Notes for The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer
Reading Response for The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind At the start of the book the main character, William Kamkwamba, talks about how when he was younger he had eaten some stolen gumballs and that the owner had a witch doctor curse whoever had eaten them. William then talks about magic and how he and many of his people fear it. The different stories about wizards and magic had been passed down in Masitala village, Malawi, the hometown of the kamkwambas. Right before William is cursed for life his father, Trywell Kamkwamba, goes to the witch doctor and pays him for the entire bag of gumballs and William isn’t cursed. William explains how his father is the strongest man he knows who fears nothing including magic. His father says that since he has God with him he can’t be hurt by magic. Later that night William talks about the local theater which is really just a TV and VCR and how his friends would tell him about the crazy movies they saw such as, Rambo and The Terminator. William plays various games with his two best friends Geoffrey and Gilbert such as USA vs Vietnam or making toy cars. Gilbert’s father, Albert Mofat, known as Chief Wimbe, is the chief of the whole Wimbe district. After William explains the things that Gilbert, Geoffrey, and he do, the story goes to a flashback of William’s father as a younger man. Trywell worked as a trader in the Dowa market. He was a giant man who had a high tolerance for alcohol. One night he drank 56 bottles of beer. Another night he went to a concert to see his favorite singer, Robert Fumulani. The place was so full he had to push past a policeman to get in. Once at the front, Trywell gets drunk and begins to dance. Fumulani gets angry and says that Trywell is a drunkard ruining his show. Twelve policemen come and fight Trywell for half an hour until he got bored and agreed to go to jail after finishing his barbeque meal. Trywell first saw his future wife and William’s mother, Agnes in the market where he worked. She would