Over 53 percent of Malawi’s population live in extreme poverty, imagine living in a place there is no tab water. Malawi is a country located in southern Africa. It has a great amount of poverty, and has inadequate education, and sanitation. Malawi is an agriculture based country, and it is making efforts to diversify its GDP. In the novel The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer, William is used to help emphasize the famine, the cholera outbreak, and the poor education in Malawi.
Through the novel, the famine William has to face in his childhood affects his character development, and reflects on the issue Malawi is going through. The famine was devastating everything it did not discriminate between humans and animals
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as William stated, “ I saw Khamba standing… His ribs were like blades against his skin. He was starving to death… I didn’t know what to do” (Kamkwamba and Mealer 140). Through William’s eyes it is evident how many Malawians are doomed to face the lost of people they loved. William sacrificed Khamba in order to end his suffering, because he was pressured to act as a man. Sacrificing Khamba affected William since, it made him realize how cruel life can be, and the famine had just started. His encounter with the death of his dog made him more prepared for what was yet to come. The death of William’s dog reflects the situation many Malawians are going through. Malawians were struggling most did not have food, and had to steal in order to eat, others died from starvation, and some immigrated to other countries. Meanwhile, some died from starvation, others were shrinking and every day that passed they became thinner. Trywell was an example of this as William said, “ My father started weighing, himself… his mighty frame had shrank like a piece of fruit in the sun” (Mealer and Kamkwamba 151). Many people in Malawi where going through the same as Trywell. Their impressive body had started to shrink since the start of the famine. What before where pounds and pounds of muscle now have transformed into a pile of bones. Feeding only in one plate a day has caused all of William’s family to keep getting thinner and thinner. Illnesses like cholera do not discriminate between males and females, but it seems like starvation only kills males since they have to burn precious energy working in the fields. William was forced to work in the fields so that his family could eat when the crops were ready. Through William’s experience working while at the edge of starvation, it was possible to see the suffering Malawians were going through. The famine was being so devastating, that children were not allowed to weight themselves in order to prevent them from worrying. This is a turning point in William’s live since he sees all of Malawi reducing itself into a pile of bones. Throughout the novel, Malawi’s cholera outbreak, seen through William’s perspective, devastates most of the country.
“Cholera swept the district. The epidemic had started in November in the southern region… A farmer traveled to a funeral in Kasiya… and brought the sickness with him. Within days, a dozen were dead in that village, and hundreds were infected across the district” (Kamkwamba and Mealer 148). The poor sanitation Malawi has, and its poor hygiene made it easier for cholera to spread through the country. Malawians were suffering. Cholera was spreading at an incredible rate. Due to the poor hygiene water was easily contaminated with the feces of infected people. So many people died that the corpse had to be buried in pairs to speed up the process. William’s family was extremely careful so none of them got infected. Every morning William and his family could see infected people walking towards the clinic. As days passed more and more people started to disappear, the village started looking like a ghost town. Cholera was wiping out Malawi village by village, no one was safe. However, people still had hope, and miraculously a few days after cholera arrived to the village. The clinic started giving out chlorine tablets. “To keep us safe, the clinic in the trading center began giving out free chlorine to treat our drinking water” ( Kamkwamba and Mealer 149). After some harsh days, the clinic started to give out chlorine tablets. Giving out this tablets saved a lot of people, since the tablets allowed people to treat their drinking water. Many families like Williams where going through a rough time. They were not only worried about getting infected, they also had to gather food to eat, which was lacking. After some horrendous days the distribution of the tablets was a turning point for the good. As the days passed less and less people got infected. After a few days life in the village was back to normal, except for the part that a great portion of the village
was dead. The cholera break made William realize how quickly can an illness take your life. This motivated him to working even harder on his dreams. The cholera outbreak that the reader can see from William’s perspective devastates most of Malawi. The situation was desperate no one had hope, but then the clinic started to giving out the chlorine tablets. It was that ray of hope everyone needed. In conclusion, the cholera outbreak annihilated most of Malawi, and it made William more mature.
I found it very interesting and educational to learn about the history of Uganda, a country often forgotten by the Western World. Before reading this novel I had no idea about the struggle that Indians and Africans underwent during this countdown. As a result of this novel I also learned more about the issues of systematic racism and the various downsides of class systems. Before this novel I had learned about class systems, such as the caste system in India, but by infusing history with the struggles of a young girl really helped me connect with the themes in a stronger way.
How much are you willing to sacrifice for another? Whether they are a family member or a complete stranger. In the novel The Kite Runner Baba was was willing to risk his life when he had stood up and was trying to stop the Russian soldier from rape the young woman as payment for letting them pass through one of the checkpoints. Then there had been Amir it was when he had suffered extreme injuries, nearly losing his life when he had fought Assef, so that he could save Sohrab for the abuse he was suffering from the Taliban. Both Character Baba and Amir were willing to sacrifice themselves for another person, regardless of who they were. Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, teaches the reader sacrificing your life can lead to another person’s happiness through Baba saving the woman from the Russian soldier and Amir fighting Assef.
Another topic that in interesting to discuss is why this white boy was forced to live in such poor conditions. Dalton Conley stated in the book that despite his mother and fathers economic standings, his family was able to maintain a livable lifestyle where many neighbors and friends at that time could not of enjoyed. His family could have moved to a more up scale, refined community, but simply couldn't afford it.
In the fantasy novel, The Last Unicorn, Peter S. Beagle wrote that “Real magic can never be made by offering someone else's liver. You must tear out your own, and not expect to get it back” (Beagle). While this quote is a bizarre non sequitur, its core holds true. It states that the only sacrifice that is truly worth anything is the sacrifice of one’s self. Too often in this age, people step on others to help themselves succeed, gain prestige and positions for themselves while leaving those stepped on in the dust. In 2003, Khaled Hosseini wrote The Kite Runner, which explores the same theme of self-sacrifice and love. It follows the life of Amir, a rich Pashtu boy, who spends his childhood in Afghanistan with his father, Baba and his ever-faithful servant and friend, Hassan. Eventually, Amir and Baba are driven from their home due to rising political and military tensions and flee to America, where Amir tries to bury memories of wrongs he had done in his old life. The climax of the novel sees Amir making a great and dangerous sacrifice to atone for those wrongs. In The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini makes evident the idea of love and self-sacrifice while simultaneously deriding the concept of sacrificing another person, especially exploring both with the character of Amir. Most of the characters make sacrifices for another person, and are portrayed afterwards as brave and noble, but the few characters that sacrifice another character are malevolent and dishonourable.
It reminds us of a time not so different from where we live now, a world filled with lies, hatred, and moral ambiguity. It’s a story that largely reminds us as humans who we are, prone to mistakes and preconceptions that can lead to disastrous results, but also capable of growth and redemption. This story really allows you to understand different philosophies, perceptions, and differing opinions of morality and
To conclude, through his masterful use of setting, symbolism and characterisation, Robin Jenkins portrays the horrific consequences of people’s failure to alleviate the suffering of those less fortunate. This horrific consequence is represented as Tom’s suicide at the end of the novel, which is definitely unexpected when the reader compares his initial character to the needy, despairing character he became towards the end. This results in a powerful and harrowing novel which certainly leaves a bitter taste in the reader’s mouth, forcing them to think about their own lives and what they may be doing to help others.
reflects upon the theme of the novel. As it highlights the fact that if people in the society
If someone had the chance to save your life when you were in need, how would you feel if they decided to continue walking past you? A boy in The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, starts out being selfish but later on realizes it is very important to take care of someone else when they are in need. In the article, “Good samaritan save man being mauled by pit bulls,” a selfless man saved a complete stranger from being killed by pit bulls. The “Parable of a good samaritan” describes how someone saves a traveling mans life with his generous mercy. In society, people should be responsible for one another and take care of one another. People aren’t here to purely take care of themselves.
“You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching, love like you'll never be hurt, sing like there's nobody listening, And live like it's heaven on earth.” Said a famous writer named William W. Purkey. Throughout the Kite Runner there were many mistakes that were made that each person let control their entire life. But like this quote says, you have to let those things go and continue to live your life and not let your mistakes define you. ? In the novel The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini’s repeated the use of rape, sickness, and sacrifice to represent many different things throughout the novel.
The story clearly illustrates that when one thinks of their ideal lifestyle they mainly rely on their personal experience which often results in deception. The theme is conveyed by literary devices such as setting, symbolism and iconic foreshadowing. The abolition of slavery was one step forward but there are still several more steps to be made. Steps that protect everyone from human trafficking and exploitation. Most importantly, racism is something that needs to stop, as well as providing equal opportunity to all without discrimination.
The theme of this book is that the human capacity to adapt to and find happiness in the most difficult circumstances. Each character in the novel shows this in their way. For instance, their family is randomly taken from their home and forced to work but they still remain a close nit family. In addition, they even manage to stick together after being separated for one of their own. These show how even in the darkest time they still manage to find a glimmer of hope and they pursued on.
This includes the historical period of the writing of the novel, the symbolic meaning of the plot and other parts of the narrative, and the characters which help us understand the way we should act in society being just, empathetic and
William’s story tells us of hardship, more than any of us will probably ever experience, triumph, and how the will of one person can change so much. He explains to us his culture, relating it to examples we know so well, and showing how the world is slowly coming together by cultural diffusion. Overall, I would recommend this book because it is very eye opening and inspiring to young minds like ours.
Nearly 50,000 people, including 30,000 children, die each day due to poverty-related problems and preventable disease in underdeveloped Countries. That doesn’t include the other millions of people who are infected with AIDS and other incurable diseases. Especially those living in Sub-Saharan Africa (70%), or “the Third-World,” and while we fight to finish our homework, children in Africa fight to survive without food, or clean water. During the next few paragraphs I will give proof that poverty and disease are the two greatest challenges facing under developed countries.
Many people in advanced industrialized nations are often unaware of infectious diseases that plague underdeveloped countries. This is primarily due to factors that are so often taken for granted like having proper sanitation, adequately treated water, properly prepared food, easy access to medical care, and economic viability. The sad truth is that many of these infectious diseases could easily be prevented if the countries where they run most rampant had only a few of the factors mentioned above. The concentration of this paper will be to focus on one such disease named Cholera and its impact on the country of Zambia, Africa.