Tom Wolfe’s Description of Lives of America's First Astronauts and Pilots (The Right Stuff)

Tom Wolfe’s the “right stuff” is the story of the lives of some of America’s pilots and its first astronauts. These men include pet Conrad, Chuck Yeager, John Glenn, Gus Grisson, Wally Shirra, Alan Sheppard, Gordon Cooper, Scot Carpenter and Deke Slayton. Some of these men were at the time the known test pilots. Tom Wolfe turns each of these nine men into a separate and individualized hero. Chuck yeager and John Glenn are probably the most memorable of the nine pilots in The right stuff.

Chuck Yeager is the world’s greatest pilot and first man to break the sound barrier. The story, told by General Yeager himself, has the perfect balance of humor and action. Chuck Yeager was born in 1923 in West Virginia. He was known as the fiercest pilot; he could wax anyone in a dogfight regardless of who had the better plane.

John Glen was an all-American Marine pilot Glenn was a religious family man who was ready to do anything he could for his country.

Get quality help now

RhizMan

Verified writer

Proficient in: Astronaut

4.9 (247)

“ Rhizman is absolutely amazing at what he does . I highly recommend him if you need an assignment done ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

He became the poster boy for America’s Mercury project.

Yeager and Glenn are two fine examples of American heroes of the 1950’s and 1960’s. In the Right Stuff, Wolfe presents these men in such a way that the excitement they started to arouse again.

In several instances, Wolfe uses the this story to reveal parts of character ‘personality or to show his influence upon others. One example of this occurs when Wolfe mentions that the voices of airline pilots are modeled after the voice of Chuck Yeager.

This interesting short story introduces Chuck Yeager characteristics very well this important because it made the reader to be aware who Yeager really is.

Wolfe also uses his interesting short story to set John Glenn apart from the rest of the pilots. The astronauts of the mercury project were required to do four hours of exercise per week. John Glenn far exceeded these guidelines. But according to Wolfe, most fighter pilots, at least those who have the right stuff, put exercise very low on their list of priorities. This is an important point because Glenn wasn’t a typical fighter jock. He was very different John Glenn was very different.

Another way of comparing this astronaut by revealing details about their personality. For example, Chuck yeager is asked about how he feels about being left out of the mercury project. Inflating his own ego, yeager mentions his own accomplishments by saying “they gave me the opportunity of a lifetime, to fly the X-1 and the X-1A, and that’s more than a man could ask for, besides, I have been a pilot all my life, and there will not be any flying to do in project mercury. “Well, a monkey’s going to make the first flight” (105). These comments are important because they show Yeager’s belief that he is America’s best fighter pilot no matter what the other pilots with the right stuff have accomplished.

John Glenn on the other hand different from Yeager and the other Astronaut. At the first press introducing the astronauts, the seven brave men are asked about how their families feel about the Mercury Project. The first six astronauts including Yeager are unsure of how to answer this question, and they find ways to avoid it. But not Glenn. He has the perfect answer. He says, “I don’t think any of us could really go on with something like if we didn’t have a pretty good backing at home. Really “(94). This statement of John Glenn show how he respect family and even though fighter pilots are not suppose to talk about family and religion or exercise more than they have to. Glenn was definitely different from the other pilots. The thoughts and opinions of other people are also important in presenting the Mercury astronauts as heroes.

This is especially important in Wolfe’s development of John Glenn’s character. Glenn puzzled his fellow astronauts. During the press conference, after Glenn’s speech on family it shows that he think different from the other astronauts, no one from their group would really think a Wife’s attitude make about the opportunity they got in their hand. This thought shows from Chuck Yeager and the other astronauts’ perception of Glenn as an outsider. He did not follow the rules of those who had the right stuff.

John Glenn on his journeys to space, he was calm and act like there was nothing happen when he discover what appear to be fireflies floating around his capsule. John Glenn experiences three nights in the course of less than five hours, and he was temporary lost from the radio crew at the point he was thought to be a mortal danger, but Glenn show a little fear not much “the hero would be no hero if death held for him any terror; the first condition is reconciliation with the grave” (Campbell 356).

On the opposite end the Klapp’s theory of the “rebel hero” works well when applied to Chuck yeager, who, in Wolfe’s estimation, is “the most righteous of all the possessors of the Right stuff” (p.37). Chuck yeager volunteer for dangerous duty demonstrates heroism and courage by flying to space with two broken ribs. A lock of college degree disqualifies yeager from Mercury program completion. Yet his great vitality for life and rebellious spirit would not allow him to give up Yeager create a though of an independent test pilot merely “riding”.

In one incident, chuck was flying towards the sun and could not see his instrument panel. After regained his sight, he learned he had flown at too steep an angle. He plane went higher than it was designed to go, and chuck lost control. Ejecting, the rocket charge equipped to his seat hit him in the face plate of his helmet which was still feeding oxygen to him. H quickly caught fire and had to receive multiple skin grafts.

Tom Wolfe is a master of recreating the people and events of the mercury project. In the Right stuff he brings out all the excitement that each astronaut produced during the era. He uses this story to separate the characters and present each as an individual hero.