What is John Cheever The Swimmer about?
Joh Cheever’s account of Neddy Merrill, a middleaged man who traverses the expanse of an upscale suburban county by swimming a sequence of pools, is a highly ironic inversion of a conventional elegiac theme, the athlete dying young.
What is the moral message of The Swimmer?
“The Swimmer” has as its primary theme the power of the mind to deny unpleasant truths, or, to put it more positively, the determination of the ego to preserve itself in the face of events that might erode or obliterate one’s self-confidence.
What happened to Neddy’s family in The Swimmer?
Rather than being eternally youthful, Neddy is actually aging and moving toward death. Everything he once considered his right—his family, mistress’s affection, youth, and social standing—have disappeared, and at the end of the story he is left entirely alone.
Is The Swimmer a ghost story?
Michael Chabon has called “The Swimmer” a ghost story, and he is correct. All suburban stories are ghost stories.
What is the setting of The Swimmer?
The action takes place in suburban New York City—probably in Westchester County, where author John Cheever once lived. Westchester, one of the wealthiest counties in the United States, is north of New York City and west of Connecticut.
What do we learn about Neddy as he moves from pool to pool?
Swimming Pools As he progresses from pool to pool, however, Neddy changes. Physically, he grows weaker, unable to pull himself out of pools without a ladder and unwilling to dive in as he once did. Instead of being warm, he eventually feels chilled to the bone.
How does Neddy change physically by the end of the story?
As he progresses from pool to pool, however, Neddy changes. Physically, he grows weaker, unable to pull himself out of pools without a ladder and unwilling to dive in as he once did. Instead of being warm, he eventually feels chilled to the bone.
What does the end of The Swimmer mean?
This symbolises his losing everything, all but the very little clothes left on his back. He swims because it’s the last thing left he can do, the only remaining piece of his former life.
What happened at the end of The Swimmer?
At the end of the story, when Neddy is actually alone and facing his empty house, the true state of his life is, for the first time, clear.
What happened to Lucinda in The Swimmer?
At the beginning of the story, Lucinda is Neddy Merrill’s wife, but, by the end, she and their four daughters have left him. Neddy collectively names the series of swimming pools he swims “the Lucinda River,” perhaps in an unconscious act of contrition for his failures as a husband and father.
What happens at the end of the film The Swimmer?
Ned Merrill drowns in the deep end of his own shallow self-image of masculinity. And he does it, finally, at the steps of his own front door: When he finally reaches his home beneath a torrential winter storm, he finds that it is for sale, abandoned long ago.
What does the public pool symbolize in the swimmer?
The pools that Neddy swims through as he makes his way home represent periods of time that Neddy passes through. At the beginning of the story, Neddy is strong and active, feels deep contentment with his life, and is admired by his friends.
What does the end of the swimmer mean?
What does the storm in the swimmer symbolize?
The Swimmer Analysis The storm itself represents the good time that he has while he’s drinking. Much like the storm is for Neddie, the good time that is had while drinking can often mask the danger of the moment and the consequences of tomorrow.
What does the highway symbolize in the swimmer?
He keeps circling around it because it is all that he has left, and in fact, the lake itself has become bad–a place that holds war memories of a deadly body of water. The road is a symbol for the mindset he cannot seem to leave no matter how negative his opinion of the town has gotten.
What does the storm in The Swimmer symbolize?
What does the pool symbolize in The Swimmer?
Why does Neddy decide to swim home?
He decides to swim home because his life is not confined to where he lives. He wants to discover all the swimming pools in the county. It is really his journey through life. Describe Neddy Merrill’s journey.
What does alcohol represent in the swimmer?
Alcohol. The pervasive consumption of alcohol throughout the story sharpens the distortion of time and Neddy’s sense of unhappiness. The drinking, serving, and desire for alcohol become significant motivators for Neddy as well as a way to measure his social standing.
What is the conflict of The Swimmer?
The main conflict is Neddy’s view of himself and the reality of his life. He sees himself as young and strong. As his journey continues, he realizes that he was not aware of the situations of his friends and neighbors. Some neighbors moved, some became ill, and he himself lost his home.
When did John Cheever write the swimmer?
(May 2012) “The Swimmer”, a short story by American author John Cheever, was originally published in The New Yorker on July 18, 1964, and then in the 1964 short story collection The Brigadier and the Golf Widow. It was later collected in The Stories of John Cheever.
What is the summer by John Cheever all about?
Growing older is one of the hardest challenges we face in life, and if that obstacle is dealt with in a rash manner, and without much thought it can lead to feelings of helplessness, denial, confusion, and resentment. John Cheever addresses this issue in one of his most noted works, “The Summer”. This article gives you its summary and analysis.
What is “the swimmer” about?
It is the portrait of the lives of people in post World War II suburban America, and the lifestyles and experiences of people during that time. This Penlighten article brings you the literary analysis of “The Swimmer”, along with its summary.
When was the story The Swimmer written?
“The Swimmer” is a short story by John Cheever that was first published in 1962. Read a plot overview or analysis of the story. See a complete list of the characters in “The Swimmer” and in-depth analyses of Neddy Merrill.