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Chapter 9
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Fever Pitch, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Obsession vs. Fandom
Sports, Identity, and Community
Escapism
Sports and Masculinity
Summary
Analysis
Throughout 1971, Arsenal becomes a better team. They win the League Championship and the FA Cup. Though Nick is happy in a way, he feels unentitled to revel in pride because he isn’t able to attend any of these winning games, as he’s still not allowed to go to matches on weekdays. Nick’s dad gifts him a radio to listen to the games through, and Nick feels that the radio magically converts the game results to be in his favor. After one important win, Nick lodges the radio at the wall in excitement, smashing it to pieces.
Nick’s dad giving him a radio shows how football has become an effective vehicle through which Nick and his dad bond. Almost every time Nick mentions his father, it is in relation to football. Nick breaking the radio, on the other hand, is evidence of how unhealthy his obsession with the sport is becoming.
Themes
