THE REMARKABLE ROCKET – OSCAR WILDE

Plot:

This story revolves around a pompous firework which believes itself to be the centrepiece of an
elegant wedding. It is a vain, arrogant character who believes itself to be superior to its peers and
demonstrates this sophistication by bursting into tears to prove its sensitivity. In doing so it
becomes damp and useless and so is subsequently thrown into a ditch the following day.
It is then found by some passing children and tossed into a campfire. Despite being seen by no
one, it considers itself to have been an incredible success.

In the plot, we can find two sections: One referred to the topic of Royalty (description of royal
wedding) and the conversation between fireworks. Also, we can find a reference to the number
three (it appears all the time: “For the next three days..”, “When the three days were over…”, three
fireworks, “It would take you three days to see it thoroughly”, “The rocket coughed a third time
and began”.

Characters:

• The Rocket: he is the protagonist. He believes himself to be the most remarkable thing in
the world, considering himself to be part of the high society. He is egocentric and proud (he
forgets how to be happy) Although he believes he is sympathetic and virtuous, in actually
he is arrogant.
• The King: he is the ruler of the kingdom and father of the Prince. Like the rocket, he is
convinced of his own greatness, the king believes he is a skilled musician. Also he is in the
habit of answering questions, that are not addressed to him, believing that anyone should
be happy to receive his wisdom. The king serves to reinforce the same self-importance that
possesses the rocket.
• The Frog: is one of the residents of the countryside, who meets the rocket after he has been
discarded. The frog, as the rocket, is self-absorbed, believing that a good conversation is
one in which only he speaks.
• The Duck: is a resident of the countryside who meets the rocket; the Duck is of a kindly
disposition, invitating the rocket to take up residence in the country. The Duck did try her
hand at public life and politics once, but quickly found she that she was too pragmatic for it
and opted to settle for caring for her family instead. She represents the middle-class
simplicity and goodness.
• The Prince and the Princess.
• Fireworks: Squib, Roman Candle, Catherine wheel, Cracker, Bengal Light, Fire-balloon.

Themes:

• Pride and Arrogance:

• High society: From the royal wedding and the Courtiers to the bundle of fireworks and
their pre-flight discussions, Wilde depicts the upper class and its ceremonies and posturing
as hollow, offering neither function nor beauty to the world. Through his satire of society
people, Wilde insists that their preoccupations and judgments are largely meaningless.
Symbols:

• Swan: symbol of perfections, It refers to Victorian society (float period and citizens).
• Snow: refers to being white is symbol of royalty.
• Crystal cup: Symbol of true love.
• Dragon-fly: It symbolizes differences between province and city.

Thematic implication of characterization

• The purpose of Oscar Wilde is to reconstruct the society through the self-development. The
word “remarkable” means smart, good looking and handsome; the implication in the title
refers as the unique.

• In the “Selfish Giant”, the self development is achieve; in the “Remarkable Rocket”, self
development is not achieved
• The rocket is a flat character → He never changes, for instance, after the end he insists
that he is the best.
• The rocket goes himself, he can’t see the truth (for example, he thinks he is distinguish, it
is related to roles of people in society).
• The rocket represents stupidity: he characterizes man’ stupidity.
• He fails: he is a looser → The rocket is a laughing stick.

The Rocket’s characterization:

The Rocket is a firework, they explode and cause sensation → This is what he suppose that would
happen but he is a burning stock. He is characterized by pride, arrogance and boastfulness to
nothing or empty. He is able to sustaine the continuity → Thematic, metaphoric continuity and
extended metaphors.
What other elements reinforce the idea of selfishness? → the extended metaphor. The rocket is
characterized as a man (personification and anthropomorphism).

Two characters providing that the rocket is stupid because of his attitude. The rocket is wrong by
means of dialogue.

The rocket thinks he is remarkable (amazing) because of his stupidity and ignorance → There is a
paradox.
His dialogues have lot of sense of humour, irony and mockery. He uses receive pronunciation to
highlight that he is from royalty.
He is a servant who entertains others but he thinks he is of royalty.
The end of the rocket represent a decay and death. We don’t have a hero, it is presupposed that
the rocket is the antihero.
He starts to cry so he is wet.
The rocket in progressive decay/failure → Ditch → Mud: it isn’t a fashionable place because of the
rubbish. It symbolizes rest, because the rocket is useless. “Deeper into the mud” symbolizes
oblivium, that is to say, nobody remembers him.

Use of language:
• Use of language: diction, portrait of the society outstanding. Language used is pompous.
 • Use of number 3.
• Society reflect stupidity → Social evolution in life.
• Fantasy: presence of precious elements.
• Evidence of language for the sake of meaning.
• Hyperbole: “The sledge was shaped like a great golden swan” → the exaggerated
language is used for the sake of meaning in order to be critical with Victorian society.

Analysis of lines:
• “White rose, red rose”: The people repeat it because the King pay double. The people will
have reward, it reflects the shallow or superficial society. This represents loyalty but also,
social inequality (the critic is achieved by the monotony) .
• Appearance and reality: is quite common in the Victorian period. It is evidenced in the
following lines: “As he received no salary at all this was not of much use to him, but it was
considered a great honour, and was duly published in the Court Gazette”; “He play very
badly, but no one had ever dared to tell him because he was the King”.
• Crystal cup: there is an unnatural phenomena → “Only true lovers could drink out of this
cup, for if false lips touched it, it grew grey and dull and cloudly”. It is related with fantasy.
• The fireworks are a clear reference to Imperialism: when the Squib talks, he says: “Travel
improves the mind wonderfully, and does away with all one’s prejudices”.
• “Romance is a thing of the past” → It is said by the Catherine Wheel, it refers to the end of
the Romanticism.
• “How fortunate it is for the King’s son”, he remarked, “that he is to be married on the very
day on which I am to be let off”→ There is a distortion and displacement of roles in society
→ it is a very important day because is the wedding of the Prince. The Rocket is only an
ornament of the wedding.
• “Dear me!” said the little Squib, “I thought it was quite the other way, and we were to be
let off in the Prince’s honour” → This is reality, there is a parallelism with the realm
(kingdom).
• “It may be so with you,” he answered; “indeed, I have no doubt about it is, but with me is
different. I am a very remarkable Rocket, and come of remarkable parents” → It depicts
social differences. → “My father was a rocket like myself, and of French extraction”: it is
related with the origins and the social prestige, the Rocket is pompous and boastful.
• Pylotechnic→ The Rocket has a spelling mistake → “Pyrotechnic you mean,” said a Bengal
Light; “I know it is Pyrotechnic, for I saw it written on my own canister”: Irony, the Bengal
Light provides the stupidity of the Rocket; the Rocket is wrong by means of dialogue.
• “I know I was discussing some interesting subject when I was so rudely interrupted. I hate
rudeness and bad manners of every kind, for I am extremely sensitive”→ The topic of
conversation is he himself, it is related with man’ stupidity. Also, The Rocket shows that he
is rude and he hates himself, he isn’t sensitive.
• “I am not laughing”→ The Rocket can’t be happy in the life.
• “I am almost moved to tears” → The rocket starts to cry.
• “You forget that I am very uncommon, and very remarkable. Why, anybody can have
common sense, provided that they have no imagination. But I have imagination, for I never
think of things as they really are” → He is uncommon because he is a laughing stock; He
pretends and says a contradiction.
 • “The only thing that sustains one through life is the consciousness of the immense inferiority
of everybody else, and this is a feeling that I have always cultivated” → It refers to social
differences; The Rocket is non common sense, he is selfish and proud.
• “You had really better keep yourself dry”→ It means don’t cry, this is the third time that the
Rocket cries.
• “Everyone was a great success except the Remarkable Rocket. He was so damp with crying
that he could not go off at all. The best thing in him was the gunpowder, and that was so
wet with tears that it was of no use”→ Punishment: The Rocket was wet so he can’t be able
to let off.
• “I will receive them with becoming dignity…” → He hasn’t dignity: it refers to unfullfillment
of his role in society.
• “BAD Rocket? BAD Rocket?”→ Capitalization: diction for the sake of meaning by use of
capital letters.
• “I am merely a visitor, a distinguished visitor” → Thematic implication, diction, use of
language is successful in characterization; Wilde thinks in Victorian society.
• “There are so many things that need reforming. Indeed, I took the chair at a meeting some
time ago, and we passed resolutions condemning everything that we did not like. However,
they did not seem to have much effect. Now I go in for domesticity, and look after my
family”→ To have a better society, things have to be changed, reconstructed. Domesticity
never helps to improve in life (in cognitive aspects); The Rocket belongs to low-class, he
never be part of the court. It is a portrait of the Victorian period.
• “Ah! The higher things of life, how fine they are!”said the Duck; “and that reminds me how
angry I feel” → Hunger is one of the higher things of life; they need eat to live, that is what
ordinary people do, the reality is different but the rocket stands for appearance→ The
rocket doesn’t feel hungry because he is not happy.
• “He sank a little deeper still into the mud” → The rocket disappear.
• “The loneliness of genius”: It refers to Wilde’s life.
• “Let us put into the fire” said the other boy, “it will help to boil the kettle” → This is for he is
useless.
• “The Rocket was very damp, so he took a long time to burn”→ It refers to suffering.
• Now I am going off!” he cried, and he made himself very stiff and straight” → Evokes dignity.
• “I know I shall go much higher than the stars, much higher than the moon, much higher than
the sun. in fact, I shall go so high that ----“ → Highest time of Climax.
• “I shall go on like this for ever. What a success I am!” But nobody saw him” → ANTICLIMAX:
He is pathetic, antihero. There is the decay and death.
• “But nobody heard him” → Parallelism to be consistent with the end.
• “I knew I should create a great sensation”, gasped the Rocket, and he went out” → End. He
is reduced to nothing. Rising actions because of fantasy.

MOREL: DON’T PRETEND WHO YOU ARE NOT BECAUSE YOU SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES.