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Dorothy Plunk
The legendary German rocket scientist, and an idol of Homer’s. Wernher von Braun played an important role in the military offensive of Hitler’s Third Reich, designing the deadly V-2 rockets, which did tremendous damage to London during the 1940s. Nevertheless, von Braun became a loyal supporter of the United States after the fall of the Third Reich. He used his brilliance to build sophisticated rockets for the American military and NASA, and was arguably the single most important figure involved in putting a man on the moon. Despite his legacy as a brilliant scientist, von Braun remains a controversial figure, since his brilliance indisputably aided the Nazi war effort. This controversy shows up at several points in Rocket Boys, making Homer question his worshipful feelings for von Braun.
Wernher von Braun Quotes in Rocket Boys
The Rocket Boys quotes below are all either spoken by Wernher von Braun or refer to Wernher von Braun. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 2
Quotes
The men crossed the tracks and I saw the glint of their lunch buckets in the tipple light, and I came slowly back to reality. They weren’t explorers on the moon, just Coalwood miners going to work. And I wasn’t on von Braun’s team. I was a boy in Coalwood, West Virginia. All of a sudden, that wasn’t good enough.
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Chapter 12
Quotes
“Mining’s in your blood, little man,” he shrugged. “I guess you’ll figure that out, sooner or later.”
“I still want to work for Dr. von Braun.”
He nodded. “We’ll see.”
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Get the entire Rocket Boys LitChart as a printable PDF.
Wernher von Braun Quotes in Rocket Boys
The Rocket Boys quotes below are all either spoken by Wernher von Braun or refer to Wernher von Braun. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 2
Quotes
The men crossed the tracks and I saw the glint of their lunch buckets in the tipple light, and I came slowly back to reality. They weren’t explorers on the moon, just Coalwood miners going to work. And I wasn’t on von Braun’s team. I was a boy in Coalwood, West Virginia. All of a sudden, that wasn’t good enough.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 12
Quotes
“Mining’s in your blood, little man,” he shrugged. “I guess you’ll figure that out, sooner or later.”
“I still want to work for Dr. von Braun.”
He nodded. “We’ll see.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
