such a terrible catastrophe. Finally after great anticipation William and Gilbert pick the first ears of dowe from their fields. This was their first real large meal. The kernels were meaty and warm and filled with the essence of God” (157). Sometimes small thing can bring such pure joy. Especially after a famine, fresh food was probably one of the best things that William had ever tasted. A small piece of Dowe brought pleasure and happiness to William and his family after a long time of struggle and suffering.
Throughout the story, William demonstrates perseverance and determination to accomplish he goals against great odds. After fighting famine, humiliation, and losing a trusty friend (Khemba) William is able to construct his dream windmill. His goal was to produce electricity for his family. “I wrapped my elbow around the wooden rung as the blades spun like furious propellers behind head. I held the bulb before me, waiting for a miracle. It flickered once. Just a flash at first, then a surge of bright, magnificent light. My heart nearly burst” (203). This moment seems to represent pure joy emerging from such an amazing situation. William demonstrates how there are always things to look forward to during severe times.
In the Boy Who Harnessed the Wind there are many reoccurring themes, one of them being that anyone can do anything. Throughout the whole book there is an underlying current promoting the idea that the possibilities open to people are endless no matter what their situation. At one point William says, "Each piece told it's own tale of discovery, of being lost and found in a time of hardship and fear"(1) which shows how if one has enough perseverance the end result can be great.
When William is forced to drop out of school is another great example of how anything is possible. The fact that a boy with very little education was able to teach himself about electricity and build a windmill out of junk is an incredible thought. While most of us, that have been born with silver spoons in our mouths by comparison, would never be able to do that ourselves. William says "I want to become a scientist" (121) and that is exactly what he did because he had the self will to keep going, and learning and inventing while all of his village thought his ideas to be insane.
At the end of the book when William tells about retelling his story he says one very important thing; "whatever you want to do, if you do it with all your heart, it will happen" (275). This rings true for everything William did. He had a dream of bringing electricity and water to his family's house and by never letting people, or lack of resources deter him he made it happen. Even for other events in the books this is also true. During the famine all that they wanted to do at the time was survive and they did. William's family never gave up, they were resourceful and rationed their supplies wisely. While some people gave up on life his family didn't. That is part of the reason William grew up to build such an amazing machine, because he was raised by a family who never gave up. But the motif shows up strongest at the end. After the success of the windmill he then goes to conferences as living proof of what dreaming big and trying your hardest can do. And by inspiring others to try as hard as he did William spread the idea that anything is possible.
Rainie kaplan- I liked how you did a quick recap of the whole book so that we could understand the quotes in better context. I also liked how you used the quotes as examples of his dedication and not just as something that mentioned the motif.
Chris Carr, I really liked your essay. I liked how you worked your quotes into your paragraphs and used supporting detail to back them up.
Ethan-
You made good use of your quotes but I feel that some of your sentences were run ons and were poorly worded. I'm also not sure if you were supposed to use 3 different motifs. It seemed to be going in 3 different directions instead of all merging into one overall point
James-
I really liked how in your first paragraph, you really took the time to, instead of just finding a quote that would work, chosing the best quotes that really supported your idea of how the town really thought he was crazy.
Community seems to be a very important theme throughout the book. There are many times in the story when it changes whether the community is in support of William and each other and when they are not. At first when William begins to build his windmill, the community is obviously against him and does not think that he will ever be able to pull it off. The kids that he used to go to school with do not support what he is doing at all. "No matter how enchanted I became in the scrapyard, my wonderful moods never lasted long. The students across the street in the schoolyard could easily see me banging away on metal" (178). Although the kids do make fun of him, the main reason may be partially because they don't fully understand what he is trying to accomplish and the logic he has behind it. The community seems to think he is crazy, but they don't know what exactly he is doing. If the people in the community understood at this point in the story, they would be more supportive of him and not think that he is completely wasting his time.
After William does finish his windmill, the community seems to suddenly become interested in what he was doing and how the windmill worked. Many people ask him to explain how it works, although none quite seem to understand it. “I explained it to everyone the same way. ‘I still don’t understand,’ he said. ‘I need to come see myself’” (194). Once the community realizes that what William has done may be beneficial to them, they suddenly support it and no longer think he is crazy. William feels very successful and then goes onto plan even greater projects, some which will support his community even though at first they didn’t support him.
Although the community began to admire William, when a second famine hit, they again turned away from him. They blamed the lack of food and bad weather on him. “’Look, this giant fan has blown away the clouds. His machine is chasing away our rain’” (229). Since the community believed in magic, they thought his machine was evil and had caused the drought. This caused a change in William’s attitude, and he was forced to hide from some of the people until the famine ended. Although they once thought the windmill was useful, and soon as the people got worried that they were going to starve they had to blame it on something. Luckily after the second famine ended William began to get the praise again that he deserved.
Lindsey- I agree that the community really gave him a reason to build his windmill. He felt like he needed to help them and his family get through the famine.
One of the powerful motifs in The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind is magic. Magic is a very important motif because it is strongly believed in by the members of Williams' village. They believe that everything is run by magic and instead of something like electricity that powers Williams' windmill, it is magic that is making the windmill run on its own. An example of this is when his Uncle Shabani says, "Everyday your complaining about these bullies and I'm tired of hearing it. I can give you Mangolomara. You can become the strongest boy in the school. All the others will fear you" (44). This quote is proving that his Uncle believes strongly in magic because of him thinking that magic will create his Nephew into the strongest boy in school. That was a large problem to William because of his intrest in making a windmill to power his house and family. When he would show people, in the village, his windmill they would simply say that the only reason it was working was because of magic. They would also say that it wasn't the windmill producing electricity that was powering Williams' house it was magic.
William seems to not believe in magic as much as his village and because of his belief in technology he was able to build the windmill. He proves that he doesn't believe in magic when he says to his Uncle, "Your magic doesn't work! You promised me power, but I was beaten in Dowa" (47). His uncle responds and shows his belief in magic by coming up with an excuse and saying, "Of course it works. Listen did you bath the day I gave it to you" (47). He is very angry when his Uncle's magic doesn't work.
William went from being the oddball in the village to being the hero. He has exceded all expectations from his villiage not only with his windmills but with his beliefes. He was the only non believer of magic in his village and because of it he ended up being great and reaching his dreams.
Magic is one of the many prominent motifs used in The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind. The dictionary defines magic as a quality that makes something seem removed from everyday life, especially in a way that gives delight. William and his friends believed in magic. In the American movies that the boys watched, they thought the characters were wizards who had magic powers that kept them alive even when their heads, legs and arms were blown off. William and his friends had a great time imagining and talking about magical things like movies. Since William didn’t know much about magic he also wanted to experiment with it. Like most young curious boys, William found a way to experiment with magic. Shabani, a boy William’s age offered to give him super strength because William was bullied a lot in school. This experience with magic wasn’t all that William had hoped for, “As you can see, I was clearly cheated. My first and only experience with magic had left me with a sore eye and hands that throbbed from bad medicine” (48). This was his childhood experience with magic.
Then William found a new kind of magic in the library. He had grown up in an area where most people did not have a complete education, so magic was thought to control most things that didn’t have another explanation. However, William began to wonder more about how things worked and he questioned if it really was magic. When he needed to leave secondary school because his family couldn’t afford it, he found the library. William loved the library and kept going back because he could read and learn about all sorts of things, “And through them, I was able to grasp principles like magnetism and induction and the differences between AC and DC” (166). William learned so much that reading didn’t make him content anymore so he began to experiment with things.
As William began to learn more about machines, electricity and circuits, the magic in his life dissipated and his new approach of science seemed to be more and more reliable. When William’s first experiment with a miniature windmill and radio worked, he realized that it was successful because of science and not because of magic. William and Geoffrey rejoiced when, “The radio began to pop and whistle, and suddenly there was music” (174). With this new discovery William started planning for an even bigger windmill. Also he started to educate people without even knowing it. William explained his windmill to many people who understood a tiny bit of it, but realized that magic had been tricking them for so many years.
One motif we discussed in class was the sense of community seen in the The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, especially during the famine. While the famine was going on members of Kasungu relied on each other for support. At times William's family shared food with others who were experiencing hunger much greater than they were. For example once William's father finally got the maize to grow many other starving people stole the corn right off their stalks. William thought these people should be punished but his father refused and told him "everyone has the same hunger, son" (159). This shows his father's sense of care and support for other more needy members of his community.
Another good example of how William’s community is brought together is when their Chief Wimbe dies. Hundreds of people from miles away came to mourn the loss of their Chief and be together on such a solemn day. Many chipped in and made food for everyone to share and performed a dance routine in his honor. Despite the rain these people were there to support the Chief. William tells us ”…hundreds of villagers huddle outside moaning and sobbing in the downpour.” (236). To me, this kind of dedication shows how close and strong this community is.
The final example of the motif of community in this book is when everyone starts to support William once he proves his windmill actually works. At first everyone doubted William, calling him crazy and childish. But once he showed them his windmill was actually capable of powering a light bulb their attitudes changed. They told him “we doubted you, but look at you now!” (204). They began to show great support and pride for William asking him countless questions and having him charge their cell phones. Even though his community may have doubted him in the beginning they eventually came around and became proud and supportive of William’s creation.
Annalee- I really liked how you talked about community in both the positive and negative senses and really focused on how they felt about William's windmill. You brought up some really good points.
John- I loved your motif of determination and patience although I think patience fits under determination so it could have been mentioned in a different paragraph. Your quotes were nicely weaved in and I liked how you talked about both William's father and William.
A major motif throughout the book was determination. William was poor much like many in Malawi. “Being born Malawian automatically made you a farmer” (25). Farming is for the most part very unpredictable. When the famine struck William worked extra hard on just a few bites of food a day to make sure his family was set for the next year. With barely enough money for food after the famine it was nearly impossible to pay for school fees.
After William was forced to drop out of school he was still inclined to learn. Being out of school did not put an end to his learning. He would ask his friend for notes from that day in class. He was determined to figure out how things worked “I want to know about this” (163). Along with frequenting the local library, he asked people about how their cars worked and about electricity. This curiosity lead him to wanting to make a windmill.
He knew that building a windmill was a long shot. This would be a very hard challenge that he did not have the proper resources for. He learned out of a picture from a text book. When most would have given up, William kept moving forward. Very few people believed in him. With his own determination, he accomplished his goal. “If you want to make something happen, all you have to do is try” (283).
Henry- I liked how you talked about the importance of community. The paragraphs flowed together very well and displayed good points.
In the book "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind" one of the most talked about struggles was the fact that William and his family were living in poverty. Not only did William and his family have to deal with the on and off going famine they also dealt with the fact that money was very scarce. Poverty was the bridge between many turmoils throughout the book, one thing lead to another due to the conditions and everyday struggles William and his family where dealing with. First was the famine and the lack of food which then lead into William not being able to attend school anymore due to the lack of a steady income which usually was provided from the money the family makes off of crops. "Everybody has the same hunger, son. We must learn to forgive" (159).
Education was very important to William and when he was forced to drop out of school because of the lack of money to pay his fee's it destroyed one of his dreams to get a quality education. This all ties back to the fact that poverty was everywhere you looked and it just so happen that it affected William directly. "My own problems didn't seem so important; the hunger belonged to the entire country" (134). Here William realizes that him dropping out of school was nowhere near as bad as what the country as a whole was going through with extreme poverty, everywhere you looked poverty looked right back at you.
William soon found himself attended the library to try and gather as much information about building windmills. Poverty soon creeped up on Williams dream of building a windmill, the necessity of money to gather the parts that were needed for the windmill was difficult. William had a hard time rounding up so money for parts that he either traded for some of the parts or purchased them. (QUOTE). William endured many setbacks as a child due to the everlasting shadow of poverty cast upon his village. This made William realize that someone had to step up and try and fix this widespread dilemma effecting a vast majority of the country.
Jonathan- I thought your quotes were solid and helped tie together your sentences. However you had a wide range of motifs (themes) and you should try to just focus on one instead of trying to cram two or three into a short essay, overall you did a good job incorporating quotes and supporting them.
Chris- I agree with you that determination is one of the key motifs in the book. You described William's determination very well. You chose really good quotes that supported what was going on.
One of the motifs in the book The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is that in Malawi, people view money as both good and evil. At times, money can be one’s only safety; it can save someone from debt or having to go hungry. Yet, at other times, it can be feared and avoided; failure to come up with the money for something can mean punishment.
William deals with a fear of money when confronted with the fact that his family is very poor and his father can’t afford to pay his school fees. William battles with anxiety when he realizes that the time his father has to pay is running out. “After about ten days, the grace period for fees was nearing an end and I started to get nervous” (179). This shows that William and other villagers fear money, or not being able to come up with money. William later goes on to describe how he would feel sick every morning and how he would avoid anything that had to do with paying the two thousand kwacha. He’s even so afraid to deal with the idea of paying the fees that he attempts to go to school for free the next week.
Another example of fearing money is when William describes how kwacha is evil in the eyes of witches and wizards. “I knew witches and wizards were allergic to money because the presence of cash is like a rival evil. Any contact with money will snap their spell and revert them back to human form” (14). Even to the magical beings, money is feared and avoided. This shows that even in myths and stories of the Malawian culture, the thought of money is scary.
Yet, at the same time, William wants to use the kwacha notes to protect himself from the evil beings. “...people often plaster their walls and bed mats with kwacha notes to protect themselves during the night” (14). Money also means safety; if you have money, you aren’t in danger of debt or dealing with the consequences of being in poverty. Having the money for William’s school fees would have prevented his fear and anxiety of money. Money is a sign of protection from famine, debt, witches and wizards, and other unpleasant things. When in poverty, money can be the thing that saves someone from being poor, or the thing that haunts people everyday.
Rainie-
I agree, community was a huge part of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. It was really interesting to see how community is a huge part of the Malawian culture vs. our own culture.
One of the most prevalent motifs throughout the book The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind was determination. It took a lot of perseverance for William to successfully create a windmill for his home. Nothing about making the windmill was easy but he pushed through all of that. The first setback was the availability of supplies. William grew up in an area where the resources were limited. Instead of going to a store, William had to search a scrap yard. “The best place to look was the tobacco plantation at Estate 24, just across from the Kachokolo school. The estate had an abandoned garage and scrapyard that was littered with machine parts” (175-176). By visiting this scrap yard every day, he somehow found a way to piece together the materials he needed. He had to be creative with some parts but his determination to finish the project and make a better life for his family was what kept him from giving up.
Another problem was that the villagers didn’t give William any support. While William built his windmill, his neighbors couldn’t understand his plan and therefore thought he was crazy. What he was doing was strange and unusual. Before he revealed what the windmill could do, the spectators yelled, “‘Let’s see how crazy this boy really is’” (203). It was hard for William to continue because he had no support. Even his parents doubted him. William was trying to help his community and they made it even harder to accomplish the task. As before, William’s determination and desire helped him conquer the difficulties he faced.
William’s last major issue was lack of education. The famine and school fees kept him out of school. He did his best to keep up by taking advantage of the local library. It was still hard for him because he couldn’t read the books. William found a way to learn because he was determined to do something with his life and help his family. He knew the windmill could fulfill this goal. “A windmill meant more than just power, it was freedom” (169). William’s knowledge of what could be motivated him and he overcame all the obstacles thrown at him.
natalie- I agree that william's struggle to get a good education was a motif throughout the book. You had examples that worked well with your topic. I liked how you summed up your post and showed how determined william was to learn even if it meant working harder.
One of the more prominent reoccurring themes throughout The boy Who Harnessed the Wind is that almost anyone can do anything if you put your mind to the task, even if at first it seems impossible. William over came many hardships in his life. When he made the decision that he was going to build a windmill, it seemed impossible at first. He needed materials that he did not have and could not afford to buy new. "The estate had an abandoned garage and scrapyard that was littered with machine parts and stripped bodies of cars and tractors, all forgotten and left to rust" (176). William collected these old pieces of tractors and cars. Even though they were rusted beyond recognition he was still able to see their usefulness. He was able to see the purpose of each piece he collected.
William was thought crazy by almost everyone in his village. They all made fun of him for making such a "strange" contraption. "I tried to explain my plan to generate power, but all she saw were some pieces of plastic stuck to a bamboo stick" (170). William worked through all the criticism that the people of his village gave him. They all thought he had gone insane, even his mother. People put him down throughout his attempt to build his windmill but he did not let this stop him. When they saw him working in the scrapyard they called him a pot smoker. Kids in the school yard made fun of him and said he was crazy.
Although William was unable to attend school because of their family's lack of money, William did not let that stop him. He went to the library almost every day and read books about physics and electricity. Even though he did not read English very well and knew little of the terminology, he made a great effort to understand it all. If he did not know a word he had the librarian look it up for him. "over the next week i struggled with the text but managed to figure out every few words and was able to grasp the context" (163).
Teddy Geraghty
Piro 5
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is a story of A young boy in Africa and his determination to change his life and his family's life so that they would no long dwell on the problems that the rest of their country suffered. In the story a major motif is William's fierce drive and determination to construct a machine that would save his family from not only famine but give them luxuries that were previously unheard of. He did this not by simply relying on magic or some one else but applying himself fully to this extravagant Goal both physically and mentally through research In Americana Science books and digging threw scraps for bit and pieces for months.
William's love of learning, schooling and his desire to figure out how things worked are what gave him the push to go were no one in his situation had ever gone before. As a young boy he feared what he didn't understand and used magic as an outlet to make the world seem to make more sense. As he grew older though he began to be more interested in the science behind basic functions of things in his day to day life rather than just shrugging it off as unexplainable and moving on with his day. William also new that he didn't want to be stuck in his family's fields for the rest of his life either so he new that he could use an education to make a better life for himself. in his culture men with great strength were praised and the innovative were shunned as be crazy but William said "it was not a general who saved the Greek city of Syracuse when the Roman fleet attacked in 214 B.C"(167) implying that it was a man of intellect and knowledge. William applied this to his own life by focusing on learning rather then being a good farmer or great brute. When William's country was struck with famine and corrupt politicians though, money became tight and food was scarce. He was forced to drop out of school and he thought that that would shut the door for him escaping poverty forever.
Most people would have accepted their fiat as a poor farmer after being forced to drop out of school but that’s what makes William's story so remarkable. Knowing that he can no longer learn in a school environment he turns to research in his local American sponsored library and puts it on himself to keep up with the lucky students who were still in school. Infact he furthers their studies and becomes fascinated by the science books in the library reading and comprehending models of electrical machines and how they worked which was far more advanced than what other kids were learning in school. Unfortunately for William his great optimism was looked down upon by the people in his area and they saw him as a crazy man. The great thing about his character is that these people who maid fun of him and doubted him never deterred him from his goal. Even when his only family doubts him and begins to worry about him he says to sisters "Just wait. Soon you'll be in for a surprise, along with everyone else"(196). Peoples doubting didn't bring him down but only made him work harder to prove them wrong.
After overcoming the odds and constructing the machine that William set out to build, he didn't simply stop there. In fact a very prominent quote of his is "this was much too simple. I had to go bigger"(230). This applies to each step he takes throughout the process of constructing his various machines. After building his first large Wind Mill he knows that he is capable of even more and he immediately gets to work on new projects such as designing a new pulley system on the original wind mill to make for less maintenance, building a second windmill for irrigation, and wiring his house with light plus a circuit breaker in case of emergency. William's relentless attitude and unyielding determination are the components that he used to change his life forever and his story is an example of the drive that every person has but he's the example of how to apply to one's life.
James-
you did a great job capturing the motif of friendship and support through out this book. Without the support from his friends, even though everyone else was against i don't think he would have been able to do it.
Skye- You had some good points throughout your essay that really highlighted some of the key points behind what made William's task so difficult and why his story shows that anything is possible with hard work. You tied your quotes in very nicely and it kept the essay flowing smoothly. Your introductions to each paragraph seemed a little random but that was only because we weren't required to write an intro paragraph so I don't think it matters. Through your writing you proved why hard work makes anything possible be explaining the hardships of William's life and then explaining how he overcame them to reach his goal.
Eleanor-
I liked how you went into deeper into the motif than to just say money was the problem, and how the fear of money could be the downfall of someone. I liked the way you described money and evil as rival forces. Also, your intro paragraph was very good in describing what you were going to say specifically about money.
A commonly used motif in "The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind", is poverty. Often throughout the book the author describes how Malawi went through dreadful Famines. There are many times that the author demonstrates how much Malawi depends on corn to survive "The slightest problem in weather, fertilizer, or seed productivity could tip these families of the edge into hunger"(69). But the harvests were so rarely good, that more often than not Malawians were often begging for handouts. And when the harvests were good, many people rob from the more successful farms being desperate for food, not having eaten in weeks.
Throughout the book Poverty was also an extreme impediment to Williams many pursuits like going to school and rising up beyond his father’s achievements. Throughout most of the book, William is unable to complete his dream of helping his family and community with a windmill, without continually digging through trash to find the materials he needed costing him his dignity in his community "someone would spot me through the open window and yell "There goes the madman off to smoke hi chamba!""(158).
What William did that was out of the ordinary, was not resenting his community when they were most desperate. Even during the time when people kept stealing was their farm, he would still give back to his community with his windmill and offer it’s services to his community. His mother also was very forgiving to the community because she was going through the exact same thing that they were going through, when Williams mother made the nsima cakes, people would eat them without paying, and often she would not stop them or blame them "One man even sat down next to my mother and said "I'll take three." he grabbed three cakes from the basin and ate them quickly. "Nine kwacha," my mother said. "I don't have any money." he answered."(108).
Skye- I really liked the point you made about how almost anyone can do anything if they set their minds to it because it is true that if someone really has the will power to do something, then it is likely that they will do it. I just think you should word it differently so it actually possible. because no one can do anything, so maybe just don't use the word 'anything', something more along the lines of "someone can accomplish a task only if they have the will power to do it". Overall, Great Point!
We all have a sense of community, wherever we live. A community is a group of families and friends that help and care about each other. William Kamkwamba and his dream for his community is inspiring to many different communities around the world. What William did not only helped his community, but also brought them closer together. His courage and perseverance, and his belief in himself and his people, helped bring the out of the famine. “If you want to make it, all you have to do is try”(281). William believes in his villages ability to change the bad to good. He brought this windmill to Malawi in hopes for a better future.
There is a great sense of helping each other in this book. William and his friend Geoffrey often worked together in the fields. During the famine, they helped each other out. “You dig my ridges today and I’ll dig yours tomorrow” (91). This demonstrates helping and recieving in a community and within friends.
The lack of a good government could bring a community together, the president during the time of the famine refused to see that there was a problem. “Some men are blind, but this one just chooses not to see” (139). Williams father and chief Wimbe tried to change the mind of the president. Hardship brought these families together during a time of suffering. It made them more motivated to let there suffering be known. Community was one of the biggest motivs in The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, it played a role is shaping their lives and the land around them.
One motif that was constantly making an appearance in The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind was the act of perseverance. The impact that famine had on William's village was fought through strong perseverance. A few things that contributed to the hunger included the lack of natural resources, as well as the village's extreme state of poverty. People were required to work to the point where "Three hours of work yesterday became six hours today, all for the same bag of flour" (92). Work that was already difficult was intensified in an effort to single out those who were not able to push themselves effectively enough to survive.
Although William had many times when he was unsatisfied with the amount of food that was accessible to his family, he managed to keep himself in line by reminding himself that his "own problems didn't seem so important; the hunger belonged to the entire country" (126). Of course, his problems were important, but he felt as though he was more competent than others.
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Eileen, your first quote was a useful, descriptive one. However, it might have been more pleasing to the reader if you had made it flow into a sentence more fluently, rather than having the quote itself be an entire sentence. Other than that, you have written a good essay!
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