Outside Reading Week 1 Part B

Even from the very beginning of the book, it’s clear that Homer isn’t like the other residents of Coalwood. He never quite fits in with the other boys for numerous reasons. First, he could never be a football player because he’s small, near-sighted and just not tough enough, which according to his brother, makes him a sissy. Second, he’s never able to please his father because there’s nothing in Coalwood that Homer can really do well. His life is meant to be outside of the mine, not in. And lastly, Sputnik interests Homer much more than anything else that he’s ever encountered in Coalwood, “I had never seen anything so marvelous in my life (39). It was as if being a rocket engineer was his calling and it took one event to set his entire life in motion.

But there was one obstacle that almost prevented Homer from being the person he is: his dad. While his mother supported him, his father never seemed to understand how important rocket building was to Homer. Like the other people of Coalwood, mining and high school football were Homer Hickam Senior’s life. He could support Jim because Jim was a huge football star, but he couldn’t support his second son’s hobby. I don’t understand why Homer’s dad is so blind and oblivious to him. Even I, as an outsider can see the potential Homer possesses while his father cannot. I don’t think it’s fair that just because his dad’s life is mining, he believes Homer’s life has to be about mining too. Being a Coalwood boy doesn’t seem to be enough for Homer Hickam, there is always something more.