The Chief by Robert Lipsyte

The setting of The Chief takes place in a number of different major areas. Some that come to mind (in no particular order) are New Jersey, New York City, Las Vegas, and Hollywood California. Each of these places have their own importance in the book because they all act as somewhat of a stepping stone. Early on Sonny is in a small town fighting for a small purpose. After a while when Sonny starts to make his way through the boxing trenches, each fight becomes bigger than the next. The first big one that he takes part in is an undercard fight for an old and aged boxer by the name of John L. Solomon who is fighting "thee it fighter" by the name of Elston Hubbard. Hubbard is a young prodigy and is the type of fighter that will box you to death. He has a smart head on his shoulders and rarely makes mistakes and has his father as his promoter, a flashy big mouthed ego maniac. Sonny once had a shot at Hubbard but the fight plans fell through and Sonny never got the chance. This bothered Sonny because here was Hubbard receiving all this fame and fortune and Sonny had to fend for himself with his own guys. Anyhow, Martin and others persuaded Sonny to head down to Vegas just to see what was down there and get what they could out of it. Thanks to Martins loud mouth at a training session of Hubbards that was being taped for the media, Sonny and Martin suddenly became known because of the tirades they caused when Hubbard Sr. didnt like what he heard. Cameras all turned to a black guy yelling all sorts of things and an indian kid with a ponytail when things started getting heated, but that is how Sonny got his name out there. He was becoming known by any means possible and soon pulled off the same stunt at Solomons camp, although they had a totally different look at it. Solomon took Sonny under his wing and had him become his training/sparring partner. And this is where it all began. Sonnny had a first round KO the night of the match and thats when people began to open their eyes. Solomon didnt come close to having the same result but one thing was for sure. Sonny Bear was now feared.

Not a while after the Las Vegas adventure, the team headed to Atlantic City, New Jersey where Sonny finally had his shot to take on Hubbard and decrease his status as the number one contender. It was this night that Sonny was the better man and outboxed Hubbard until he lost in the late rounds due to a cut that had excessive bleeding. Hubbard and his father went over tape of an old fight Sonny lost due to this same problem and this outraged him tremendously. When the the match was called off he walked to the Hubbards' corner and gave each Junior and Senior a KO hook that made Sonny a superstar.

This is when he went on to Hollywood to shoot movies, become a party animal and go on late night talk shows. This derailed Sonny's career for a bit until he found out he was wasting things away and also found out that Jake, his relative, had gotten shot (not fatally) back up on the reservation in Sparta New York. This changed his view on everything and then forced him to get back into shape. In between fights he'd go to train at a gym someplace in New York City. And it was there that Sonny began the other fight he had to finish, the reservation. All these elements of setting really add to the mood of this book because each one has their own significance. They show the stages of things and how people can really go from rags to riches.