The Swimmer, by John Cheever: Time Waits For No Man

In “The Swimmer” by John Cheever, Neddy’s view of reality is drastically different from his neighbors. Neddy thinks that the entire story takes place in the time of an afternoon, when in reality many months have passed. Even though Neddy is stuck in the past, his neighbors and the rest of society move on, and at first it causes slightly awkward sympathy, but later he finds himself completely alone, his family, friends and neighbors having left him behind. Neddy’s situation illustrates that the passage of time is inevitable, and even if one chooses to ignore time, it will move on without them.

At the beginning of the short story, Neddy seems to mostly fit in with his elite suburban neighborhood, but it is clear that he is dealing with alcoholism, a disease that he mostly keeps hidden but is helping him to deny the realities of his situation. Even in the midst of a failing marriage and strained relations with his neighbors, he remains carefree, deciding to “swim home” and viewing himself only as “The Swimmer” “As he was pulling himself out of the water he heard Mrs. Halloran say, “We’ve been terribly sorry to hear about all your misfortunes, Neddy.”

“My misfortunes?” Ned asked. “I don’t know what you mean.” “Why, we heard that you’d sold the house and that your poor children . . .” “I don’t recall having sold the house,” Ned said, “and the girls are at home.” “Yes,” Mrs. Halloran sighed. “Yes . . .” Her voice filled the air with an unseasonable melancholy and Ned spoke briskly. “Thank you for the swim.”” even as his neighbor are expressing their sympathies for his dire situation with his family. He continues swimming, not realizing the realities of the situation for many months, viewing the entire time as one afternoon.

Neddy...

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...d his society through his denial of the passage of time. Neddy’s denial of reality has devastating consequences on his life, illustrating the theme that the passage of time is inevitable and one must move on with time or be left behind.

In “The Swimmer” by John Cheever, Neddy denies time for many months, but time does not wait for him to catch up, resulting in him being abandoned by his family and shunned from his community. Neddy’s situation illustrates to readers that even if one chooses not to accept time, it will move on without them. This story shows that time waits for no one, and so one must move on with it and not stay stuck in the past.

Works Cited

Cheever, John. "The Swimmer." Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. 12th ed. Vol. 1. Eds. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. Upper Saddle River: Pearson, 2013. 249-57. Print.