Act 2, Scene 8

At first I was confused of what was happening. I did not understand the beginning until I closely looked at the title of the scene, “Winning of the War”. At first I thought okay they won the war, the actual WWII but that’s not what this title is referring to entirely. They are also talking about the sleepy lagoon trial. Toward the end it gets clearer of what was happening. The way it shows is the dates that are getting closer to the winning of the war but also shows that Henry and his gang won the war that they have been fighting. The only line that did not make sense was the shredding of the newspapers. Then on pg. 87, “Freedom” is shouted out by everyone as the young men are returning to their homes. At first I was wondering why they are shredding the newspaper. Then I thought they were never really supported by the media yet they overcame all the obstacles that the media put for them. It made perfect sense, it was a way to say that they still won no matter what they did they overcame it. Then it made sense that Rudy would be the on shouting out the dates because he did join the marines and left the ways of the pachuco but why did he?

Question: Why did Rudy join the Marines? Why such a big change from his part?