46 pages • 1 hour read
For One More Day
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Chapters 20-22Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 20 Summary: "The Work You Have to Do"
Chick talks to his mother and Thelma as his mother does Thelma’s makeup. The revelation that his mother worked as a house cleaner makes him realize how little he understands about her life, and his parents’ relationship. Though he hates his job, he now sees what an amazing opportunity he had to play baseball as a career even if it had not lasted as long as he wanted. He reflects on how hard his mother and Thelma have worked, and thinks with some shame that, had he shown similar strength and dedication, he might have been able to keep his family together. He tells them that he hates his job because he “‘didn’t want to be ordinary’” (98). To Chick, being ordinary means that you will be forgotten. With a smile, Thelma tells him that having her family around her reminds her that she won’t be forgotten.
The chapter ends with a long note from his mother that she had given him on his wedding day to Catherine. The note explains that, when things get tough in a marriage, it’s important to value the marriage in and of itself as a way of keeping a family together.
Chapter 21 Summary: "Reaching the Top"
Chick recounts his six weeks playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates, which he considers “the best and worst thing that ever happened to me professionally” (101). When the backup catcher breaks his ankle, he takes his place on the team, just as they go to the World Series. He is excited and in awe of his new surroundings, but he also feels an immense pressure to prove himself worthy of being a Major League player. Even so, he only manages a single hit in his six weeks on the team, and the Baltimore Orioles win the World Series instead.
With that, Chick’s time in the major leagues is over, apparently forever. Chick stays on in the minor leagues “long after I should have quit,” through a severe knee injury and the birth of his daughter, Maria (102). He then tries several different careers, hoping to find something that feels as good as baseball, before ultimately finding a job in sales. As it becomes clear that he no longer has any hope of a successful baseball career, his father fades out of his life: “just as effortlessly as he had surfaced beneath those gray college skies, so did my old man slide back into foggy absentia, the occasional phone call, the Christmas card” (104).
Chapter 22 Summary: "The Second Visit Ends"
Posey finishes making Thelma up, and Thelma says that she would like to “‘visit with her grandchildren for a spell’” (105). When they step out of the room, Chick realizes her grandchildren don’t see him or his mother. His mother begins to explain how she can be there with him: “‘Have you ever dreamt of someone who’s gone, Charley, but in the dream you have a new conversation? The world you enter then is not so far from the world I’m in now’” (106). His mother explains that it is easier to see the dead the closer you are yourself to death, and for that reason, Thelma can see her. Chick asks her if he too is close to death, and if she will disappear soon. Instead of answering, she tells him that “‘you can find something truly important in a minute” (106). Suddenly, all the glass in the house explodes, and Chuck again hears the voice of the policeman calling for him. He asks his mother what to do, and she calmly tells him that what he does is up to him.
Chapters 20-22 Analysis
These chapters deal with the consequences of Chick leaving college for baseball. Chick’s memories parallel his mother’s and Thelma’s discussion of the meaning of work and what makes a fulfilling life. He begins to understand that family life might provide for him all the things he had been missing in his work - support, admiration, and people to remember him. This conversation further underscores the importance of memory for Chick: his baseball career was in part an attempt to ensure that people would remember him after his death, as well as an attempt to fill an emotional void that for many is filled by close relationships.
The episode sets the scene for the bittersweet story of Chick’s brief stint in the major leagues. Interestingly, the event itself seems rather insignificant. He acknowledges that he did not make much of an impression during his six weeks with the Pirates, and never had the chance to perform as well as he dreamed he would. However, he readily admits that his brief time in the major leagues is also “the worst thing that ever happened to me professionally,” because he imagines he might have quit baseball for another career earlier if he hadn’t held out the hope of returning to the majors someday (101). The memory of the event is much more powerful than the event itself: one very clear example of how memory affects the present in For One More Day.
Aside from exploring his own memories, Chick now understands that though he has control over his actions, his experience is taking place entirely in the memories of other people. The realization adds a new degree of uncertainty, where before Chick had relaxed into his mother’s soothing presence. But, when all the glass in the house shatters unexpectedly, Chick again is forced to notice the uncertain nature of the world he has found himself in.
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