Choynski: International Boxing Hall Of Fame

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In the chapter ‘Choynski,’ Mark is now an adult, seeking information on Joe Choynski, a deceased boxer who was being inducted into the old-timers’ category of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Mark is told to go to Canastota, New York (sight of the Hall of Fame) to check in with Charley Davis, a one-time sportswriter from San Francisco. In the first two pages of the chapter, his grandmother’s poor health serves as a forewarned ominous sign, as Choynski has been dead and Davis suffered a stroke recently. Death is a recurring theme in the chapter, but what is not made clear is the reason why Mark is taking a plane ticket to talk with an old sportswriter about a long dead boxer who never held the heavyweight title in his life. It’s possible…show more content…
The two hit it off, talking about Choynski and what a candy puller is, that the reader wonders whether or not the two have met before. A day later, Mark goes back to Charley’s house, where he promptly has a seizure and has to be taken to the hospital. While in the hospital, Charley, unable to speak, writes Mark a note: Make sure Jesus doesn’t get them, meaning he wanted Mark take care of his things, which Mark plans on delivering to the Boxing Hall of Fame. Mark, though, does decide to keep a painting of Choynski, saying “I went there (Charley’s house) first and found the Choynski picture he’d promised me. It was one I didn’t already have.” By this admission, it is apparent to the reader that Mark is not a reporter on the job; rather he is infatuated with this Choynski character. Mark’s search for Choynski memorabilia signifies one of three things: he is obsessed with Joe Choynski, he is an avid fan of the sport boxing and its history, or he found a Jewish athlete and wanted to know more about him. All the while Mark is out looking for facts or memorabilia of Choynski, his grandmother is dying, and will be dead soon. Though this can be interpreted that Mark is unemotional and selfish, Mark does fly back for the funeral, and even breaks a Jewish norm by revisiting her grave to bury her dentures. Mark cries at the funeral, but not out for his

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