Summary
William went back to school, and though he struggled to catch up with his classmates after missing a year of work, life appeared to return to normal for him. His parents gave him money to buy schoolbooks and he had soap to clean his yellowed uniform, for example. However, there were still reminders of the famine that just passed, such as the death of certain classmates. However, one of the most pressing reminders of the famine was the poverty that William's family still lived in, as the demand for school fees returned.
Although the Kamkwamba family earned money from the sale of their high-quality tobacco, it was just enough to live on. If they paid William's school fees, they would not have been able to survive. To try and avoid expulsion, William hid when he knew that receipts were being checked, but eventually, he was found out and had to once again withdraw from school.
On the farm, William's father needed help with the harvest, so William spent most of his time helping with that. Although the work was grueling, it was a reminder that they were now returning to pre-famine times, when the grainhouse had sacks to the ceiling, and his parents were able to joke about their thin weight.
When the harvest was over, William returned to building his windmill, a larger one this time, intending to truly harness the wind. One of the most crucial parts that he needed was a bicycle that his father saved on the wall of their home for a special occasion. Many of its parts were perfect for William's windmill, and he managed to convince his father to part with it and allow him to use the parts for his new creation.
William now spent a large amount of his time in the scrapyard, and as a result, he was ridiculed by many of the students at Kachokolo. They joked that he was a chamba smoker, meaning marijuana, but his father didn't lose faith in him and allowed him to continue with his project.
One of the most crucial components to William's plan required him to weld pieces together, and for that he had to go to Mister Godsten, who at first laughed at William for his folly. However, after some convincing, Mister Godsten welded William's pieces together and aided him in his creation.
However, the most crucial supporter of William's windmill efforts were his friends Geoffrey and Gilbert. For example, Gilbert helped by donating his time to the project, lugging heavy pieces around and hoisting them to their proper place. With their help, William acquired enough materials and support to start assembly for the windmill.
Analysis
When William returns to school with his friend Gilbert, they exchange a set of phrases that have previously appeared multiple times throughout the story: starting with "bo" (a shortened form of "bonjour") and then "sharp" and "fit," these words are like a tradition passed between the boys. Their reappearance indicates that the situation in Malawi has returned to normal. The two boys are again walking to school, and again they are able to speak these code words to each other (179).
However, when William returns to the fields to help his father with the harvest, the language changes again. Here, the pronoun changes to "we," because William and his father are out harvesting the fields (184). Farming is not an individual activity, as was previously established, and its products are not solely meant for one person. According to this quote, "all the weight we'd lost during the famine started coming back" (185). The family unit is presented as having suffered collectively during the famine, since they shared everything they had.
Furthermore, at this time, Gilbert's material assistance to William for the construction of his windmill is immensely essential. Gilbert pays for the materials that William needs, such as nuts and bolts and the dynamo, in a confident manner. When he does so, he says "let's finish the windmill!" implying that this windmill is a collective project (193). This kind of collaboration is at the core of William's windmill, with the three boys working together to complete it.
