Rocket Boys Chapters 22-23

It is a tribute to Homer Hickman's prose that he can make a science fair, ordinarily a fairly dull and mundane event in the life of a high schooler, seem like an exciting and eventful thing, many times over, as the boys progress to different levels in the science fairs of that lead up to the national competition. Homer and the other rocket boys, against all odds, prove their mettle against some of the most talented competition in the state. "We made a quick audit of our competition. A Welch High School display of plant fossils found in coal mines seemed out stiffest competition. 'Just a bunch of old rocks,' said O'Dell, 'nothing to worry about'" (320). The boys look around with the keen eye of athletes against the opposing team, for they determined to be the best after years of hard work.

The boy's success at every level of the science fairs, for the reader, makes him or her feel like he or she watching an underdog sports team win a championship. The victories are clearly the pay off of much hard work and labor. The judges were "Welch courthouse politicians," men far above the class of Homer and the boys of his high school (320). In contrast to O'Dell, Homer is intimidated by the coal and the carefully labeled fossils, possibly because the love of coal runs so deep, as he is well aware, in Coalwood, and he is symbolically competing against his father's stock in trade, with his friends' and his own unique interest. The Science Fairs, to which Homer is chauffeured by his mother, in another act of fitting symbolism, as she gave him the confidence to 'launch' his dreams into the stratosphere, are Homer's proving-ground as a man. Homer's own reputation and the reputation of his teacher precede him, though, "Sounds like you boys do some...

They have succeeded, when everyone thought they would fail, and they have not blown themselves up, but done what no small town boys 'ought' to do -- they have won the prestigious National Science Fair. The "beautiful daughters" Homer admired watch and pass out refreshments, while the "machinists" tell rocket building stories, and even the union leaders have "contented smiles on their face" (359). It is the perfect small-town portrait -- with explosions. There are no fireworks, as might be typical in the usual small-town portrait of success, rather the fireworks are the sophisticated rockets that the Rocket Club has designed and learned from, in their quest to reach the top.
The scene plays out like a perfect vision of Americana or Norman Rockwell, except rather than celebrate a football team's success, the town is celebrating intellectual achievement and the leaders of tomorrow. Once mocked, all of the boys are heroes, even the strange and asocial Quentin. And finally, "dad," Homer's father is there, finally proud of his son and ready to acknowledge that Homer's project, however different and mad it seemed at first, was not in vain (360). Homer's father is a difficult man, but he is also willing to admit that he was wrong. His son has done something he never thought possible, and rather than hold back he is at least willing to acknowledge his boy's achievement, as the entire town of Coalwood celebrates the boys, and also the changing future of America.