The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind Analysis

The memoir The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is an eye opening story of how William Kamkwamba, at the age of 13, with very little education built a windmill out of parts that most people would call trash. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, written by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer, follows Williams rise from famine to fame, from an elementary level education to graduating from college. William and his six sisters along with two parents were maize farmers that survived through a year long famine. William and his friend Geoffrey took apart radios to understand how they worked. After he learned how they worked he fixed them for people for free. Science caught William’s eye when he read a book at his local library titled Malawi Junior Integrated Science. After seeing the book he spends hours in the library reading the book and finding certain words in the dictionary. When William started building his windmill he was aided by his friends Geoffrey and Gilbert. William had three main habits that helped him reach his goals these habits were: keeping a resourceful mindset, always staying ambitious, and staying enthusiastic. One of Williams habits was keeping a resourceful mindset and using what he has at hand. The first and probably most disgusting way that William was resourceful was when he ate boiled goat skin during the famine with his cousin Charity (Kamkwamba 95-98). It started when he visited Charity and they complained about being hungry, so they walked over to a friends