The Swimmer by John Cheever, Research Paper Example

In John Cheever’s short story, “The Swimmer,” the protagonists, Neddy, suffers through a long day in which he decides to swim home via available pools in his neighborhood. This contrivance, however, belies the subtext of identity and crises so prevalent in Cheever’s stories. Through the story, each pool or destination seems to be emblematic of a certain period of the hero’s life, and therefore the themes or tropes Cheever uses in the environment may be used as objective correlative for the character’s internal journey. This essay will explore Neddy’s journey and the motifs of emotion, time, and personal heroism (or lack thereof).

Neddy is a man in denial. He’s in denial about his passing youth as well as his destroyed marriage. Water is symbolic of baptism and renewal. It is not by chance that Cheever chose this element in which to have the main character go through their internal crisis. As water is renewal, what is so interesting about this story, is that as Neddy swims through each pool he is remembering more about his past; “It is only at the Bunkers’, pool #5, that we begin to get the sense that something is definitely amiss. There is a party in full swing, to which Neddy has apparently been invited, but his wife has called in his regrets, telling them he could not come. Why would she have done that without asking him? Otherwise, all seems normal” (Bernardo para. 3). Denial, an abstract element, is being physically washed away. This contradiction in terms is expertly done by the writer.

Neddy denies his youth. In one of the opening scenes Cheever has Neddy sliding down a banister and diving into a pool: both things done by less mature individuals. Also, the motion of the main character, the fact that he is going down symbolizes his lack of maturity (grown ups grow up after all). It also symbolizes his lack of self-knowledge (even his mistress asks him “Will you ever grow up?” (Cheever 736)). He never questions his own actions, nor does he reflect upon other’s impressions of his actions: he is completely self-absorbed which is a trait endemic of someone going through a crisis. The fact that Neddy’s idea to swim home seems like a good idea to him suggests that this isn’t an abnormal thought for him, and suggests that it is in the vein of personality and therefore his level of maturity/denial.

Neddy’s denial about his marriage and his youth are personified through the passing of time. In fact, time is passing more quickly than Neddy at first realizes. This suggests that there is a physical ticking clock in the story, as well as a metaphoric clock. The metaphoric clock is Neddy’s ability to accept the passage of time on a physical level. As he doesn’t realize the passage it suggests that he’s not ready to face adult situations. This passage of time is seen in the text by the movement of the sun (Neddy comments often toward the end of the story about how cold it’s getting suggesting that the sun is moving toward dusk). The passage of time goes even further than that suggesting a supreme suspension of disbelief in that leaves are changing, and his mistress doesn’t want to talk with him, and that his good friend is very ill. These things suggest an even great passage of time (instead of a single day passing—which Cheever suggests as the frame up of the story—many days or even months have seemed to pass). This in turn finally makes Neddy question his own reality, or at least, question his sense of time (which in turn symbolizes self knowledge).

Cheever’s subtext requires the reader to think whether or not Neddy is the hero in his own story, as Dickens tries to do in his work. A hero must come to terms with outer and inner conflict. Neddy comes to terms with outer conflict by swimming through pools and thereby realizing the passage of time, and finally, at the end of the story, when Neddymakes it home, he confronts his relationship (with himself and his wife) by facing his empty house. The house is a metaphor for the human body: Cheever writes: “The place was dark” (737) suggesting, on a metaphoric level, lack of self-knowledge (if the house is to reflect the protagonist’s inner turmoil). Cheever also writes that the garage doors are locked; meaning that Neddy’s access to memories are difficult to comprehend. Cheever also uses a litany of words in the final pages such as “locked,” “regret,” and “dark” to emphasize exactly where emotionally the protagonist is in the story. Finally, Cheever brings the protagonist to the front door where he, “shouted, pounded on the door, tried to force it with his shoulder, and then, looking at the windows, saw that the place was empty” (Cheever 737). In the end, it seems that Neddy doesn’t have a moment of realization, just a moment of being unable to comprehend what’s going on with his home/himself. He is locked outside of himself, playing childish games by swimming through neighbors’ pools.

Works Cited

Cheever, John. The Swimmer. New York: The Library of America, 2009. Print.

Bernardo, Karen. An Analysis of John Cheever’s ‘The Swimmer’. Story Bites, 2014.Web. 30 November 2014.