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Cheever The Swimmer

            John Cheever is an American short-story writer and novelist known for his portrayals of the average middle-class American. The settings for many of Cheever's short stories are upscale suburban neighborhoods. Very similar to Scarborough, a northern suburb of Westchester County where he lived with his wife and three children. This was a world of well-kept lawns, country clubs and commuter trains. Two of John Cheever's masterpieces that reflect this environment and the people within it are "The Swimmer" and "O Youth and Beauty!" At first glance the stories may appear very different although after analyzing John Cheever's development of human character the protagonists will be shown to be very similar. .
             "The Swimmer" takes place in a very wealthy suburban neighborhood. The kind of neighborhood where parties that flowed with alcohol occurred almost every night and money came and went. The story begins on a hot summer day after a night of drinking; Neddy Merrill decided to swim home across the backyard pools of his neighbors. As he swims through each pool the reader realizes that Neddy is actually travelling through periods of his life. He encounters neighbors that were once friendly but now have turned against him, suggestions of his financial ruin, and ultimately returns to find his house empty. .
             One of the most important aspects of writing fiction is characterization. A writer must have a considerable amount of skill to create characters that are realistic and believable. John Cheever does an excellent job creating characters that the reader can relate to. There are two ways an author can describe a character in literary fiction, indirectly or directly. In "The Swimmer" the protagonist is Neddy Merrill. Cheever describes Neddy directly to the reader when he states:.
             "He was a slender man--he seemed to have the especial slenderness of youth--and while he was far from young he had slid down his banister that morning and given the bronze backside of Aphrodite on the hall table a smack, as he jogged toward the smell of coffee in his dining room.


Essays Related to Cheever The Swimmer

1. The Swimmer by John Cheever

"He was far from young", (Cheever 1), is how John Cheever describes the main character Neddy Merrill in his story "The Swimmer." While Neddy is far from young, his actions say otherwise. On a hot summer day, Neddy decides to take an adventure across the seemingly perfect suburb back to his home only to find that it is empty. Cheever is expressing the inescapable of aging with his use ... of symbolism in swimming pools, alcohol, ladders, and the empty house. Along with multiple symbols in The Swimmer, one can also see reoccurring themes. The nonexistence of a utopian society is a theme that...

  • Word Count: 614
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

2. American Suburbs in The Swimmer

... , dark, and emotional place he finds himself in at the end of the story. The reader understands that Neddy immerses himself in alcohol in order to fill the emptiness inside him. The way Cheever chooses to tell, "The Swimmer," is the key to how he develops the central theme of the story. Cheever is able to discuss the lack of genuine relationships that are often associated with a superficial lifestyle. He incorporates ... weather and seasonal changes to show that Neddy's journey is one that represents the inevitable deterioration of his comfortable ... ...

  • Word Count: 1090
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

3. The Swimmer

... just a river in Egypt. On the surface, "The Swimmer" may appear to be a tale of the effects of alcohol abuse or maybe even a characterization of a mental disorder like Alzheimer's. Upon closer scrutiny, however, one discerns that it is denial that allows for the supremacy of the human mind over logic and reason during desperate times. Cheever insinuates that the mind is not only a dangerously powerful ... and memories, or take any type of responsibility. His stubborn denial of the events that have affected his life proves what the human mind is capable of in dire circumstances. "The Swim...

  • Word Count: 854
  • Approx Pages: 3

4. The Swimmer by John Cheever

In John Cheever's, "The Swimmer," symbolism is utilized as a powerful method in expressing Ned's idealistic view of his conflicted life. Ned's empty house is effectively used as a symbol; his delusions of grandeur regarding it, is similar to his perspective of life. Ned's reaction towards the number of bleak characteristics of his house, creates the idea that his overoptimistic attitude is carried on throughout every aspect of ... of life, especially not when it came to his family and his home. He continued to the "locked "garage doors, with the rust coming off the handles onto his hands." Re...

  • Word Count: 587
  • Approx Pages: 2

5. The Swimmer - The Burden of Old Age

The swimmer is a short story. It tells the story of a young man named Neddy who decides to swim back to his house using a network of swimming pools which he names the Lucinda river. On the surface the plot is very simple; however there are some hidden aspects. On his journey home Neddy experiences a symbolic journey through his life from the happiness of youth to the ... the fact that he is still young. With his youth also comes his ambition and hope. Describing his discovery of the "Lucinda River" as "a contribution to modern geography." He sees himself as a hero and like the "Pilgrim Fathers...

  • Word Count: 915
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

6. The Man Who Swam Away His Life

... In John Cheever's, "The Swimmer,"" Neddy Merrill was a prominent well-known man throughout the community. Ned and his wife, Lucinda, were at a pool party on a beautiful summer's day. All of the people at the party were discussing the evening before and were saying, "We all drank too much- (297). As Ned was enjoying sitting by the edge of the pool with ... Ned's alcohol state of oblivion, he had lost a part of life which he could not commit to memory or convalesce. Ned had a mistress by the name of Shirley Adams. He had reflections of them having an affair last week, and she had clasped t...

  • Word Count: 668
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

7. Foreshadowing and Building Revelations

... Letter" provides an obvious foreshadowing in the beginning, so that when arriving at the revelation readers can only chuckle at themselves for not seeing it coming. Early in "The Swimmer" Neddy establishes that the name of the "quasi- subterranean stream that [curves] across the country" is Lucinda (Cheever 174). As keen readers will observe, the river symbolizes the person behind its namesake and by extension ... , the pools that Neddy swims in throughout his journey represent his relationship with his wife ... ...

  • Word Count: 598
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

8. Aquatic Hopelessness

... Cheever's short story, "The Swimmer," introduces immediately the main character Neddy Merrill. A seemingly upper class man, with four beautiful daughters and nice home in a wealthy neighborhood, the reader gets the sense that this man is well off. He is at a party thrown by the Westerhazy's when he realizes that he needs to get home. Instead of walking home or driving, he swims the ... if he was ever going to reach his destination." (p. 624) This alone shows that Merrill is insane. He compares himself to the explorers of the past, recreating their actions. He tries to take himself to anot...

  • Word Count: 822
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

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