A Piece of Steak

Steak takes on an outsized role in the text. While serving as the title, steak also represents both a need and a luxury item for Tom. On the one hand, he feels he needs the steak to win the fight; on the other, he thinks back to the times when he was a successful fighter and could afford steaks with ease, even feeding them to his dog. Back then, he could have gotten any steak he wanted on credit, whereas on the day of the fight against Sandel, no one will extend Tom this courtesy. Tom seems to understand why, noting that old fighters like him “couldn't expect to run bills of any size” with butchers or any other tradesmen (3). However, after coming so close to beating Sandel only to fail, Tom feels “a great and terrible hatred” for the “butchers who had refused him credit” (14). He notes that a piece of steak would’ve made all the difference to him while being “such a little thing” to the butchers (14). His inability to meet his need for steak becomes an excuse for losing a fight, though when Tom could afford steak, he took it for granted.