Secondly Hornby’s unique use of structure allows the reader to further understand is obsession. The author structures the book in such a way as to leave the reader in no doubt that his life has been unhealthily dominated by his affiliation with Arsenal Football Club. His own autobiography is so bare, we are left only with the fortunes of the team spanning more than two decades. The plot of this book is frustratingly non existent, which cleverly emphasizes the rather sad fact that the authors life outside of the Arsenal fixture list is of so little importance that it is only mentioned briefly and infrequently. This style reinforces Hornby’s obsession by starving the reader of the anticipated structure and content of an autobiography, thus leaving the reader wondering : “ Is this an autobiography by Hornby or Arsenal Football Club ?”
In addition, the chronological logging of Arsenal themed chapters, crammed full of Hornby’s exquisitely detailed recollections of: every minor match day incident ; sendings off ; goals and games; demonstrates irrefutably that in the author’s mind “ he was Arsenal.” This powerfully epitomizes the compulsive, obsessive mind of Hornby.
Finally, the continuous use of rambling sentences and unnecessary statements give the reader the impression of an irrational mind. Here, again the author’s clever use of stylistic structure and continual Arsenal “blabbering” allows the, perhaps, confused reader to clearly view Hornby’s obsession from a disbelieving onlookers point of view.
Finally Hornby employs symbolism to illustrate his obsessiveness with his “team”. The reader is first made aware of this when he refers to his following as a “career”. This metaphorical representation of his hobby as something as elevated as a way of life is a powerful symbol of his obsession. Throughout Hornby’s prolonged career as a football fan his family were subconsciously cast to the side line, and as the seasons progressed they were discarded to row Z. The making of his “career” so important, at the expense of family obligations and responsibilities is frequently the cause of relationship breakdowns for Hornby and is noted by the reader as a common problem within modern day society. This discourteous attitude and his malicious obsession continued to affect Hornby for the rest of his career, eventually alienating himself from normality of family life.
It is made clear that not only blood relations were suspended in the backdrop of Hornby’s fixture orientated life, girlfriends were also unfairly prioritised. Hornby successfully portrays his obsessive character traits in this area by deliberately withholding any details of his girlfriends such as their names, thus rendering them totally insignificant. Although Hornby showed complete disregard for their safety and well-being, he recaptures the readers faith in humanity when he guiltily questions: “ would he be able to leave the football if he became an expectant father?” Surely this indicated to the reader the true intensity of Hornbys compulsive preoccupation with the fate of the “gunners”.
As the reader becomes aware that Nick Hornby’s life and family was “ Arsenal Football Club”, they may search for a motive to explain this apparent abnormality. This is easily identified by the reader as Hornby tells of the divorce of his parents and the subsequent and emotional absence of his father from a young age. Hornby sought male influence to coincide with his female orientated home. The cigar smoke filled the air at Highbury, along with the aggressive cursing and unmistakable maleness. This maleness, which was as much an attraction to him as the football match itself, appealed to Hornby and would ironically not only balance with the female influences but Highbury became his new home. Highbury had allowed him to breath in the vast maleness whilst filling a hole in his heart, replacing the companionship his dad had seldom provided. By substituting his dad’s love with Arsenal’s, Hornby let the reader acknowledge that his obsession was to be for life, not just for childhood. His use of symbolism is scarce, however , it is beautifully introduced in this area to convince the reader that this young boys unhappy home-life and reduced family were compensated for by the wholeness and completeness of belonging to the larger and more male influenced family of the “gunners”.
Having been cast out of Nick Hornby’s life and replaced by a football team, his understandably distraught family had no option but to accept his idiosyncrasies as a “disability”. In embracing Hornby’s limitations, they willingly restricted themselves by organising family events round the Arsenal calendar. Blissfully unaware of his family’s sacrifices on his behalf, Hornby unconsciously displays to the reader, his selfish perspective on the world. The sad realisation for the reader is that, to Hornby, a world without Arsenal is a world without air. Surely this demonstrates the sheer intensity of his selfish disregard for those close to him and indeed for the rest of the planet.
In conclusion, although it is obvious that Hornby’s obsession ruled his life, each individual reader will asses this in a different manner. To a “normal” football fan this portrayal may simply come across as “a bit over the top” and slightly “humorous”, where as to those who perhaps sympathise more with Hornby’s loved ones, this autobiography will leave them feeling some what sad and frustrated by the hopelessness of his situation. I, however, being a football fan as well as being part of a close family was able to relate to both views, and although I did not find this book enthrallingly humorous, I was able to understand his love for football and Arsenal. Having thus examined the author’s portrayal of his obsessive character traits by exploring his techniques: narrative view point; structure in depth and symbolism to the extent of its brief use, we can see that Hornby has successfully achieved his own objective in obtaining “an angle on his obsession”, but has also cleverly written a piece which can mean so many different things to so many different people.
