weekly reflection #1

today in class i was very interested in how Hitlers perspective of what he was doing was right and was for the service of his people. Also when Stalin aloud the death of FDR to be on the front page of the Russian paper was interesting and also showed that they did have some respect for the U.S. president. the class was good all in all, very shocking things ive learned about WWII how the U.S. and Russia delt with it.

"The Good War" by Studs Terkel is a book of interviews from the people who experienced WWII for themselves. The theme of this book would be that everyone, not just the soldiers who fought in the war was effected by the outcome and by the war itself. The theme of the book pertains to history because the interviews were based on people that fought in the war. In the book there were many different perspectives of the war. There were certain people that had a historical approach on their view of the war, and there were some people that had a cultural views due to their religion.

The thematic statement in the book is "This is a memory book, rather than one of hard fact and precise statistic." This book is specifically based on the experiences of those who experienced the war and their memories during the war. For example Yuriko Hohri, "My three sisters, my mother and myself were at home doing chores. I was twelve. A black car came right into the driveway. One man went into the kitchen. As I watched, he looked under the sink and he looked into the oven. Then he went into the parlor and opened the glass cases where our most treasured things were."

War affects every one in and out of the battle field. This theme relates to history in many different ways. First, the Japanese people that were living in the U.S were discriminated and most of the Japanese that were under suspicion were sent to camps. Secondly, when most of the men were drafted into the war, women were forced to work with unfair pay and hours of labor. Lastly, the men that were drafted into the war suffered from physiological and emotional defects after the war.

The perspectives were both historical and cultural. Being a book based on interviews there were many different views on the war. The order that the author lists the interviews is critical. The questions that the author asks and the order in which he chooses to do so, shows that the title of the book contradicts what the message the author is trying to show. WWII wasn't a "good war", in fact it impacted the way the U.S would function. One of the perspectives is cultural. It is cultural because of the Japanese people that he chose to interview, most of them did not like the war because they were being discriminated against. The other perspective is historical. The soldiers that he interviewed told about everything that the U.S probably didn't know. Also they were historical correct.

War affects everyone including us then and now. The signifigance of this theme in history is, war causes devistation and affects everyone. The theme's role in perspective is both historical and cultural. People should consider the theme more because war brings devistation, loss and regret. Shouldn't we as a country consider this theme in the midst of the war against terror?