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
Reader Reaction to John Cheever's The Swimmer One of the main ideas that is conveyed in John Cheever's The Swimmer is the way in which life consists of different mental stages and how they each affect the consciousness of the mind. In The Swimmer, Neddy goes through different swimming pools and this represents the different journeys in his life. He progresses from boundless optimism to endless despair as the seasons go by. The times when Neddy is in or out of the water also represents the
The setting of “The Swimmer” is in the suburbs, describing the aquatic adventure of Neddy, an energetic and cheerful father and husband. After attending a cocktail party, he decided that he would swim his entire way home through various swimming pools. Through his adventures, the protagonist makes a great discovery that his marriage life is a great lie. The journey from the cocktail party to his home converts him from a vibrant man to an old impoverished man whose life is in a major crisis. As he
The Perfect Swimmer: Ian Thorpe [IMAGE] [IMAGE] Ian Thorpe was born on 13th October 1982 in Sydney, Australia. He is a full time swimmer and has been recognised as an elite athlete in his field since he was the youngest person ever to be chosen to swim in the Australian team at age 14. He was the fastest 14-year-old swimmer in history, which makes him a good subject for this piece. His achievements to date include gold at the Commonwealth Games where he broke the Commonwealth Record
John Cheever’s story “The Swimmer” depicts a protaganist, and the society that has nurtured him, as lacking in seriousness and responsibility. Neddy, the bewildered protagonist, represents a society satirized for centering its values on social status and materialism. During the course of Neddy’s journey, the illusions he has constructed about his life are stripped away, and in the process the truth behind his society is realized. In unveiling the tragedy of Neddy’s existence, Cheever reveals the
“The swimmer” and “A Rose for Emily” both show the same theme in the way that they both show that the characters cannot face the past. Emily will not face the truth, the fact that her father died. Neddy drinks because he cannot face the past. The act of drinking takes his mind off of the pains he dealt with in the past. The main ideas that are expressed in John Cheever's The Swimmer, is how Neddy lives through a variety of stages of alcoholism and how they each affect his everyday life. In The Swimmer
beautiful sunshine is casting a rainbow through the spray from the waterfall; the reflection on the chestnut skin of his well-build belly shows his health and wealth as a successful man. This is how John Cheever put in the first paragraph of “The Swimmer”, with a gorgeous swimming pool surrounded by a lovely forest. In the story, John Cheever gives a large role on portraying iconic objects around Neddy Merrill to imply the society’s materialism. The story is based on Neddy’s epic whim: he intends
been lived and death is approaching. Or so it seems. There have been many studies to determine whether or not the “midlife crisis” is fact or fiction and I believe that The Swimmer by John Cheever reflects this myth in a thought-provoking and self-assessing way. From the beginning of the aforementioned short story, The Swimmer, Cheever sets the tone with lots of bright, fun, youthful descriptions. Our story’s protagonist, Neddy, is envisioned as having the “especial slenderness of youth” and compares
In John Cheever’s, “The Swimmer”, on a hot summer Sunday ,while sitting by the pool with his wife and neighbors, as they all complained about their hangovers, a man of higher status named Needy Merrill decides to get home by swimming through the pools in his county. When Needy first starts off his journey he feels young and enthusiastic; he is then greeted in a joyous manner by his neighborhood friends. Apparently, Needy is a well-known and respected man. As his journey progresses he starts seeing
For countless years the American dream has been the golden opportunity for every person. An issue that John Cheever created in “The Swimmer,” is the obsession of the American dream. He portrays Neddy Merrill as a wealthy male with a family. Neddy is also a alcoholic and has a mistress he goes too. The story starts off with him being self center by choosing invitations that he wants to go to. He begins to swim through his neighbors pools to get to his house. As Neddy Merrill swims through the pools
narrator only takes a couple of hours to complete Ned’s journey, but the seasons change and time passes as though several years have gone by. In these changing years, Ned descends from youthful ecstasy into loss and suffering. The main character of “The Swimmer” can be classified as a gambler and alcoholic because of the choices he makes, the thoughts narrated for him throughout his expedition, and the way his life ends up falling apart. The choices Ned make play a huge part in how
John Cheever uniquely crafted the story “The Swimmer” by using a mix of surrealism and realism throughout the story. Most people when they read “The Swimmer” they have to reevaluate it to comprehend what is happening. The reason for that is because Cheever shifts between surrealism and realism so much that the reader does not even notice. The story starts out with Neddy being so strong and youthful, but as the story goes on he weakens and ages. When he was youthful Neddy decided to swim every pool
Journey Through Suburban Life in John Cheever's The Swimmer "The Swimmer," by John Cheever, illustrates one man's journey from a typical suburban life to loneliness and isolation. This short story is characteristic of John Cheever's typical characterizations of suburbia, with all it's finery and entrapments. Cheever has been noted for his "skill as a realist depicter of suburban manners and morals" (Norton, p. 1861). Yet this story presents a deeper look into Neddy Merril's downfall from the
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
Comparing John Cheever’s The Swimmer and The Five-Forty-Eight Two stories by John Cheever, The Swimmer and The Five-Forty-Eight (5-48), will be explored in terms of how the characters, genre and point of view in these stories give rise to classic fiction. The Swimmer is of a suburban man, Neddy Merrill, who decides to return home from work by swimming eight miles through all of his neighbors' pools along the way. At each pool he encounters a former mistress, distant and unfriendly neighbours
The Swimmer by John Cheever begins at Helen and Donald Westerhazy’s pool when Neddy Merrill makes the decision to journey eight miles home by swimming through a series of pools, he calls the “Lucinda River” (297) and walking when unable to swim. While he making his way back home, he stops at fourteen old friends’ houses and drinks before continuing on if possible. By the end of Neddy’s journey, he is exhausted and comes to the realization that he has lost not only his house but also his wife and
through its imagery, meaning, or by the poetic devices used. Each and every poem has something special and unique to offer to the reader, as long as the reader looks deep enough to find it. “Lone Bather'; written by A.M. Klein, and “The Swimmer'; by Irving Layton both offer such messages to the reader. At first glance, these messages seem surprising similar, but after further examination they are in fact strikingly different. The similarities are most evident in the imagery and use of poetic
would accept, and he knew little English. 	One morning in 1966 Sapp walking into the North Battleford Medical Clinic to sell his paintings. Here he met Dr. Allan Gonor, who liked his work. On his second visit Dr. Gonor saw a painting of Cheif Sam Swimmer and liked it. He bought it and asked for more. Allen began painting what he knew from the reserve. He turned out many paintings at a tremendous rate. Dr. Gonor arranged for him to see an art professor from the U of S. The little instruction he got
stroke is also very popular in leisure swimming because the head can be held up, making vision and breathing easy and because the swimmer can rest between strokes if needed. Swimmers can also use the breaststroke in survival swimming and in lifesaving situations. Since the breaststroke has many uses and is easy to learn, it is one of the best strokes to teach a beginning swimmer. When teaching the breaststroke to a beginner, it is very important to explain every aspect of the stroke from head to toe. The
becoming a long distance swimmer, I had indeed begun to lose weight as my fitness improved. I discovered a real satisfaction from swimming. As I learned to improve my stroke and lung capacity, I savored the quiet world that I was immersed in during my workouts. It became my special time to allow my thoughts to glide as effortlessly as my body did while my distance increased to an uninterrupted mile. I truly loved the permanent smell of chlorine on my skin. I was a swimmer. The coach of the adult