What are some parrallels drawn between Rocket Boys and Half Broke Horses?
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I think that one of the most compelling parallels between both is the idea that human perseverance can represent one of the greatest individual qualities. Both Lily and Homer represent characters who are able to fight through the conditions in which they live to envision something better for themselves. Lily recognizes that her life of poverty and pain can be transformed through her own willingness to do what is needed in finding a better life for herself. Homer understands early on that there is perseverance that underscores what it means to engage in both scientific discovery and personal happiness. In both characterizations, human perseverance becomes a benchmark of consciousness. Another parallel would be that both protagonists find themselves engaging in lives that are different from what socially held conventions would have them believe and do. For Lily, the frontier had specific definitions of what women were supposed to be, expectations that she was able to smash through her own embrace of a world for herself that should be as opposed to what is. For Homer, the same experience is evident in not wanting to be someone who simply lives in Coalwood and goes down in the mines day in and day out. In both narratives, the willingness and desire to transform what is into what can be is what drives individuals and becomes part of their primary motivation.
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