This chapter's epigraph comes from the opening lines of The Shawshank Redemption, which were written by the same author who wrote the novel's opening lines. In this passage, Shaw tells us that the protagonist is a young man who has just finished his first year of college. He is a student at the University of Pennsylvania, where he has been accepted into the Shawshank Athletic Hall of Fame. He has been a member of Shawshank's wrestling team since the beginning of his college career, and has been wrestling for Shawshank since he was a teenager. Shawshank tells the protagonist that he is a good wrestler, but he is not good enough to compete at the top level of wrestling. He asks Shawshank if he would like to compete in a wrestling tournament, and Shawshank says he would, but that he has to go to the tournament first. The protagonist agrees to go, but Shawshank reminds him that the tournament is for amateurs only, and that he will have to compete against the best fighters in the tournament. The chapter ends with Shawshank asking Shawshank what he should do with his life now that he knows he is going to be competing at the tournament