Rocket Boys: Chapter 21 Summary & Analysis

The school year begins in the fall, and the BCMA proceeds with its rocketry. As Homer works, he visits the Reverend Richard, who tells Homer that he had a dream in which Homer walked on the moon. Unfortunately, the BCMA’s next launch is a total failure: Auk XXII explodes on the launchpad, suggesting that the zinc fuel isn’t stable enough to be useful. Worse, when Homer returns to his house, Elsie tells him that the mining company is selling houses in Coalwood.

Homer explains the status of Coalwood in 1959. Steel companies are experiencing deficits, meaning that they need to sell off houses, as well as sewage and water systems, and even the churches. It’s possible that the coalmine will be shut down next.

After a particularly difficult meeting with the union, Homer Sr. returns to his home, reporting that the union wants to know how to pay for workers’ houses. The company has promised to lend the workers money with no interest rate—a generous move, but still a major strain on the workers’ finances. Elsie insists that the coalmine itself will be shut down soon. Homer Sr. angrily denies this, arguing that the sense of community in Coalwood will make the workers loyal and productive, in turn making the mine itself financially productive. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Van Dyke is fired for complaining about the property sale, and the unions go on strike.

Meanwhile, the BCMA experiments with zinc-sulfur combinations. They realize that the mixture is too loose, and has too much air in it to be stable. Thus, they try to find a way to “bind” the zinc and sulfur together. Quentin decides to use a mixture of alcohol to keep the chemicals together, since alcohol is stable and evaporates quickly.

The group goes to John Eye’s to find pure, 100% alcohol. John Eye is a local legend—the most popular moonshiner in the region. At John Eye’s house, they find a big room full of gamblers. There, Roy Lee takes the lead, asking John Eye for his purest brew. John Eye encourages Roy Lee to sample his product to make sure that it’s 200-proof. The group decides to taste the alcohol. Homer reluctantly takes a swig, which burns his insides. It’s enough to make him—and the other BCMA members—very drunk. Homer is sick for hours afterwards. When he goes home, carrying a big container of alcohol, Elsie scolds him for drinking. Nevertheless, he hears her laughing with Homer Sr. as he goes to bed, and the sound of their laughter cheers him up.

A new superintendent comes to Coalwood: Mr. Fuller. He’s totally charmless, and the town instantly dislikes him. He essentially dares Mr. Dubonnet to declare a strike. Mr. Dubonnet doesn’t do so, and the property sale proceeds. Reverend Richard manages to pay for his church, but Reverend Lanier loses his job—because he works for the company, he’s dismissed from his position. No one else wants to be a priest in Coalwood, so the Coalwood Community Church is closed for the first time in living memory.

As these disturbing changes come to Coalwood, Homer continuers with his rocketry. He mixes moonshine, zinc, and sulfur, and gets a thick, clay-like substance. He dries the “clay” and lights up a small portion of it, happily noting that it’s extremely flammable, and thus makes for good fuel. One night, he and the BCMA are lighting up fuel near their house when Mr. Fuller yells at them to stop. Tag, who’s walking by, defends the “Rocket Boys,” and tells Fuller that he’ll get used to them in due time.

The BCMA announces its next rocket launch: Auk XXII-A. More than 200 people show up for the launch. There, Auk XXII-A shoots up so high that no one can see it. Sherman uses Newtonian physics to calculate that the rocket attains a height of 5,776 feet—a BCMA record, and the first time they’ve broken the “mile barrier.” The boys are exhilarated with their success, and Basil publishes an article about their achievements that gushes with praise for their ingenuity.

The BCMA’s next step is to perfect the nozzle equations necessary to make their rockets more efficient. Thus will require measuring the rocket’s thrust. In order to do so, the group borrows a “meat scale” (the kind that’s used to hang sides of beef from the ceiling) from a local butcher shop. At Cape Coalwood, they try to use the scale to measure their rockets’ thrust, but in the end the rocket is so hot that it melts the scale to pieces. The BCMA spends the next few weeks working at the butcher shop to pay off their debt.

The BCMA next tries to measure thrust using Elsie’s bathroom scale. They manage to attach the rocket to the spring in the scale, and measure the “weight” of the rocket’s movement in the split second before the rocket destroys the scale. O’Dell is able to obtain a new bathroom scale for Elsie, and the group is satisfied—they’ve learned the thrust of their rocket.

The BCMA prepares for its final countersunk nozzle-rocket, Auk XXII-D. Afterwards, Homer and Quentin will experiment with different nozzle shapes, using the proper equations from their guidebook. For Auk XXII-D, Homer designs especially small, narrow fins to prevent “wobbling.”

The BCMA launches their Auk rocket. It flies straight up, but Homer’s small fins turn out to be a mistake—the rocket swerves and heads toward Frog Level. Homer is terrified that his rocket will kill someone, as is Roy Lee. As it turns out, Auk XXII-D lands in an abandoned field, hurting no one, and the townspeople are more amused than angry. The only exception is Mr. Fuller, who considers the rockets a “menace.” The townspeople angrily defend the “Rocket Boys,” saying that Fuller can take away their homes, their water, and their power, but not their rockets. Nevertheless, Mr. Fuller promises to report Homer to Homer Sr.

Shortly after the launching of Auk XXII-D, Homer Sr. calls Homer to his office. He tells Homer they’re going for a ride. Homer Sr. drives Homer out to Cape Coalwood. There, Homer is horrified to see that Mr. Fuller has organized the bulldozing of the BCMA’s blockhouse and launchpad. Homer Sr. reasons that Homer has broken his end of the bargain—he’s sent rockets into Coalwood, even though he promised to never do so again. Homer Sr. gently advises Homer to wait until after college to pursue rockets. Homer shoots back that he’ll never come back to Coalwood after he goes to college—a remark which hurts his father’s feelings enormously.

Suddenly, Mr. Dubonnet drives up to Cape Coalwood. He tells Homer Sr. that it’s not right that Fuller is taking apart Homer’s launchpad. Dubonnet even threatens to go on strike if the launchpad isn’t rebuilt immediately. Reluctantly, Homer Sr. goes to talk to Mr. Fuller. Homer watches as his father argues with Mr. Fuller. Though Homer can’t hear anything they’re saying, he’s amazed to see Homer Sr. lift Mr. Fuller off the ground in anger. Afterwards, Homer Sr. tells Homer that he can still use the field.