Previous
Act 4, Scene 9
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in If We Were Villains, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Fate vs. Free Will
Identity and Disguise
Love and Sexuality
Theatre and Corruption
Summary
Analysis
Oliver bursts into Frederick’s class a little early. Frederick pours Oliver a cup of tea, and as he drinks, the late bell rings. No one else arrives in the classroom. Oliver spills his hot tea and cries out in pain, startling Frederick. He brings Oliver a napkin and asks him what’s wrong. Oliver tells him, “We’re all falling apart.” He thinks to himself that his and his friends’ story is reaching its climax—and a fall is coming soon.
The week has been so disastrous that out of all of the fourth-years, only Oliver is able to make it to Frederick’s class. As they become indisposed one by one, it’s as if Oliver is the sole survivor, and he can’t help but think of the week’s events as symbolizing their fracturing relationships with one another. Here, he also thinks of their lives fatalistically, as if what happens to them is scripted and outside of their control.
Themes
