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Chapter 17
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
Arsenal is a notoriously aggressive and bleak-spirited team, but their style suddenly changes in 1972. They adopt a new Dutch tactic, and they have a winning streak. Nick sees Arsenal debut their new style when they play the Wolves. Nick’s dad and his second wife accompany Nick to the game. Within the span of a few weeks, Nick meets his stepmother, learns that she and his father have two children, and travels to France to see his father’s new life and family for the first time. He feels that Arsenal’s change in style (which turns out to be a brief diversion) is a metaphor for the change in Nick’s personal life.
Nick finds that Arsenal’s trajectory always seems to exactly mimic his own personal life. Arsenal always gives him hope exactly when he most needs it (though, of course, it’s likely coincidence and Nick is likely reading into it). Though Nick has seen his dad occasionally over the last couple of years, they don’t usually discuss deep or important matters—seeing football games together keeps them from having to. Nick’s father never told him that he had children in France.
Themes
