It is a sign of Neddy's self-delusion that he dismisses these odd chronological signs rather than seeking to understand them, much as he relies increasingly on alcohol to ease his way through awkward social encounters. Somehow it is impossible to go back.
Save this story for later. Course Hero. Ned’s desire to swim across the county is presented as the quintessence of the athletic optimism that characterizes his whole community. As this calm cloud bank develops into a thunderstorm, sending Neddy to shelter in the Levys' gazebo, it again references The Odyssey. He is disappointed when a friend’s pool is empty of water, the bathhouse locked, and a “For Sale” sign nailed to a tree. The Hallorans are very wealthy people who are friends of Neddy and his wife. Start your 48-hour free trial to unlock this The Swimmer study guide. Feeling miserable and tired, Neddy cries for the first time as an adult. Privacy Policy. Neddy views the Biswangers as somewhat crass. He realizes the house is up for sale, and he cannot remember anything about the Welchers leaving the neighborhood. Course Hero. Copyright © 1999 - 2020 GradeSaver LLC. Neddy feels older as he swims Mrs. Halloran's pool. She refuses to give Neddy a drink, telling him she is not alone. The Swimmer essays are academic essays for citation. They see themselves as nonconformist reformers and relish it when people accuse them of being communists, even though these accusations are false. He imagines the string of pools as a river, a “quasi-subterranean stream that curved across the county,” and names it Lucinda, after his wife.
6 Neddy hears thunderclap; the weather cools. First, he must swim with distaste through the crowded, unclean public pool. He quickly completes his task (swimming the length of the Grahams' pool), grabs a quick drink, and, smiling, slips away to continue his quest.
Mr. and Mrs. Halloran casually accept Neddy's arrival. When he has to cross a highway, he is embarrassed to be seen in his swim trunks by passing motorists, some of whom throw beer cans or jeer at him. Neddy arrives home and finds his family gone. Lucinda's husband, Neddy Merrill, sits by the pool with one hand in the water and the other hand clasping a glass of gin. Exhausted, Neddy struggles through the last two pools. Already a member? As he leaves Shirley's place, Neddy notices a young man with her in the bathhouse. The narrator says within "the space of an hour ... he had covered a distance that made his return impossible.". His self-image as "a man of destiny" leads him to look down on his friends, even though he believes them to be important people. He begins his peculiar trip with great gusto, imagining himself “a legendary figure” or “a pilgrim, an explorer, a man with a destiny.”. As he gets out of the water, the lifeguards yell at him for not having an identification disk. This slide from fast-paced confidence to lethargic uncertainty signals the story's pivot from realism to a type of surrealism. Former mistress treats Neddy as a deadbeat, kicks him out. In the human mind it is often expressed with fear, amazement, longing and might even love. The first neighbors, the Grahams, greet Neddy warmly. In “The Swimmer,” John Cheever experiments with narrative structure and chronology. Neddy cries, feeling tired, cold, and miserable. In his swimming trunks Neddy looks like the victim of a practical joke. As he notices Eric's surgery scars, he can't comprehend how he could have forgotten his friend's operation. But he figures that "explorers" like him have to deal with unpleasant circumstances and so strokes his way down the pool, keeping his head above water "to avoid collision." All of a sudden, it occurs to him that he could swim from the Westerhazys' to his own house, which is about 8 miles away, by traversing the pools of his neighbors. The Swimmer By S.J. Neddy feels vibrant as he easily swims the Grahams' pool. Neddy finds he is barely able to swim the last two pools on his list and has to stop often because of fatigue. The Swimmer Analysis; The Swimmer Analysis. Only at the very end of the text, in the last line, does he realize the house itself is completely empty. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Swimmer by John Cheever. Accessed November 4, 2020. https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Swimmer/. he alludes to Ulysses (the Latin name for Odysseus), who according to a myth founded the city of Lisbon. Neddy has no memory of selling his home and believes his children are presently living there. He reclines by the pool at Donald and Helen Westerhazy's house, full of pleasure at the beautiful day. He names his route the Lucinda River in honor of his wife. The Swimmer by John Cheever – into a suburban darkness This classic tale has echoes of many other great stories, but stands on its own as a portrait of a disintegrating man WB Gooderham The comic absurdity and artful randomness of “The Death of Justina” differ sharply from the dark ambiguity and the tight, almost inexorable structure of “The Swimmer,” another Cheever story concerning modern people’s efforts to guard themselves from every painful memory and every proof of their own mortality.
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