What Can We Learn in 'The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind'

Every biography gives lessons that either give an insight into another person’s adventures or mimic experiences that the reader has gone through. Through reading about another person’s experiences, we can understand why people behave a certain way in different situations. The experiences that are similar may serve as mirrors, allowing us to learn more about ourselves and the people around us. 'The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind' essay is a kind of a biography of William Kwamkamba. In this biogrphy there are many windows and mirrors that can teach us about ourselves and others.

Throughout the story, there are many examples of mirrors that imitate some situations or decisions I have made in my life. When he was a young boy, William always felt that the older boys as cooler than him. As a result, William tried to find ways to hang out with them. He was even willing to hunt for them in order to spend some time in their clubhouse. “As Khamba and I walked home from the hunt, I knew I’d earned enough loot to gain myself an entry'. It is almost as if I am looking into a mirror because when I was younger, I always looked for the approval of the older boys.

William was an avid reader when he was young. He spent quite a bit of time at the library to try and learn due to his lack of schooling opportunities. He would even ask his friends for their notes when they were done with them. One day, he found a book on windmills and he was immediately fascinated. “I saw it was an American textbook called Using Energy, and this book has since changed my life. … But the fans on this book were not toys. They were giant beautiful machines that towered into the sky, so powerful that they made the photo itself appear to be in motion.” William read the book as if it were a story. He tried to explain everything in his own words in order to have a better understanding. He also thought of ways that a windmill would help Malawi. 

To end up, this serves as a window by demonstrating the lengths that a person must go to receive an education if there is no opportunity for schooling. It also showed me what can be achieved if all of a person’s effort is put into something they are interested in.