In The Enormous Radio, Irene and Jim are able to privately listen to the conversations happening in apartments near theirs through a new radio that Jim has purchased. Initially bought to provide his wife pleasure in listening to classical music, it quickly becomes a source of angst as Irene hears the tragedy, deceit, and abuse that her neighbors endure day after day. This leads the reader to understand a core proposition of this short story:
Underneath content facades and common pleasantries, people hide harsh realities about their daily struggles.
Irene has a difficult time separating the seemingly kind and ordinary people she thinks she knows from the reality of their lives behind closed doors. She asks her husband,
They're really such nice people, aren't they? They have such nice faces. Actually, they're so much nicer than a lot of the people we know.
As she listens to more...
Unlock This Answer Now
Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
and more of their daily conflicts, she grows more and more depressed until she becomes distraught by a neighbor beating his wife while she listens. Her husband instructs her to stop listening to all of it. Irene wants to make sure that she and Jim aren't like the people whose lives she has been listening in on. She questions whether they are truly happy, and he assures her that they are. However, the theme runs true to the end, and the reader learns that Jim can be verbally abusive as well, calling Irene "Christly" (used as an insult) and a "convent girl," then narrating a list of her offenses he's been tracking over the years, including her own casual attitude toward an abortion she'd had years before. Although the reader (as the outsider "listening in" on their lives) is only presented with the calm and steady facade initially, it becomes clear that everyone is hiding secrets from the eyes and ears of the world.
Written by John Cheever in 1947, “The Enormous Radio” focuses on Jim and Irene Westcott. Combining elements of magical realism and the domestic gothic, the story’s thesis focuses on buried secrets. When the couple’s radio breaks, they order a new one and soon find out that it allows them to listen to their neighbors’ conversations. In listening to other people’s marital issues, the Westcotts begin to recognize the tension in their own marriage. “We’re happy, aren’t we darling? (Irene) pleads to Jim.” Of course, the Westcotts aren’t happy; they’re simply well versed in playing the part of a happy, status driven, financially secure couple. The radio is the fantastical tool that brings to light Jim and Irene’s secrets and accrued grievances. Cheever is arguing that no matter how strong a façade a married couple has, neglect, denial, and a lack of communication poisons a marriage.