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Chapter 31
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in About a Boy, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Chosen Family
Coming of Age and Maturity
Alienation and Mental Illness
Identity, Pop Culture, and Fitting In
Summary
Analysis
Will and Rachel devise a plan to meet with Fiona while Marcus is visiting his dad in Cambridge. Soon after they meet, Will plans to conveniently excuse himself to use the restroom, leaving the two women to speak privately. But, when Rachel is over 30 minutes late meeting Will and Fiona at the pub, Will realizes he’s the one who’s been set up: Rachel purposely failed to show up, intending for Will to talk to and connect with Fiona on his own. Fiona begins to cry, and they agree to relocate to a nearby pizza parlor. Will convinces her to eat, dreading the conversation he knows they need to have but unsure how to start it.
Will and Rachel’s plan takes an unexpected turn when Rachel never shows up, and Will realizes that she always intended for him to handle the situation alone—this is just the only way she could have gotten him to do it. The unexpected twist forces Will to confront his reluctance to engage deeply with others by first engaging with Fiona.
Themes
Eventually, Fiona becomes comfortable enough to explain her depression to Will at length. He learns all kinds of things about her innermost life, including that she never much wanted to be a mother and often laments that she’s done nothing of value with her life. To Will’s surprise, Fiona expects nothing more from him than to listen. He had anticipated being forced to help her in some big way he couldn’t even begin to comprehend, and when this doesn’t happen, he seems to understand her better than he did before. On the way back to Fiona’s, the cabdriver informs them of the big news, that Kurt Cobain has killed himself. Immediately worried about Marcus and Ellie, they check to see if he’s left a voicemail for Fiona. To their horror, he has—calling from a police station.
Fiona’s candid revelations surprise Will, especially since Fiona doesn’t expect him to solve her problems—she just wants him to listen. This exchange marks another pivotal moment for Will, as it finally clicks for him that being present and listening can be much more valuable than trying to fix things. The scene takes a dramatic turn when they learn from a cabdriver that Kurt Cobain has died by suicide, triggering immediate concern for Marcus and Ellie. This sense of urgency is compounded when they discover a voicemail from Marcus revealing he is at a police station, which sets the stage for the impending emotional showdown.
Themes
