Geoffrey Character Analysis in The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

William’s cousin, the son of Uncle John, and one of William’s best friends. William and Geoffrey work in the fields together and share many games and jokes as they grow. Geoffrey’s family is hit hardest by the famine and Geoffrey suffers from anemia until William can help him get more food. Geoffrey supports William’s somewhat crazy schemes to build electric generators and water pumps, often helping him gather materials or put together machinery. Geoffrey shows the importance of familial support in Malawi, as both Geoffrey and William help each other whenever they can.

Geoffrey Quotes in The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

The The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind quotes below are all either spoken by Geoffrey or refer to Geoffrey. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Rebirth, Recycling, and Reinvention Theme Icon

Although Geoffrey, Gilbert, and I grew up in this small place in Africa, we did many of the same things children do all over the world, only with slightly different materials. And talking with friends I’ve met from America and Europe, I now know this is true. Children everywhere have similar ways of entertaining themselves. If you look at it this way, the world isn’t so big.

Related Characters: William Kamkwamba (speaker), Gilbert, Geoffrey

Page Number and Citation: 19

Explanation and Analysis:

“We know this man has left behind some riches, and these treasures include his kids. We'd like to advise his brothers to take full control of these children. Make sure they finish their secondary education as they would have if their father had been alive. And in regards to the material wealth, we don't want to hear of troubles in the family as a result. If anyone here wants to help this family, help the children with clothing and school fees.”

Related Characters: Mister Ngwata (speaker), Geoffrey, Uncle John, Jeremiah

Page Number and Citation: 51

Explanation and Analysis:

Since we learned everything through experimenting, a great many radios were sacrificed for our knowledge. I think we had one radio from each aunt and uncle and neighbor, all in a giant tangle of wires we kept in a box in Geoffrey’s room. But after we learned from our mistakes, people began bringing us their broken radios and asking us to fix them.

Related Characters: William Kamkwamba (speaker), Geoffrey

Page Number and Citation: 69

Explanation and Analysis:

But Geoffrey was scared we would be arrested by the authorities for messing with their frequencies. People were also saying this nonsense about my windmill: “You better be careful or ESCOM power will come arrest you.”

If the first people to experiment with great inventions such as radios, generators, or airplanes had been afraid of being arrested, we'd never be enjoying those things today.

“Let them come arrest me,” I'd say. “It would be an honor.”

Related Characters: William Kamkwamba (speaker), Geoffrey

Related Symbols: The Windmill

Page Number and Citation: 227

Explanation and Analysis:

Geoffrey Character Timeline in The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

The timeline below shows where the character Geoffrey appears in The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Malawian Culture and African Community Theme Icon

William’s best friends are his cousin Geoffrey and Gilbert, the son of the chief of the Wimbe district. Gilbert’s father is known... (full context)

On this particular day, William and Geoffrey find Gilbert singing along to the radio in his room. They use their secret slang... (full context)

...can return. It is the first time that William has ever seen his parents upset. Geoffrey is distraught at the loss of his father, and William does not know how to... (full context)

...John. William cannot handle the press of people inside Uncle John’s house, and he and Geoffrey step outside for air. Geoffrey asks William what will happen now, but William has no... (full context)

...to find birds in the dambo, a practice that William learned from his older cousins Geoffrey and Charity. Before getting a dog, William, Geoffrey and Charity trapped birds in tree sap... (full context)

...gets in one’s eyes. The wind blows the sap into Charity’s eyes and William and Geoffrey know that they must quickly get Charity to a mother who is producing milk, as... (full context)

Hunting with Geoffrey and Charity taught William how to best trap birds and patiently wait for the moment... (full context)

Education and Entrepreneurship Theme Icon

On a hunting trip, William and Khamba head down to the blue gum trees by Geoffrey’s house to take advantage of their shade. William strips two blue gum branches of their... (full context)

William turns 13 in 2000 and starts to grow up. He, Gilbert, and Geoffrey spend less time hunting and more time playing bawo, a mancala game, in the trading... (full context)

...eat if the Nomads lost, he gave up following soccer for good. Instead, William and Geoffrey begin to talk about old radios and figuring out how to fix them. (full context)

...produce sound as soon as he saw one. Through much trial and error, William and Geoffrey learn how the integrated circuit board, made up of wires and plastic, connects to little... (full context)

Soon, Geoffrey and William run a radio-repair business out of Geoffrey’s bedroom. To find out the source... (full context)

...come on. After noticing that the dynamo wires sparked when they touched metal, William and Geoffrey attach the dynamo wires to a radio where the battery would normally go. The radio... (full context)

William complains to Geoffrey about the missed breakfast, but Geoffrey says he stopped getting breakfast weeks ago. The two... (full context)

After an unsatisfactory Christmas lunch of a blob of nsima, William goes to visit Geoffrey. Geoffrey now looks for ganyu each day instead of working on the farm, and is... (full context)

With Geoffrey and Gilbert busy with their own troubles on Christmas, William goes to see Charity at... (full context)

...morning that he has to drop out. With Gilbert at school, William goes to find Geoffrey, whom he hasn’t seen in weeks. William is shocked at how skinny and ill Geoffrey... (full context)

After months of eating solely pumpkin leaves, Geoffrey’s anemia has also worsened, leaving his body swollen with fluids and too weak to walk.... (full context)

In Mid-February, William and Geoffrey help Trywell prune the tobacco crop. The boys wish they could eat the tobacco leaves... (full context)

Science vs. Superstition and Magic Theme Icon

...the fields, and the Kamkwamba family has its first hearty supper in months. William tells Geoffrey that they are like the seeds from a parable that Jesus once told—planted on fertile... (full context)

...could actually use a smaller generator such as a radio-cassette player motor. William goes to Geoffrey’s house and explains why he needs a radio motor. Geoffrey is eager to help, though... (full context)

William and Geoffrey extract the radio motor and attach it to William’s blade contraption. They hunt through the... (full context)

...yard, the villagers begin to gossip that William has gone crazy digging through garbage. With Geoffrey away working with Uncle Musaiwale, Gilbert is William’s only supporter. Even Agnes begins to worry... (full context)

...his windmill machinery will actually work. William builds a pole out of bamboo, and convinces Geoffrey to help him lift the windmill onto the pole. Geoffrey then releases the bent bicycle... (full context)

With the windmill test successful, William, Geoffrey, and Gilbert begin to build a real tower. Gathering wood from the same blue gum... (full context)

At 7 the next morning, Geoffrey and Gilbert return to help William hoist the windmill on top of the tower. Using... (full context)

...power from reaching the wires in the house. William is happy his invention worked, but Geoffrey tells him he should fix his roof. (full context)

During this time, Geoffrey continues to work with Uncle Musaiwale in a maize mill the next town over. Geoffrey... (full context)

Rewiring the radio and attaching a microphone, William and Geoffrey find out that William can broadcast his voice over the radio frequency up to 300... (full context)

...the years of school he missed. William packs everything he owns and says goodbye to Geoffrey and Gilbert, making them promise to take care of his windmill. William travels to the... (full context)

...and even gets the chance to inform President Mutharika about the amazing things that he, Geoffrey, and Gilbert did in their little village – just as Mutharika provided government aid to... (full context)