October Sky Essay Questions

1. The most important quote of the book is on page 361:” A rocket won’t fly unless somebody lights the fuse.”

2. This quote is definitely one of the most important quotes in this book, but it doesn’t contain the main theme. It does, however contain one of the minor themes in the book, and this quote is directed at all parents and guardians. This quote actually has two ways of interpreting it. The first is the answer that you get by just looking at the quote, which is, you must actually light the fuse in order for a rocket to fly, but there is a much deeper meaning to the second way of interpreting it. The deeper meaning is that if you don’t allow someone to do something then it will simply not get done. In this case, Sonny’s father did not really want him to become a rocket scientist; he wanted him to become a mining engineer, so, he tried to be hateful and pessimistic of Sonny’s rocket plans. On the other hand, Sonny’s dad seems to be more in favor of Jim wanting to be a football player in college, because people going through Big Creek High School have more of a chance of being a football player or a miner rather than a rocket scientist. The main theme in October Sky is to always have determination every time that you do something and to never give up. We can tell

October Sky is a memoir about the struggles they had to go through to become national science fair winners, and to build a successful rocket. This is a nonfiction book so it is not an allegorical, this memoir however, does have a couple uses of figurative language. For example, a use of a simile in October Sky, is “the tipple loomed before me like a giant black spider.” A use of a hyperbole in October Sky is, “The thought of it plunged me into a melancholy as deep as the coal mine.” There are many other uses but it is unnecessary to look for more since they all serve the same purpose, adding more detail to whatever Sonny or anyone in the book is talking