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What Are The Barriers In The Rocket Boys

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In the book Rocket Boys by Homer H. Hickman Jr., there are many times that it is breaking the barriers. The book takes place in a small town and it is very uniform until Homer starts becoming more involved in rockets. He also doesn't play sports which is what everyone loves. He also jeopardizes his position on the social ladder by working with Quentin. Another time barriers were broken was after Mr. Bykovski died in the mines. With the following of Sputnik, a Russian satellite, Sonny and his friends decided to build their own rocket to send to space before the Russians. Roy Lee, Sherman, and O’Dell helped him. Their first rocket was made out of a flashlight body and powder from a firecracker. Once it was lit, disaster struck. “ The only problem was, it wasn't our rocket that streaked into that dark, cold, clear, and starry night. It was my mother’s rose-garden fence.” (Pg. 124-125 on IPhone) In the book, Sonny’s mother was very proud of her fence. It was a symbol to the neighborhood, her prize possession. His father was disappointed and his mother was upset about the fence and garden. This broke the barriers of this small little town because they weren't used to someone experimenting especially with something so dangerous. It shook the town and it was only the start. …show more content…

Bykovski died in the mines things changed. Mr. Bykovski always helped BCMA with retrieving and making materials for the rockets. He was a welder that spared parts to help them. Sonny blamed himself for the death of Mr. Bykovski. “He re-assigned me to the mine” (Pg.283 on IPhone) After Sonny’s dad found out that Mr. Bykovski was helping Sonny with the rockets, he was fired from welding and moved to mining. Sonny constantly said that it was his fault for his death and that if he never asked for help then he would have never been in the mine. From there his life started spiraling and he lost all interest in everything. Mr. Bykovski’s death broke Sonny’s barriers of what he could

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