October Sky Character Analysis

In the film October Sky, the character Sonny is less selfish than he is in the book. An example of this is when he works in the mine in place of Jim after his dad gets injured and a male family member has to fill in. In doing so, he gives up building rockets and any hope of a different future or an escape from Coalwood. In the film, even though he had to give up something he loved, he did it to help his family. This contradicts the book because Sonny told Homer a few times in the book that he would not be a mining engineer and he wouldn’t give up on his dream of working at Cape Canaveral with Dr von Braun. An example of Sonny’s selfishness in the book is when he goes to the mine against his mother’s wishes the night of the accident. Although