Analysis Of The Hero's Journey From 'The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind'

Khadijah Thompson

Professor Townley

English 1020 MW 3:50-5:55

28 September 2014

The Hero’s Journey According to The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind “You’ve put us on the map...Now the world knows we’re here.” (Kamkwamba and Mealer276). In Joseph Cambell’s series of steps called The Hero’s Journey, the final stage is reached when the hero brings back something special and new to his community. Whether it’s a magic sword or stories of success, a hero’s goal is to bring a new addition to the place where his story started. In The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind, the protagonist and hero of the story does just that when he brings notoriety and new education to his home in Malawi, therefore making his memoir an unexpected example of the Hero’s Journey.

William Kamkwamba’s memoir closely follows the same pattern, starting with the introduction into his special world. For many American readers, the basic setting alone is enough to make William’s world special. Malawi, Africa is a place where religion and magic intermingle, the government can rule without any democratic input, and rain can mean life or death for hundreds of people. It is in this special world that William recieves his calling for the first time: his unique affinity for electrical engineering and problem solving. This became clear when he heard a radio for the first time, took it apart and figured out how a radio works. Not only that, but he also taught himself enough to know how to fix radios and even construct a power source to do this. Unfortunately, William does not to get to practice these skills for too long before a drought is brought upon his countries and neighboring countries. He is forced to put away his radios and batteries in order to help work in the farms, a much more common practice, and keep his family alive

I decided to put my faith in my father’s word, that once we made it through the hunger, everything would be okay.” (Kamkwamba and Mealer134)

Although in most monomyths, the Hero has a mentor and some might argue that Dr. Hartford Mchazime was William’s mentor, it is clear that William had to be a mentor to himself. Because of the lack of information throughout his village, he was forced to teach himself what he needed to know in the public library. Without this knowledge, he wouldn’t have stumbled upon the idea of a windmill (Kamkwamba and