Defining The Right Stuff Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Defining The Right Stuff - Essay Example The right stuff is built around courage, yet also holds a simple humility to the dangers they face on a daily basis. The willingness to take a space flight to the edges of science while remaining coldly in control placed these men into a unique club, a fraternity where trust was not just to the program, but to themselves as individuals. When added up, these qualities become an air of confidence that demonstrates the trust they have in their own abilities as well as the ability of the equipment and ground crews. "The Right Stuff" is the selfless sacrifice that a man can make to risk his life for the advancement of his country with a simple and uncomplicated perseverance. The courage is demonstrated throughout the book with tales of space flights at the brink of human understanding and at speeds never before tested. When Gordon Cooper was landing a spacecraft, it seemed as if everything that could fail had failed. Electrical malfunctions and oxygen problems were staring at Cooper when he announces, "'Well... things are beginning to stack up a little,' said Gordo. It was the same old sod hut drawl" (408). In the face of impending disaster, Cooper was able to maintain his simple southern composure and as Wolfe says, "... Ol' Gordo had shown the world the pure and righteous stuff" (409). The men that possessed the right stuff we in an elite fraternity with men who also had the stuff. Never defined and never mentioned, it was an unspoken quality that bound the men together. Wolfe writes of these qualities that transcended rank and position when he says, "No, herein the world was divided into those that had it and those that did not. This quality, this it, was never named, however, nor was it talked about in any way" (24). It was a club that required special credentials yet were undefined outside the minds of the men. When speaking of the right stuff, confidence naturally comes to mind. Yet, it was not the over boasted confidence of a prizefighter. These men held confidence in reserve to be demonstrated. John Glenn, the midwestern rock of stability in the program, was subdued yet as Wolfe explains, "When he got his back up, he was formidable. He was not to be trifled with. In his eyes burned four centuries of Dissenting Protestant fervor, nailed down by two million laps that his legs had pounded around the BBQ driveway" (171). Glenn has the confidence that he needed to convince himself that he could succeed. He felt no desire to flaunt it or cheapen its value. The long hours of commitment to the program, the isolation, the hard work and grueling routine required sacrifice. Publicity had sacrificed their privacy and the program placed them in a position to sacrifice their life. With unfaltering selflessness, time and again they would expose themselves to grave danger. Alan Shepard's original foray into space was highlighted by a string of previous rocket failures. The suspense of the outcome was magnified by publicity and Shepard offered up his entire life to pull the flight off. He turned over complete control as if a sacrificial lamb, and as Wolfe recounts, "And then he had gone through with it. He let them light the fuse. He hadn't resigned. He hadn't even panicked" (269). Wolfe's book has forever etched the right stuff into the fabric of American bravery. It is