Chapter 2 Summary

Rico would never have joined the MI had his high school friend, Carl, less affluent but quite intelligent, not decided to enlist. Rico broaches the idea to his father, who says this is as predictable as all the mistakes he and his wife have allowed their son to learn from. Thankful he got over the temptation to enlist and marry before these could ruin his life, Father does not intend to let Mr. Dubois, the instructor in History and Moral Philosophy, convince his son to waste two years of his life. Instead, he will attend Harvard and the Sorbonne, travel and learn the business, swiftly working his way up from stock clerk to executive to boss. If it was wartime, Father would applaud enlistment; but in peacetime – which now appears to be permanent – “federal service” means becoming a parasite on society. Father reveals...