Arabelle Sarreal Bell: 4B 11/13/13
The story of October Sky, is about the journey of four boys Sonny Hickam, Jimmie
O’Dell Caroll, Quentin, and Roy Lee as they soar to the sky building rockets. Although the
movie and the book have the same main idea, which is about determination to follow one’s
dream, there are some major and minor changes. Three main areas where the viewer/reader sees
changes are the theme, plot, and character.
One of the major changes in the movie was that Homer Hickam Sr.’s name was changed to
John Hickam. This change was probably mostly for the viewer to identify the character
development of the father and son whose names in the book were both Homer. Also, this will
help identify the characters as two different individuals since; there was no introduction of the
characters in the beginning of the movie. For example, just like in the book if Homer had said,
“My father, Homer Hickam, was the mine superintendent …” or something along those lines
then everyone would have known who his father was, his name would not have to be changed.(1)
The movie has an almost completely different portrayal of Elsie’s character compared to
the book. The father was a domineering figure on his son while Elsie in the book believed
otherwise that their son should follow his dream. Contradictions on how to raise their son is one
of the book’s conflicts while it did not reflect in the movie. Elsie, was timid or shy, almost afraid
to speak her mind which was the her opposite in the book, being outgoing, honest, and outspoken
, saying whatever she thinks no matter how that will affect others. In the movie, as Homer one
time talked on dinner time to his family in a demanding tone on who should work in the mine,
Elsie just quietly sat there, said nothing against it and casually ate the rest of her dinner. Even
though in the book, she without a doubt would have stopped him or tried to argue that he should
not dictate what is best for their son. She even said, “You can’t count on the mine being here
when you graduate from high school, Sonny.” (51)
There are also physical changes in the characters in the movie such as: Jim, Homer’s older
brother, has brown hair in the movie while in the book he has blonde hair. This may have been
changed so that the two of them would look more like brothers instead of belonging to two
different families and that Homer Hickam was fourteen in the beginning of the book but, in the
beginning of the movie he was seventeen.
There are events from the book that were changed in the movie due probably to minimize
production costs. For example, in the book the Rocket Boys dig giant holes in the ground until
they find what they need to pay for the parts of their Rocket. Instead of digging giant holes, they
sell old train tracks. It may have been too expensive to pay for a giant hole to be built only to be
used for one scene of the movie. Although, they didn’t show it in the movie while searching for
what they need Sonny is cut on the wrist, and all of the boys are in some sort of trance. After
getting serious, they “tried to pull Homer to his feet.” and tried to get him to a doctor and
fast.(309) This just shows that even though the boys were exhausted they used all of their
strength to save Sonny’s life. The combining of Jimmie O’Dell Caroll and Sherman Siers into
one character, Sherman O’Dell, may have been due to budget problems or the director thought it
would be better with one less Rocket Boy.
Although, the plot of the movie compared to the book has slight changes, it still has the
same feel to them. The touching moments of the book are kept and incorporated into the movie.
The ending still gave the same inspiring feel as the book, the story of a teenager named Homer
Hickam, growing up in a coal town in West Virginia where the boy’s usual end up working in
the mine is already awe inspiring as Homer and his friends escape that fate, except the way the
plot was executed felt a bit more tragic than the book.