Chapters 2-3 Summary and Analysis

Lee discusses the prejudices against Italians in Allentown. By the time he was in third grade, he came to understand that in the bigoted scheme of things, Italians were a notch above Jews (the lowest rank), but overall, he was happy in school. The most important thing he learned was communication. He contracted rheumatic fever. He gave up sports and began playing chess, bridge and poker and was also active in extracurricular activities.

When World War II began, Lee's history of rheumatic fever resulted in a medical deferment. He enrolled in Lehigh University for their engineering programs. Lee was good at establishing priorities and organizing his schedule. Majoring in industrial engineering, he learned many skills that would help him throughout his career and decided that he wanted to work for Ford Motor Company while still in school. He secured...