October Sky Book Analysis

In Coalwood, every boy grew up thinking they were destined to be coal miners and Homer Hickam had no reason to think he'll be any different. Homer had no route out of his predetermined life - until the Soviet Satellite Sputnik flew over the October sky. Inspired by the dawn of space age and Wernher Von, he embarked on a quixotic mission that altered his life forever. October Sky is based on the triumphant story of Homer Hickam. He is a high school student in rural West Virginia where the coal mine was the main source of employment for the closely-knit community. As a mine superintendent, Homer’s father (John Hickam) had no greater desire than to witness his son shadow his footsteps, but Homer's future plans were contrasting. Consequently, it …show more content…
They were not from families with much money. To build the rockets, they had to find a way to obtain the money to purchase supplies or scrounge up parts locally. Homer knew little about aerodynamics, rocket design, and fuels, but along with the other boys, he worked very hard to educate himself from the book provided by Ms. Riley and furthermore he would gather the knowledge from rocket tests or misfires. He continued facing obstacles getting the rocket to propel itself as high as he wanted it to go but, he never gave up on extending his understanding about fuels and continued adjusting the design. A misfire launched by the rocket boys had severely injured many coal miners including Homer’s dad. Since the family was in desperate need of income, Homer had to discontinue his rocket building and work at the mine. Experiencing life as a coal miner made his aspiration stronger to successfully launch his rocket. ‘‘No. Coal mining may be your life, but it's not mine. I'm never going down there again. I want to go into space”. Homer Voiced his passion for rockets and Overcoming his father’s objection to his desires, he shifted his focus back on rocket building. Moreover, they had to find a solution to make the rocket stay in flight longer which led them to adapt to the scientific method. The boys soon realized the significance of making one change at a time to be able to pinpoint …show more content…
Likewise, as immigrants me and my family never gave up on establishing a stable life in Canada. We overcame the cultural obstacle by adapting to the customs and communicating with the diverse groups present in Canada. Communication helped us understand different perspectives and overcome the language barrier. The schools in comparison were also different. It took me a while to express myself in the pristine setting since I am a quite person. However, I was glad that even after assuming that I will not adjust I conquered my fears and made efforts to interact with my colleagues at school. With dedication towards education, I improved my language skills to understand the content taught in school better. My diligent efforts led me to accomplish my goal of expressing my personality with confidence. Homer showcased a lot of patience throughout his journey and similarly my parents had to upgrade their qualifications to find suitable jobs where I showed patience and support for them. Homer had truthful friends who assisted him along his rocket building journey. In my journey to Canada I met many different people. Not all were trustworthy and welcoming as I supposed they would be but soon I realized to differentiate between personalities and made friends that will be sincere towards me. I relate to his experience since everything seemed like a huge adjustment for me at the