Rocket Boys By Homer Hickam Jr.: Literary Analysis

After reading the memoir, Rocket Boys, written by Homer H. Hickam. Jr, one can easily see how the setting of the town, Coalwood, was a prominent character throughout the course of the book. Sonny would not be the man he was today if the action of the story was set in another town or area. “...nearly everything that i knew in Coalwood is gone... Yet I believe for those of us who keep it in our hearts, Coalwood still lives” (Hickam 367) Although the actual town of Coalwood has fallen in abandonment, the impact it made on Sonny and these boys was too strong to forget about. Additionally, Mr.Dubonnet says, “In just a few years, all this will be gone, almost like it never existed”,(Hickam 69) describing the town of Coalwood as a character. The town of Coalwood was built for the purpose of coal mining, where the men in the family would work

Sonny felt limited by what Coalwood had to offer to him, and wanted to venture out of the dull town. Along with the town, Sonny’s father thought they were wasting their time with their rockets. At first, Sonny could not see himself going anywhere past Coalwood in the future. But after, Sonny sees the people’s future lives in Coalwood and negative comments, this motivated him to do greater and better things, rather than working in a mine for the rest of his life. Because of Sonny’s relationship with the town and most the people saying he and his friends could not build rockets, Sonny strived to prove their point wrong by making rockets. While the setting of Coalwood inspired Sonny to do greater things in life, in turn, Sonny affected the setting. He tried to change around the monotonous everyday life in the town and made it somewhat more colorful and interesting with his amueter rocket creations. People soon began to appreciate the determination and craft that the boys brought to the