Who Was Neil Armstrong?

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of illness or death and child death.

One of the main arguments of Who Was Neil Armstrong? is that achieving significant goals requires hard work and determination. Edwards advances the first part of this argument through the details offered in Chapter 2 regarding Armstrong’s part-time work to afford flying lessons. Edwards says that he “was determined to fly” and so “he mowed the lawn at a cemetery. He helped bake doughnuts at a doughnut company—more than 1,300 a night”—details that demonstrate the lengths to which Armstrong was willing to go in order to fly. He didn’t just mow lawns—he mowed the expansive landscape of a cemetery. He didn’t just help make doughnuts—he made “more than 1,300 a night.” Edwards explores Armstrong’s interrupted college career for similar reasons; he could have dropped out after his Korean War service, since by the time he could return to Purdue he was “older than most students,” but instead he was “ready to study harder” (29, 30).

Edwards strategically lays out Armstrong’s series of choices to demonstrate his dedication to his career in aeronautics. He moves the family to California so that he can become a test pilot.