The Business of Survival Theme Analysis

Many of William’s inventions are focused on helping people survive and thrive in Malawi and Africa at large. He sees survival as a business where difficulties must be balanced out with ingenuity and hard work. Malawi’s farmers, though incredibly hard-working, are stuck in a vicious cycle wherein they barely survive each year and are unable to plan or save for the future. William wants to disrupt the damaging equation of work and loss that leaves his community with nothing and help them find a surplus.

While growing up on a farm in the Wimbe district of Malawi and watching his mother Agnes stretch food for many meals, William saw how a farmer must carefully calculate the crops they expect and look forward to the next season of crops even when times are hard at the moment. He also sees how the rich traders and government officials in Malawi use the close margins of the farmers’ livings to cheat them for greater profits. William then wants to put power back in the hands of the farmers, by using his inventions and education to break the dependency that Malawian farmers have on the government or traders for commodities such as electricity, water pumps, fertilizer, and other goods.

The survival equation affects everyone in rural Malawi, but not everyone bands together to survive. Some have a win-or-lose mentality that causes them to steal from others or push others out of the way in times of hardship. William learns from his family, especially his father Trywell, that people must come together in times of trouble so that everyone can survive. The survival of one person is not a zero-sum equation that requires another person to die. It is a combined effort that will help all people thrive. Yet the book does not suggest that it is anyone’s responsibility to freely give other people the means of survival. Everyone must contribute or work in some way for his or her individual survival. To some extent, William’s parents provide their children with the base requirements for survival and leave William and his siblings to their own devices to make sure that they get everything they need. William suggests that as long as everyone is working towards a better future for Malawi, the business of survival will become less about barely making it by and more about thriving. The collective efforts of many Malawians can balance the survival equation so that the communities can save up a surplus and mitigate the potential devastation of a bad crop or poor government management.