In the book The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe, the concept of the right stuff and what it means, especially during the historical period during which the space race is so broad of a topic that it takes the text to flesh out. While there are certainly innumerable characteristics and traits possessed by those with the “right stuff” including piloting skill, courage, and fearlessness, the single most important aspect of having what it takes is being committed to an ideal, not necessarily just professionally as a pilot, but in a more overarching way.
Possessing the “right stuff” in Wolfe’s book means that one is committed to living a life in which one is never satisfied just getting by; it is about being completely committed to the idea of reaching beyond one’s self and finding out what the limits are, only to try to reach beyond those limits. While it seems as though Wolfe does not want the reader to come away with the idea that there is just one quality that constitutes having the right stuff but wants instead for us to see the multifaceted level of qualities and traits, if there is any consistent theme that parallels his quest to identity the right stuff it is the commitment, especially the commitment to challenge.
In his early discussion of the test pilots in the second chapter of The Right Stuff, Tom Wolfe immediately wants to demonstrate that there is no single quality that constitutes a test pilot with the right stuff. To him, this person possessing this mysterious gift, “seemed to be that a man should have the ability to go up in a hurtling piece of machinery and put his hide on the line and then have the moxie, the reflexes, the experience, the coolness, to pull it back at the last yawning moment—and then go up again…even if the series should prove infinite” (Wolfe 17). While in this paragraph Wolfe makes reference to moxie, quick reflexes, experience, and general agility, these alone are not enough. When he states that these men were willing to do it over and over again, he is showing that they are relentless and completely committed to their ideal and drive as well as ready for a challenge with each new day. In other words, the right stuff is commitment because without it, none of the experience, savvy, or physical agility would mean anything. The commitment and willing to strive beyond limits is the final and most crucial ingredient to creating the “right stuff” and, as the book goes on to note, especially at the beginning and end, men like Chuck Yeager who live life to the fullest and constantly seek more have this special sense of commitment that lends them the right stuff and makes them heroes.
What is most interesting about Tom Wolfe’s definition of the right stuff is that is a combination of factors that can be lumped into the main category of commitment. For instance, as he prepares to confront the X-1 and is in serious pain, Wolfe describes Yeager, saying, “Even though his side was throbbing and his right arm felt practically useless, Yeager figured he could grit his teeth and get through the flight” (42). He would be thrown around violently, so he got a football helmet “he butchered it with a hunting knife until he carved the right kind of holes in it, so that it would fit down over his regular flying helmet and the earphones and the oxygen rig” (42). Instead of stating that the right stuff, at least as Chuck Yeager embodies it (which it is clear that throughout the book, even if he is not a main figure, he is the picture or ideal of a man who possessed “the right stuff”) Wolfe does not simply address the physical side of what it took for him to succeed. Instead, right along with the details about the physical constraints and hardship he also demonstrates how Chuck Yeager stopped at nothing to buckle down and do what needed to be done, even if it involved creativity and thinking outside of the box by bringing in a worked football helmet. This is another sign of commitment in the book since he was willing to stop at nothing to pursue his goal in the X-1.
Another variation on the idea of commitment being a central aspect of having the right stuff in the book is the way the men balanced their lives; having fun, raising families and having wives, possessing vital outside lives, and good friendships with one another. This is all about commitment because these men make what they do the focus of their lives and while they sacrifice all they love because of this commitment, it is out of love and a deep feeling of loyalty to what they want to accomplish or the challenge. For example, in a passage describing Gus and Deke Wolfe writes, “In his everyday life doughty little Gus lived the life of the right stuff….Gus and Deke were great pals. For three years they had flown together, hunted together, drunk together; their children had played together. They were both committed o the holy word; operational. In other words, while there were many other very important things in the lives of these men, they were committed to one thing above all but they were not blinded by this commitment. In fact, they were enriched by it. This is a main difference because these men would not posses the right stuff if they were myopic in scope.
Commitment is the key component to having the right stuff. With commitment comes the physical and mental strength to carry through when things get tough but just as importantly, it is the commitment to one goal without being so focused that one loses sight of other important things in life. While all of these things work together in the book, it is commitment that holds it all together and is the key aspect.
