Occupation In The Film October Sky

That summer, Simpson’s father, Phil, who was a great athlete in his own right, called and asked me if I could take him to the Five Star Basketball camp in Pittsburgh. Every July I would take several of the top players in our area to Five Star, an invitation only camp that featured many of the best high school players in the country. I told Phil that I did not think he would get in because the camp’s youngest players were rising sophomores and Greg was only entering his freshman year. I gave him an application and told him to give it a try but not to be disappointed

In 1907, two miles south of Centralia, Illinois was the Centralia Mine No. 5. The Mine was there to provide coal during World War II. This particular mine employed 250 men and produced 2,000 tons of coal each day. During the next several years there were several complaints made regarding the safety of the mine. On March 25, 1947, the mine exploded, killing 111 miners. (Stillman, 2010)

I believe that everyone, no matter how big or small, also has challenges and obstacles which test them. Although the difficulty and frequency of these setbacks are not set in stone, everyone has to face these challenges to move on in life. Personally, one of the greatest challenges for me is to become what I want to be. In order to reach my goal I must finish university at a high standard, then move onto medical school to finish my education. Although, my challenges do not align with Homer’s, one bridge that can connect us, is the fact that our fathers are extremely demanding. Now, John Hickam wants Homer to work in the coal mine instead of Homer’s optimistic view of pursuing rocketry. This contradicts my father’s belief, which is of me being optimistic and becoming something which involves tons of hard work. This places a great deal of pressure on me in my studies. My method of achieving this will be, of course, working hard and such. However, it also plays a big part in me actually becoming what I want to be and not just what other people want. With me being on the same page as my father, I know what I am going to do in my life and will continue to pursue it until I reach my

In addition to long working hours, miners paid for the supplies including open head flame lights and detonators. The miners were more or less like craftsmen using their tools and self-acquired skills to produce the maximum output. Consequently, the explosives led to numerous accidents leaving the miners injured badly and dead in many instances. Numerous workers (about 60 each year) were killed as a result of these explosions. The families of the deceased were rarely compensated. Occupational hazards, deterioration in health overtime, inadequate pay in the form of “strips” resulted in conflicts between the labor and the management.

Homer Hickam was a teenage boy from a mining town in West Virginia called Coalwood. He inspired to build rockets when he seen the first artificial satellite, Sputnik, streak across the stars. With his friends and the local nerd, Homer sets out to do just that but with many errors and trials. Along with the town, Homer's father thought they were wasting their time with their rockets. He wanted Homer to be a coal miner just like everyone else but Homer knew he didn't belong there. As time went on, some people from town became interested in seeing the homemade missiles launch into the sky. The boys became popular and were known as the "Rocketboys" around town.

The working conditions in factories were so bad during this time that it often led to sickness, injuries and death. People who worked in mines had to face many dangerous disadvantages every day. The working conditions in mines were very unsafe,

Document 6 states children working underground, breaker boys inhaled great amounts of coal dust damaging their lungs and causing illness. This shows that many children were worked hard. Additional document 1 shows that in 1910 there were 163000000 child workers,117 infants under one died. That means .5% of the work force was children.

In the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain follows protagonist, Huck Finn throughout his endeavors. This coming of age story displays Huck’s actions that lead to him running away from home. From a young age, Huck is forced to become emotionally and physically autonomous due to his father’s alcoholism. Huck runs away and begins his adventure with fugitive slave, Jim. Together they meet a diverse range of individuals and families. Mark Twain illustrates Huck Finn’s character development by exposing him to different moral systems.

Homer applied, got the job and was a coal miner. For weeks all he did was get up at the crack of dawn and not come home until late at night. For once, Homer’s father was proud of Homer, and showing it. Homer’s mother, Elsie Hickam, had shown she believed in Homer, but until Homer got a chance to go to the science fair, she did not show it. She stayed out of Homer and his dad’s fights, which is almost as bad as following John blindly. But, when Homer needed her most, she was there, fought John and had John help Homer. “Homer once said you loved the mine more than your own family. I stood up for you because I didnt want to believe it. Homer has gotten a lot of help from the people in this town. They’ve helped him build his rockets. They’ve watched him fly ’em. But not you. You never showed up, not even once.” Now, Homer’s brother, Jim Hickam, on the other hand had still followed their dad but he was closer to helping and believing in Homer than their dad was. Homer’s brother had told everyone about the rocket launch and told them all to come and see it without Homer’s consent or knowledge of everyone showing up. Originally, Jim wanted to embarrass Homer in front of everyone, but it backfired and worked well for Homer in the end. Although Family doesn’t show it much, they still do love you, they may disagree with your beliefs, and your dreams, but they should still help and support you, even if they do not have the money to help.

Miners were paid more than factory workers, but that was because conditions in the mines were even crueler. Mines were dark, dirty and polluted with coal dust. Explosions, flooding and collapsing tunnels were just some of the dangerous incidents the workers had to be aware of. Women usually did not even wear any clothes while working in the mines. Most women only had one set of clothes and could not afford for them to get caught in a machine, destroyed or dirty. Further, mines were extremely hot, so wearing clothes made it even hotter, especially with the amount of sweat and body heat in the mine. Both women and children went up and down ladders multiple times a day with heavy loads of coal. For children, work in the mines was very tough; as they had to haul coal back and forth in carts in the

Homer H. Hickam Jr.’s memoir, Rocket Boys, focuses on the mine and its significance towards the lives of the people of Coalwood. The mine represents the life of the people of Coalwood. Homer Hickam Jr., also known as Sonny, has his life completely controlled by the mine. His dad, the mine superintendent, constantly pushes Sonny to pursue a job in the mine. Sonny’s future lies in his parents’ hands. His dad, aware of the popularity of mining in Coalwood, strongly suggests Sonny to start preparing for his future. On the other hand, his mother encourages him to pursue his dreams and follow his heart. His father has a good reason for wanting Sonny to follow in his footsteps. All the men that Sonny knows in Coalwood are miners while the women are

“Blasting itself produced immense quantities of mineral particles. The common practice of returning to the work face soon after the detonation of charges meant entering an area filled with particulate matter. (Derickson 3)” Also, as labors transported, unloaded, and cleaned the extracted material dust was inhaled even though they were away from the mine. So no matter what technique used the coal dust still made it in the air and into the miners’ lungs. There were no safety regulations in place about how long to wait after blowing up coal, no regulations about how many particulates in the air were safe, no mask or safety precautions and no mandatory venting. Although some of these things were easily usable to the safety the company felt it was too costly. “An elaborate system of fans and blowers was ‘too costly’, so the miner had to pay for the bad ventilating by ‘miners’ asthma’ and other ailments caused by bad air. (Derickson 4)” Basically the coal operators did not care enough about the miners safety to provide vents and things that could have helped the air quality.

After encounters with bandits and slave catchers, they save two con-artists that claim to be European royalty. With them at their side, they scam every city they come across, when trying to steal an inheritance that gets thwarted by Huck feeling guilt. In retaliation, the two sell Jim to a farmer, and Huck fixes on getting him out. In the luckiest of all coincidences, he was sold to Tom Sawyer’s aunt and uncle. Both mistake him for Tom, who supposed to be visiting around then, again very lucky, and Huck rolls with it. When Tom does arrive, Huck let’s him in on the plan and Tom agrees to play along as younger brother Sid.

On a school trip to a coal mine, the school quarterback, Pat Chambers, dies. The event leaves the school startled and Will Halpin takes it upon himself to figure out what really happened at the coal mine.

Lung disease and accidents have always led to high rates of death or disability amongst miners. The lung diseases that affect miners are called pneumoconiosis or black lung. Coal worker’s pneumoconiosis can be defined as the accumulation of coal dust in the lungs and the tissue’s. “Inhaled coal dust enters the terminal bronchioles, and the carbon pigment is engulfed by alveolar and interstitial macrophages. Phagocytes coal particles are transported by macrophages up the mucociliary elevator and are expelled in the mucus or through the lymphatic system” (Pneumoconiosis in China).