Rocket Boys

by

Homer Hickam

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Elsie Lavender Hickam Character Analysis

The mother of Homer Hickam Jr. and the wife of Homer Hickam Sr., Elsie Lavender Hickam is an intelligent, ambitious, and supportive woman. She frequently quarrels with her husband about life in the mines. Although most of her family is involved in mining, she despises every aspect of the life of a miner. Largely for this reason, she encourages Homer to pursue his dreams of building rockets, as she believes that rocketry will help Homer attend college and escape the mines. Much like Homer himself, Elsie feels a curious distance between herself and Homer Sr. Her distance becomes literal as well as metaphorical at the end of Rocket Boys, when she announces that she’s moving to Myrtle Beach, far from the Coalwood mine.

Elsie Lavender Hickam Quotes in Rocket Boys

The Rocket Boys quotes below are all either spoken by Elsie Lavender Hickam or refer to Elsie Lavender Hickam. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
The Cold War and the Space Race Theme Icon
).
Chapter 3 Quotes

I didn’t know what to say. I just stared at her. She sighed. “To get out of here, you’ve got to show your dad you’re smarter than he thinks. I believe you can build a rocket. He doesn’t. I want you to show him I’m right and he’s wrong. Is that too much to ask?”

Related Characters: Homer Hickam Jr. (speaker), Elsie Lavender Hickam (speaker), Homer Hickam Sr.
Related Symbols: Rockets
Page Number: 44
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Rocket Boys LitChart as a printable PDF.
Rocket Boys PDF

Elsie Lavender Hickam Quotes in Rocket Boys

The Rocket Boys quotes below are all either spoken by Elsie Lavender Hickam or refer to Elsie Lavender Hickam. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
The Cold War and the Space Race Theme Icon
).
Chapter 3 Quotes

I didn’t know what to say. I just stared at her. She sighed. “To get out of here, you’ve got to show your dad you’re smarter than he thinks. I believe you can build a rocket. He doesn’t. I want you to show him I’m right and he’s wrong. Is that too much to ask?”

Related Characters: Homer Hickam Jr. (speaker), Elsie Lavender Hickam (speaker), Homer Hickam Sr.
Related Symbols: Rockets
Page Number: 44
Explanation and Analysis: