Tom Wolfe - The Right Stuff

Tom Wolfe's novel The Right Stuff chronicles the rise of NASA's initial seven astronauts, including legendary figures like Alan Shepard and John Glenn. While the story of the rise of NASA as well, the novelist clearly means to reveal that these seven men had special qualities he labels the "right stuff." As Wolfe (17) says of this concept among the "all-enclosing fraternity" at NASA, "Herein the world was divided into those who had it and those who did not." While these men are brave and courageous, Wolfe's concept of the "right stuff" goes beyond these qualities. For those who join the "Brotherhood of the Right Stuff" are more than their peers, for they become the stuff of heroic legend (Wolfe 17). In this sense, the "right stuff" equates to the category of heroic.

There is no doubt that fearlessness is one quality that separates those with the right stuff from those without it. The NASA astronauts were willing and, in fact, thrilled to risk their lives in a hurtling piece of machinery every time they took flight. As Wolfe (17) maintains, the right stuff includes bravery and being willing to risk your life but with a fearlessness and skills not had

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