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Chapter 25
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
Nick attends the prestigious University of Cambridge even though he was not a particularly serious student in high school. In college, he bonds with new classmates over football. Nick is still an Arsenal fan, but he also becomes a fan of Cambridge United—a much newer and smaller team than Arsenal. Cambridge United is appealing to Nick because the players are so diverse; they’re all different ages and have different body types and abilities.
It is notable that Nick doesn’t choose which teams to support based on their performance. Arsenal and Cambridge are both underdogs in the football world. Nick identifies closely with both of his chosen teams, suggesting that they embody traits that he sees in himself—he sees himself as somewhat of an underachiever.
Themes
In the present, Nick looks back on his time at Cambridge and regrets that he remained infatuated with Arsenal through college. He thinks of the team as a helpful tool that helped him through childhood, but one that he latched on to for too long. As such, Nick reflects, football has both guided him and held him back. Because of his lack of confidence and subsequent reliance on football, Nick doesn’t feel that his Cambridge education benefitted him at all.
Nick uses football as a way of escaping challenges in his life, which negatively affects his development. That said, he also seems to have an overly negative view of himself, despite the fact that in many respects, he’s been very successful even despite his at times unhealthy relationship to football.
Themes
