Qualities that Homer Carries

By: Liz Hunhoff

             In the movie October Sky Homer Hickam is a boy with a dream, a dream to build rockets. Homer faces many obstacles in the way of achieving his dream, but in the end his accomplishes it. Homer accomplished his dream because he possessed many special qualities. They were: confidence, determination, and stubbornness.

            Confidence is what everyone needs to have, and Homer had just enough of it to make him believe that he could accomplish his dream. Homer was shot down numerous times by his dad, principal, and fellow classmates, but he knew that he wanted to make something of himself, and to get out of Coal wood. Anyone else probably would have given up after they had received such criticism, but Homer had confidence and in the end won the national science competition, and got to meet Warner Von Braun, the man who inspired Homer to launch his first rocket.

            Homer was also very determined. Determined to get out of Coal wood; determined not to have to work in the mines. Building the rockets wasn’t an easy task. It took many, many tries for him and his friends to finally get it right, but they were all determined, and eventually with their knowledge and the help of people in the town, it all came together and the rockets started to fly.

            Many times in the movie Homer and his father got into fights about what Homer was going to do with his life. His father wanted him to go into the mines and work. He even said that eventually Homer would take the place of his dad, and run the whole mine. Homer had different plans though. He wanted to grow up and go into outer space. His father didn’t want that, and told Homer he could no longer build rockets, but Homer, being as stubborn as he was, kept on building them anyway.

            Homer and his story of how he built his rockets is a very emotional and life-changing story. It just shows that if you really believe in something, and you stick with a certain plan, eventually all the hard work will pay off, and you’ll accomplish your goals. The qualities that Homer possesses are ones that everyone should strive to have.