Definition Essay

Introduction

 The Right Stuff, Tom Wolfe's account of America's space program up to Project Mercury, evolved from his curiosity about the kind of person who was willing to sit on top of a thirty-six story container of explosives waiting for the fuse to be lit. His interest in these individuals — who they were, where they came from, and how they felt while perched atop twenty thousand pounds of liquid oxygen — fueled the research that resulted in this entertaining and enlightening look at America's astronauts. Wolfe explores the fraternity of fliers, the military lifestyle, the function of the press, and the nature of courage, providing the reader with an insightful journey into the heart of American culture. The main focus of this book was courage amongst people, who go on to become astronauts. He has implied that astronaut posses a huge amount of courage and courage is the right thing.

Thesis Statment

Wolfe defines the right stuff as the Fighter Jock's combination of courage, competence, insouciance, and unshakeable self-confidence. 

Discussion

The original plan of Tom Wolfe was to write down the whole history of the space program, although, after he had finished writing about the Mercury program, he had a feeling that he had completed his work and that he had caught the attributes of the astronauts. He had focused on the right stuff, that test pilots and astronauts had possessed in the 1940s and 1950s, i.e. the unexpressed code of courage, bravery, and masculinity, which had obliged these people to ride on top of life-threatening rockets (Wolfe 10-57).

Wolfe first discovers the “right stuff” among the close-knit group of military fighter and test pilots stationed at bleak air bases scattered around the United States in the end of the decade of 1940's and in the start of 1950's. He describes the ...