What does Chicago represent?

Chicago symbolizes the active and relatively happy days of Zuckerman’s youth and early adulthood. Zuckerman remembers his college days at the University of Chicago with great fondness. Zuckerman’s desire to return to the university as a medical student seems to partially be motivated by his desire to return to a place that had great meaning for him and that served as the setting for happy days in his path that were both emotionally and intellectually stimulating.