Rocket Boys Sparknotes

In Homer’s memoir, Rocket Boys, family is possibly the biggest factor when it comes to a person’s drive. In this case Sonny’s dad, Homer, is strongly against Sonny’s progression with the rockets. He wants Sonny to grow up and be a mine engineer however, Sonny is positive he doesn’t want to have anything to do with the mine. Homer Sr. believes the rocket building is frivolous, while Sonny plans on getting a scholarship through them. This results in their relationship being poisonous. Elsie, Sonny’s mom, is the opposite of Homer Sr. She supports Sonny as he goes about his adventures, while having hopes of her own. Sonny’s Mom drives Sonny forward, and helps him when needed, even though he blew up her fence with his first rocket. For example, …show more content…
She believes that she will someday be that woman, giving her the stability through her troubles. Homer Sr. has almost no influence on Jim. This is because he already has the frame of his future lined up with going to college through a football scholarship. This fuels Sonny to push and make his parents as proud as they are of Jim, disregarding the fact that Homer Sr. disapproves. This changes when Homer Sr. is maimed at the mine during a rescue. To help support the family, he goes to work his father’s job and abandons his rockets. Homer Sr., thinking he has clearly changed Sonny’s pursuit to work for NASA, gets accustom to Sonny and befriends him. This retrogressively goes back to the way things were when Sonny quits and goes back into rocketry and the science fair. If Homer Sr. isn’t getting what he wants, he will tend to have a negative influence towards that person. Dr. Wernher also influences Sonny and his actions greatly. Because of his main accomplishments, he inspired Sonny even when he was getting no support from others. The discoveries made by Dr. Wernher, especially with nozzles, helped Sonny and his friends tremendously, assisting them without even meeting each