Short summary: Fiorello Bodoni, a humble junk dealer, dreams of traveling into space but knows it is a privilege reserved for the wealthy. After years of work, he manages to save enough money to buy a single ticket on a rocket to Mars. When he shares the news with his family, they try to decide who will go, but no one wants to be the only one to benefit. In the end, Bodoni buys a realistic rocket model with his savings and installs it in his yard. Secretly, he transforms its interior with visual effects, sounds, and simulated movements. For seven days, he makes his children believe they are on a space journey, and they live it as if it were real. Upon returning, they are all happy and grateful for the adventure. Even though they never left their home, Bodoni fulfilled his family’s dream thanks to his ingenuity and dedication.
Full summary of Ray Bradbury’s The Rocket
First published in Super Science Stories in March 1950 and later included in The Illustrated Man (1951), The Rocket is a short story by Ray Bradbury that tells the story of Fiorello Bodoni, a poor junk dealer who dreams of space travel in a world where interplanetary voyages are possible but accessible only to the rich. Every night, Bodoni quietly sneaks out of his house to watch the rockets cross the starry sky and to dream, even for a moment, that his life is not condemned to poverty and routine. One night, he meets an old man named Bramante, who cruelly discourages him: space, he says, is reserved for those with money; the poor must resign themselves to calloused hands and broken dreams.
Bodoni, however, keeps a secret: he has managed to save three thousand dollars over six years of hard work—money originally meant to improve his equipment. But the desire to fly beyond Earth overwhelms him, and he decides to spend it on something bolder: buying a ticket so that one member of his family can travel on a rocket to Mars. When he announces his decision at breakfast, the news causes a mix of joy, tension, and sadness. Only one person can go. To decide, they draw straws. Maria, his wife, is chosen, but she suddenly refuses, claiming she is pregnant. When they draw again, young Paolo gets the short straw, but seeing his siblings’ sadness and remembering that school is about to start, he also withdraws. One by one, they all understand that there is no fair way to choose, and no one will go. Disappointment sets in.
Days later, a dealer offers Bodoni a realistic full-scale aluminum model of a rocket for two thousand dollars. Although he can’t scrap it or melt it down—his furnace is broken—Bodoni makes an impulsive decision: he buys it. That night, the large white rocket rests in his yard like a sleeping animal under the moonlight. Bodoni gazes at it, touches it, sits in the pilot’s seat, and imagines a launch using only his voice and imagination. When he realizes it won’t move, filled with frustration, he prepares to destroy it with his wrecking machine, but stops. He looks at his house, the lights, the radio, and his family inside. Then he understands: the rocket doesn’t have to fly to fulfill his dream.
That same night, excited, he announces to his wife and children that they are going to Mars. Maria, skeptical and anxious, suspects that Bodoni has wasted all their savings on a meaningless fantasy. He remains silent, prepares the rocket, and works all night making secret modifications inside. He seals compartments, installs mirrors, projectors, screens, and old engines that don’t function but make noise and vibrations. In this way, he creates a perfect illusion.
The next day, he boards the rocket with his children. He warns them that this will be a unique, short, and unrepeatable journey, and that they must remember everything. The simulation begins: he activates levers, turns on lights, and makes the engines roar. Inside, the rocket shakes, vibrates, and flashes. The children, mesmerized, shout with excitement as they watch the projections of space: the Moon, meteors, Earth receding, and Mars approaching. For seven days, they live the complete fantasy of a space journey.
When the trip ends, they return home laughing, euphoric, and thankful. No one mentions the deception. Perhaps they know, but choose not to say it. For the children, it has been an unforgettable memory. For Maria, it is a revelation. That night, as Bodoni lies in bed, she kisses him and thanks him. Now she understands the value of what he has done: he fulfilled his family’s dream not with money or technology, but with love, imagination, and a deep desire to give them something more than misery. She asks if someday he might take her too, even on a small trip. Bodoni smiles and says maybe. Then they turn off the light. The journey is over, but the memory will last forever.
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