“I snuggled my face into her neck while Mom continued to rock and hold me, still singing her quietly insistent song: No, you’re not. No you’re not. All through my growing-up years, she kept singing it, one way or the other. It was only when I was in high school and began to build my rockets that I finally understood why”(Hickman 13). 

In this quote it is clear that Homer’s mom thinks he is his own special person which she is very proud and happy about. She sang this song to him repeatedly in response to him being compared to his father. So, she either doesn’t like what her husband does, or is simply wants her son to choose to be himself and be different. This stands out to me because I find it interesting how persistently she told this to Homer and that she only ever let him hear so she was definitely keeping her feelings about him and his future or just him as a person. It seems like it was so important to her to get the message to Homer that he wasn’t like his dad which makes me wonder about their relationship. This is probably a big part of Homer eventually wanting to do his own thing later in life even if it was different.

2nd quote/passage (chapter 2) 

“‘Saw it,’ I said finally. I was still so overwhelmed I didn’t even tag on a ‘sir’”(Hickman 33).  

This quotes stands out to me because it displays Homer’s relationship with his dad as formal and not very loving. It’s kind of sad because a relationship with your parent should be happy and loving. Having to call your own dad “sir” seems way to formal for a father-son relationship. This also the first thing he says to his dad after he gets home. There is no big greeting and neither of them seem overjoyed to see each other which is kind of sad. This isn’t to say that Homer’s dad doesn’t love him, I’m sure he does,  but it may do Homer some good to tell him that more often. 

Sonny knows the importance of a loving family and deep down he wishes his own family was closer. Following the launch of Sonny’s first rocket, he sits down with his mom to talk. Describing that she put her arm around him, Sonny recalls that “I twitched at her unfamiliar touch. It had been a long time since she’d hugged me. We just didn’t do much of that kind of thing in our family...For a little bit, I would’ve put my head on her shoulder, but I sensed that would be going too far” (Hickman 43). Sonny clearly enjoyed the warm and calming touch of his mom and would have snuggled in even more. However, that is their family dynamic so he did not feel comfortable. He explains that is just not something that their family does and then even though that is the type of family he would like and sees as ideal. Sonny seems to like the idea of a caring and physically loving atmosphere. Later in the book as Buck threatens to beat up Sonny and Quentin, Jim steps in and declares to him that “[y]ou can kick both their tails for all I care, but do it somewhere else” (Hickman 80). Because at first Jim had instructed Buck to leave the two of them alone, having him then say this was very disappointing for Sonny because for once he had a small ray of hope that Jim cares for him like a brother should. Unfortunately it turned it that he was only trying to protect his precious football team. Here, Sonny displays that this is the type of brother he wishes Jim was. He just wants his own brother to care for him and have his back. He had really high hopes that maybe one other family member besides his mom cares for him only to be disproven by his brother’s selfishness. This is obviously the type of supportive relationship Sonny would really like but sadly it doesn’t seem like he will get it anytime soon. To conclude, Sonny understands the importance of a kind and happy family and prefers this warmheartedness to the distant and formal dynamic of his own family.