08-17-2021, 04:51 PM
In the book, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer, the theme that the book states is the importance of education.
The book goes into detail about the life of William, and what setting life places him in, and what he must do to make it through one more day. William being dealt these cards, challenges it. He goes through different stages of obstacles such as paying off school/school debt fees, building a windmill, famine, setting, the future he wants to create, ect. And the book shows how education got him out of the state of life that he was in. His education and motivation helped him to work through his very limits and reach a greater life that would have only been a dream to him as a little boy. Therefore, the theme is the importance of education. Life dealt William a terrible hand in life and he works beyond his limits to reach his goal, to not end up like his father, working in the fields. He could not have reached this state of life without motivation. One of the most important factors of motivation, hope for his future, is what keeps him going. William hoping for the future does not mean getting married. Yes, this is something that is important because his mother said to his father, “He’s never going to find a wife like this, and even if he does, how will he care for her and feed his family?” his mother said (Kamkwamba and Mealer 189). You can see that this is something she was worried about, but this is something that the book does not look at with stress. Hope for the future is talking about hope of getting out of this life he has. Hope of getting help for his family and Malawi. Hope of having famine end, and to let people not have to worry about what their next 24 hours will look like, etc. Education is what brought this hope to life. For William, having education was not so he could make a lot of money, but was so he could reach his dreams. Yes, he can get a job which can help make money, but this is not the main idea that when people mention education, people think this. It’s a closed minded way to think. The book stresses on education giving someone a better life. Education was difficult to access. Much more difficult than here in the U.S.A. with privileges of being able to access something at any moment. His family wanted William to have an education, but because of their way of life, the inevitable truth of “this is the way it has been and always will be” seemed to be something everyone thought of. This does not mean Williams' family and friends did not dismiss him. Williams family and friends were close knit. With the power cuts, the famine, the hard work, not being able to pay for debt or school feels, etc. Everyone had to be on the same boat. This brought families close together in the sense of, ‘This is survival. We need to work together.’ William could talk and vent to his friends about his struggles without seeming whiny.
Going back to the theme of this story, education in the book, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, shows education as not just school, but as any type of thing that helps you learn. It shows it as something to give hope for the future with a better life. Education is something that can be any form of learning or teaching. The first quote that shows this is, “The day I decided to ask my father if I could use his bicycle, I sat him down and explained the entire process, how the frame would make the perfect body of the windmill and would be sturdy enough to handle strong winds. The wind and blades would act as pedals and rotate the shaft and sprocket, and the chain would spin the tire and power the generator.” (Kamkwamba and Mealer 185 - 186). In this quote, William is explaining how the windmill works. He is talking to his father, trying to convince him to give up his bike so he can use it to build his windmill. He must convince his father with the knowledge he knows to do this. This is important as it shows how education can lead to him doing so many things with it. It leads to him getting the bike which goes into the bike finishing the windmill which then people discover the windmill and so on. This quote is going into the theme because you can see just how much he has been researching on electricity, science, and building his windmill. No normal person would know how to do what he is going to do, but he gained his knowledge by going to the library and reading the books he could find. Education got him to convince his father to give up the bike. Education is what got him to get the bike which led to him to building the windmill which led him to being discovered by the world which led to him being able to have a better life and help Malawi in return.
For the second quote, “The radio blew up because I’d forgotten the dynamo produced twelve volts, while the radio was only meant to handle half that power. Also, the wind spun the blades much faster than a person could pedal and bicycle, which caused a kind of power surge. I would have to figure out how to reduce the voltage… Since energy is lost through wires when traveling long distances, I thought perhaps I could use this idea with the dynamo and radio. I went back to my junk pile of radio parts and found an old motor, cracked it open, and took out the coil. I unwound the long copper wire and began wrapping it around a stick. I attached one end of this wire to the dynamo and the other to the radio. After doing this, enough power was lost to play without overpowering it.” (Kamkwamba and Mealer 198 - 199). William is testing his windmill now, but his radio blew up. The reason is there was too much power, so William solved his problem by losing enough energy to play the radio without it blowing up. This matters as it shows that he has learned how to do so many things that he can now problem solve with what he has learned. This shows education because he is using his knowledge to fix a problem he encounters. He goes back to the book to figure out what he needs to do and how to fix it. You can see how much he has learned as he explains it in such a basic sense. This quote shows the importance of education by having him solve this problem.
In conclusion, it’s clear to see just how important education really is. It is a tool, and it is hope, and that if used to its advantage, it can lead to a better life. Solving and/or learning problems won’t be solved by sulking around and waiting for them to be fixed. They are solved when you put your mind to it and learn about what you can do. The book, The Boy Who harnessed the Wind, is a perfect example of this.
The book goes into detail about the life of William, and what setting life places him in, and what he must do to make it through one more day. William being dealt these cards, challenges it. He goes through different stages of obstacles such as paying off school/school debt fees, building a windmill, famine, setting, the future he wants to create, ect. And the book shows how education got him out of the state of life that he was in. His education and motivation helped him to work through his very limits and reach a greater life that would have only been a dream to him as a little boy. Therefore, the theme is the importance of education. Life dealt William a terrible hand in life and he works beyond his limits to reach his goal, to not end up like his father, working in the fields. He could not have reached this state of life without motivation. One of the most important factors of motivation, hope for his future, is what keeps him going. William hoping for the future does not mean getting married. Yes, this is something that is important because his mother said to his father, “He’s never going to find a wife like this, and even if he does, how will he care for her and feed his family?” his mother said (Kamkwamba and Mealer 189). You can see that this is something she was worried about, but this is something that the book does not look at with stress. Hope for the future is talking about hope of getting out of this life he has. Hope of getting help for his family and Malawi. Hope of having famine end, and to let people not have to worry about what their next 24 hours will look like, etc. Education is what brought this hope to life. For William, having education was not so he could make a lot of money, but was so he could reach his dreams. Yes, he can get a job which can help make money, but this is not the main idea that when people mention education, people think this. It’s a closed minded way to think. The book stresses on education giving someone a better life. Education was difficult to access. Much more difficult than here in the U.S.A. with privileges of being able to access something at any moment. His family wanted William to have an education, but because of their way of life, the inevitable truth of “this is the way it has been and always will be” seemed to be something everyone thought of. This does not mean Williams' family and friends did not dismiss him. Williams family and friends were close knit. With the power cuts, the famine, the hard work, not being able to pay for debt or school feels, etc. Everyone had to be on the same boat. This brought families close together in the sense of, ‘This is survival. We need to work together.’ William could talk and vent to his friends about his struggles without seeming whiny.
Going back to the theme of this story, education in the book, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, shows education as not just school, but as any type of thing that helps you learn. It shows it as something to give hope for the future with a better life. Education is something that can be any form of learning or teaching. The first quote that shows this is, “The day I decided to ask my father if I could use his bicycle, I sat him down and explained the entire process, how the frame would make the perfect body of the windmill and would be sturdy enough to handle strong winds. The wind and blades would act as pedals and rotate the shaft and sprocket, and the chain would spin the tire and power the generator.” (Kamkwamba and Mealer 185 - 186). In this quote, William is explaining how the windmill works. He is talking to his father, trying to convince him to give up his bike so he can use it to build his windmill. He must convince his father with the knowledge he knows to do this. This is important as it shows how education can lead to him doing so many things with it. It leads to him getting the bike which goes into the bike finishing the windmill which then people discover the windmill and so on. This quote is going into the theme because you can see just how much he has been researching on electricity, science, and building his windmill. No normal person would know how to do what he is going to do, but he gained his knowledge by going to the library and reading the books he could find. Education got him to convince his father to give up the bike. Education is what got him to get the bike which led to him to building the windmill which led him to being discovered by the world which led to him being able to have a better life and help Malawi in return.
For the second quote, “The radio blew up because I’d forgotten the dynamo produced twelve volts, while the radio was only meant to handle half that power. Also, the wind spun the blades much faster than a person could pedal and bicycle, which caused a kind of power surge. I would have to figure out how to reduce the voltage… Since energy is lost through wires when traveling long distances, I thought perhaps I could use this idea with the dynamo and radio. I went back to my junk pile of radio parts and found an old motor, cracked it open, and took out the coil. I unwound the long copper wire and began wrapping it around a stick. I attached one end of this wire to the dynamo and the other to the radio. After doing this, enough power was lost to play without overpowering it.” (Kamkwamba and Mealer 198 - 199). William is testing his windmill now, but his radio blew up. The reason is there was too much power, so William solved his problem by losing enough energy to play the radio without it blowing up. This matters as it shows that he has learned how to do so many things that he can now problem solve with what he has learned. This shows education because he is using his knowledge to fix a problem he encounters. He goes back to the book to figure out what he needs to do and how to fix it. You can see how much he has learned as he explains it in such a basic sense. This quote shows the importance of education by having him solve this problem.
In conclusion, it’s clear to see just how important education really is. It is a tool, and it is hope, and that if used to its advantage, it can lead to a better life. Solving and/or learning problems won’t be solved by sulking around and waiting for them to be fixed. They are solved when you put your mind to it and learn about what you can do. The book, The Boy Who harnessed the Wind, is a perfect example of this.
The greatest legacy on earth
![[Image: OS-Icon.webp]](https://i.ibb.co/xXSSV2n/OS-Icon.webp){kind=icon}