The Swimmers, Essay Example

When Sylvie looks back at events that occurred in 1959, when she was thirteen years old and observing a relationship between her uncle and a mysterious new woman in town, more is revealed about the narrators complicated obsession with her uncle and the woman. Sylvie narrates her flashbacks of the relationship between her uncle Clyde and Joan. She starts with their first encounter when swimming at the YMCA, and then goes on to describe in details love affair develops between them. There are many examples throughout the story where Sylvie describes the relationship between her uncle and Joan in a way that suggests there are deeper more complex feelings felt on her part than what she wants to reveal to the reader. The complicated nature of Sylvie’s role as a narrator, and her inability to recognize the bias she has, undermines her credibility and opens the story up to a wide range of interpretations.

One major advantage to having Sylvie as the narrator is it engages the reader in the story. There is a vulnerability shared between the narrator and the reader when the narrator is also a character in the story and reader feels as though they are a part of the action and have a vested interest in the success or failure of that character. Most importantly, Sylvie identifies this story as a significant moment in her life. By her narrating, her personal bias is also a part of the story, and in many ways can lead to exaggeration or even falsifying certain events. For example, in the opening when she says, “Some of it I was part of, aged thirteen. But much of it I have to imagine (Joyce Carol Oates, p589).” Here there is a distinguishable line between the narrator’s view and the author. Another benefit of this is that it ads different layers of listening, or plot implication to the story. For example, there are moments when the narrator is trying to convey a certain message or idea, and the author is implying her own separate message in the same context.

There are instances where the author’s agenda is clearly different from Sylvie’s agenda in telling the story. An example of this is when the reader can see things about Sylvie and Clyde’s relationship that Sylvie does not see. For instance, when talking about the relationship between Clyde and Joan, Sylvie says, “I wasn’t jealous but I watched them covertly. My heart yearned for them, though I didn’t know what I wanted of them, or for them…” she goes on to say, “I could not, nor did I want to, possess my Uncle Clyde and Joan Lunt.” All other implications suggest the exact opposite of what Sylvie is saying here. By this point the reader has read through long drawn-out descriptive pros by Sylvie romanticizing the relationship between Clyde and Joan.  Sylvie’s form of observation is borderline stalking. It’s blatantly conveyed to the reader, constantly throughout the story, and severely jeopardizes Sylvie’s credibility as a narrator, based on the fact that she doesn’t realize it herself.

Despite the fact that Sylvie’s admission of filling in the blanks about parts of the story she can’t remember makes her unreliable as a narrator overall, there are some instances where she is successful. An example of this can be seen when Sylvie describes how Joan looks.  It’s understood by the reader that she has an infatuation with Joan. She says she doesn’t envy her, but the opposite is very apparent. It can be seen when she says things like, “I watched Joan Lunt covertly and I didn’t even envy her in the pool, she was so far beyond me; her face that seemed to me strong and rare and beautiful, and her body that was a fully developed woman’s body—prominent breasts, shapely hips, long firm legs—all beyond me (Oates, p596).”  Sylvie’s description of Joan suggests feelings for her that are very different from her opening claim of not envying her. She says she doesn’t envy Joan, but then proceeds to talk about her ‘prominent breasts’ and ‘shapely hips.’ The final awkward point about Sylvie’s description of Joan is her used of the phrase ‘beyond me.’ This is an open-ended term and odd word choice that could be interpreted as Joan being beyond Sylvie’s understanding, beyond her maturity level as a developed woman, or beyond her grasp. The question is why would Sylvie be trying to grasp Joan?

Oates demonstrates a deep level of understanding when it comes to the complex nature of an adolescent girl’s mind. The relationship between Joan and Clyde is as much a manifestation of Sylvie’s teenage understanding of love as they are real people. This is due to the importance Oates plays on Sylvie as both a narrator and a character in the story. Sylvie’s awareness of her own bias is as evident as her understanding of Clyde and Joan.  At one point in the story Sylvie’s mother mentions that she tried to get to know Joan but Joan was not as present in mind as she was in body that Joan was not all there. Sylvia’s father is concerned that Joan will not hurt his brother. Compared to Sylvie’s over-romanticizing of Joan and Clyde’s relationship, these two interpretations of the characters seem to be polar opposites. This is just one implication that Sylvie has applied her own thirteen year old preconceived notions about love to a simple summer fling between two adults.

In sum, Joyce Carol Oates’s story “The Swimmers,” comes off as a tale about a couple of lovers, but in truth it’s a story about a young teenage girl’s transition into womanhood and how she copes with her emotions in the process. Early on in the story, Sylvie clearly states that she is recalling a time in her life that actually happened, but the parts she could vaguely remember, or was not present for, she says she will ‘imagine.’ This gives her little, if any, credibility as a narrator.  It also opens the reader up to speculation about the meaning and direction of the plot.  Oates manages to capture the nature of a young teenage crush and the delusions of grandeur that come along with it.

Work Cited

Oates, Joyce C. High Lonesome: New and Selected Stories 1966-2006. HarperCollins, 2007. 688.

What I have learned about writing this assignment is that an author’s voice can be heard even when the narrator is speaking over it. There can be multiple layers of a plot and many depths of listening to it. I also learned complex or controversial topics can be implied without the author giving too much overt detail.  I also learned when a story is open-ended, there can be many themes implied and the text is open to numerous interpretations. If done carefully this can empower the story, but it can also let the reader down if the plot turns out to have no final destination.