The+Rocket+Man

= Rocket Man  =

Summary : ﻿ In the future, astronauts travel into space for periods of three months. Doug's dad is one of those rocket men. His absences causes stress on Doug and his mom. The story starts when Doug's dad returns from on of his journeys. On the first night of his 3 day return period, he takes his family to a television carnival. All seems well, except Doug feels that his mom is treating his dad as though he was invisible. On the second day, they fly to the Pacific coast, and things seem well once again. Doug and his dad talk for hours about what had happened over the past three months while on the beach. Doug's dad makes Doug promise to never be a rocket man during these talks. On the last night, Doug's mom makes a huge meal as a last attempt to stop his dad from leaving. It almost works, but his dad still doesn't agree to stop being a rocket man. Doug's dad says that the next time he comes back he will stay on earth permanently, and then he leaves. Doug's mom says that she treats his dad as if he was dead because it makes the pain of seeing him leave easier to cope with. The next day, Doug and his mom learns that his ship had crashed into the sun. They don't go out into the sun for a long time because they don't want to be reminded of their husband and father, the rocket man.

Setting: Rocket Man takes place in some point in the future. Besides all of the technology mentioned in the story, Doug's dad says he was a boy in 1997. If Doug's dad is in his 50s, this means that the story takes place in 2047. This was a very far time in the future when Bradbury wrote the story in 1951. Also, the story most likely takes place in a future America. When Doug and his family take their vacation, the narrator calls it "The Pacific Coast". This is how an American would refer to California.

Protagonist: The protagonist of the story is Doug, who tries to overcome the stress and tension that the father's long periods of absences puts on his family. He also has to deal with the question of whether he should become a rocket man just like his dad. A protagionist could also be Doug's dad. Doug's dad has to go against himself. HE tries to get over his addiction of going into space.

Antagonist: The antagonist of the story is Doug's dad. His dad's addiction to being a rocket man challenges Doug's life, and his mother's life as well. An antagonist could also be his dad's profession (being a rocket man). Being a rocket man causes stress on Doug and his mother. It also takes away his dad's interaction with loved ones.

Forms of Technology: The major form of technology in the short story are rocketships. In the short story they can travel to distant planets and be back within three months. Bradbury also talks about helicopters being used like planes. Since the story was written in the 1950s, Bradbury didn't know that planes would become the way we travel long distances.

Conflict: The main conflict in this story is man vs self (Doug's Dad vs himself). This is the main conflict because, while he loves being at home with his wife and son, he cannot stop going back out into space. He misses Earth while he's in Space and he misses Space while he's on Earth.

Theme: voice: Bradbury's voice in this story is that if you wait too long you will lose your opportunity because when Doug's dad waits too long to choose to stay on Earth forever, he dies going back into Space. mood: When reading this story, I feel sorry for Doug and his mom because they both miss their dad and husband and their feeling of absence shows. tone: The omniscient third person narrator's tone is full of sorrow or glumness. The narrator feels sorry for Doug and his mother, Lily, because they don't have that father figure around all of the time.

Discussion Questions: Why does Doug's dad keep traveling into space and leave his family? Why does Doug's mom treat the dad the way she does when he returns from space? Why does Doug's dad tell him to never be a Rocket man and then leave his family again?

http://www.space.com/futureofflight/ http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/news/news/releases/2004/04-128.html



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