The Swimmer Essay

Set in 1960's suburbia, “The Swimmer” follows a man's nightmarish journey home as the very aspects of life blend, fusing realism and surrealism to create an “imaginative and vital myth of time and modern man” (Auser 292). The story opens with Ned Merrill deciding to swim across the county only using the pools of his neighbors in an attempt to celebrate the day's beauty. As the story progresses, it begins to take on a more dark and surrealistic tone as Ned loses his will to continue. Finally, he stumbles home, only to find his house desolate, grim, and vacant. John Cheever, author of “The Swimmer,” could intend to create Ned in the image of a modern tragic hero following the archetypal themes of journey, discovery, and initiation or use

As Ned suffers from his first real realization that his actions are putting his very livelihood in danger, he begins to question his very motives, asking “Why, believing as he did, that all human obduracy was susceptible to common sense, was he unable to turn back? Why was he determined to complete his journey even if it meant putting his life in danger? At what point has this prank, this joke, this piece of horseplay become serious?...In the span of an hour, more or less, he had covered a distance that made his return impossible” (Cheever 6). For the first time in the story, the reader gains the ability to peer into Ned's inner thoughts and get a glimpse of how he reacts to his own personal demise. Just as an alcoholic realizes the damage he has caused after it is too late, Ned also suffers from this realization; yet he claims that his return is impossible. When Ned accepts the absurdity of continuing the direction he has chosen, he begins to create his own reality (Auser 293). His refusal to accept the inevitable passage of time makes his final enlightenment all the more pitiful and pathetic. This refusal to face the actualities of time's passage causes Ned to take on challenges he cannot handle because of his “illusion of his own

Satire plays a key role within the story, as Cheever employs Ned's tragic downfall to mock America's affluent and their lack of purpose. As Cheever blends reality and surrealism the further Ned travels, questions arise on whether many aspects of his life truly exist, or whether his demented perspective simply imagines them. By not revealing the actuality of his situation, Cheever puts the reader into the shoes of a delusional