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Chapter 59
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
One day, Nick sprains his ankle badly, and he is in immense pain. He panics when he realizes Arsenal is playing in just a couple of hours—and he can’t walk. Against his friends’ advice that he stay home and listen to the game on the radio, Nick insists on going to Highbury to see the Arsenal game. His friends help him take the train to the stadium. Though it’s pouring rain, Nick and his friends all watch the game from outside because Nick can’t make it up the stairs to their usual terrace. Nick feels that seeing the game is worth it.
Nick inconveniences his friends, who are forced to help him travel to the stadium and then accompany him outside in the rain. Feeling that seeing the game is worth it implies that Nick values football over his health and his friends’ comfort. Nick claims that he is no longer an Arsenal “lunatic” but merely a regular fan, but this incident suggests otherwise.
Themes
