56 pages • 1 hour read
Studs Terkel“The Good War”: An Oral History of World War II
Nonfiction | Biography | Adult | Published in 1984A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Summary
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Introduction
Book 1, Section 1
Book 1, Section 2
Book 1, Section 3
Book 1, Section 4
Book 1, Section 5
Book 1, Section 6
Book 1, Section 7
Book 2, Section 1
Book 2, Section 2
Book 2, Section 3
Book 2, Section 4
Book 2, Section 5
Book 3, Section 1
Book 3, Section 2
Book 3, Section 3
Book 3, Section 4
Book 4, Section 1
Book 4, Section 2
Book 4, Section 3
Book 4, Section 4
Book 4, Section 5
Book 4, Section 6
Epilogue
Key Figures
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
Tools
BetaBook 1, Section 2Chapter Summaries & Analyses
“Robert Rasmus” Summary
Robert Rasmus is a businessman who served as an infantryman in World War II. Although he was afraid for his life, he recalls, “I had this great sense of adventure. My gosh, going across the ocean, seeing the armies, the excitement of it” (38). Particularly, Robert remembers coming across the bodies of German soldiers in Europe. The sight gave him “a realization of how you’ve been conditioned…Once the helmet is off, you’re looking at a teenager, another kid” (45). While Robert wrestled with the supposed “evil” of all Germans, he still instinctively stopped a Russian soldier from killing a German.
Finally, Robert reflects on the atomic bomb, the Cold War, and the Vietnam War. He believes that using the atomic bomb on Japan was necessary to prevent losses from a ground invasion of Japan. Although he disapproves of communism, Robert has no desire to see the United States go to war with the Soviet Union and opposes to the Vietnam War. In the end, Robert concludes that World War II “was utterly different” (48).
“Richard M. (Red) Prendergast” Summary
Richard describes his experiences as a soldier in Germany, especially being captured and imprisoned in a prisoner-of-war camp and then sent to serve as slave labor at a chemical plant. After being liberated by the Soviet army, Richard was about to be sent to Japan, but then the atomic bomb was dropped. In conclusion, Richard credits the GI Bill with his present-day job as the vice president and sales manager of a trade magazine.
Book 1, Section 2 Analysis
These two interviews provide a look at the war front, mainly in Germany. Two more ways of challenging the motif of the “good war” come to the fore here. First, the reader is given explicit details on the horrors of the battlefield and life in a POW camp. For example, Richard describes how he and other prisoners killed and ate a guard dog (54). Second, the accounts illustrate the dehumanization of the enemy in war, something Robert in particular struggled with, wrestling with his recognition of the common humanity of enemy soldiers alongside the influence of anti-German propaganda on his mindset.
Richard’s interview also includes an important detail that influenced the lives of many World War II veterans and contributed to postwar prosperity in the United States, the GI Bill. Passed in 1944, the bill provided tuition and housing funds for veterans entering college, among other benefits.
