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Chapter 43
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
After two years of teaching, Nick decides to quit and become a writer instead. This same year, Arsenal recruits Charlie Nicholas, who is one of the most talented and talked-about players at the time. Nick likens himself to Charlie Nicholas, hoping that his own career will reflect the success of the football player. Once again, Nick finds it uncanny the way Arsenal always seems to find “fresh starts” at the exact same time that he does in his personal life. Charlie Nicholas ends up having a terrible season with Arsenal. Meanwhile, Nick’s submissions receive rejection after rejection.
Nick seems to have recovered from the depressive listlessness that plagued him in his younger years. This coincides with having a healthier relationship to football. Nick is still a fan, and in a way he is still obsessed, but he is not as desperately attached and dependent on football as he once was. He is now able to conceive of an identity outside of Arsenal and Cambridge football clubs.
Themes
Nick is 26 and Charlie Nicholas is 21. It dawns on Nick that he is now older than most of the Arsenal players. In his mind, he is still younger than all of them. He feels younger than them because he feels less accomplished than them.
Though he now has a much healthier mindset regarding football, Nick finds that he still has a long way to go toward growing up and coming of age.
Themes
