Style and Technique
Despite the many realistic details included in the story, from the detailed descriptions of the various pools (specifying, for example, whether they are fed by a well or a brook) to the nuances of suburban social climbing, the story contains an element of fantasy. Although the action of the story covers at most several hours, Ned seems to age appreciably. Midway through the journey, he notices that his swim trunks are loose, and wonders if he could have lost weight in the space of the afternoon. The youthful vigor he exhibits in the early pages of the story gives way to a fatigue that leaves him unable to swim even one length of his last pool.
In addition to his own sense of aging, the summer itself gives way with inappropriate suddenness to autumn. After he is caught in the rainstorm (an event that exhilarates rather than depresses him), he notices a maple bare of leaves and feels sad at this sign of autumn, even while rationalizing that the tree must be blighted to have lost its foliage in midsummer. However, the signs of autumn persist. He smells wood smoke and wonders who would be burning wood at this time of year. Toward the end of his trip, the water of one pool has a “wintry gleam,” he smells the autumn flower chrysanthemum, and the constellations of the oncoming night are those of the winter sky.
In “The Swimmer,” then, Cheever veers from conventional realism to experiment with a style that emphasizes psychological veracity. Although the structure of the narrative is unconventional, the story manages both to convey a conventional plot line (Ned’s loss of money and status) and to reveal the complexity of a man’s interior reaction to personal disaster. Cheever’s juxtaposition of realistic detail and fantastic plot elements enables him to explore the workings of a mind out of touch with reality in a broad sense, yet acutely aware of the minor details and realities that compose the social fabric of life in Bullet Park.
The Swimmer
“THE SWIMMER” begins as a comic fiction written in the realist mode. As Cheever’s well-to-do suburbanites sit around the Westerhazy’s pool, complaining that they drank too much the night before, one of their number, Neddy Merrill, decides to swim to his home, eight miles away across affluent Westchester County, New York, via his neighbors’ pools. As Neddy begins his odyssey along what he calls the Lucinda River (named for his wife), the reader is struck by Neddy’s strength, determination, and youthful exuberance. No longer one of the story’s comically hungover, exurbanites, he becomes an explorer and mythic hero.
In the first few pages of Cheever’s story, Neddy covers four miles in one hour swimming in eight of the fifteen pools. Gradually, however, the pace of the story and of the swim slows, and the pools grow farther apart as Neddy’s energy and optimism drain away. Motion turns into contemplation, joyous adventure into painful ordeal. Appropriately, the light comedy gives way to a darker, more somber mood as the realism turns imperceptibly into mythic nightmare. The brightness and freedom of the first pages turns into the darkness and confinement of the last.
At the journey’s and the story’s end, Neddy finally and wearily arrives at his house, only to find it empty and boarded up. His mythic swim across the county and ahead in time has actually been a journey back into Neddy’s past and down through his unconscious mind. His attempt to regain all he has lost--his youth, money, wife, and family--ends in failure, leaving the reader to ponder whether...
(This entire section contains 339 words.)
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the attempt has been mythically noble or childishly ridiculous.
Neddy is clearly a latter-day Rip Van Winkle, one who longs to escape from the painful facts of his actual existence and to return to an earlier, more hopeful, more innocent period. Having lost his world, Neddy, however, gains a certain measure of tragic dignity, standing as naked and dispossessed in Westchester as Shakespeare’s Lear howling on the storm-ravaged heath.
Historical Context
"The Swimmer" was released in 1964, during a period of significant prosperity for America's middle and upper classes. Having endured World War II, which concluded in 1945, and the Korean War in the 1950s, many Americans—particularly white Americans—were relishing the wealth and affluence of the postwar era. This era saw the rapid expansion of American suburbs, the backdrop for "The Swimmer." This affluent world is where we find Neddy Merrill at the story's beginning.
However, Neddy Merrill's world was not one that most Americans could access. The Civil Rights Movement was in full swing, and fundamental freedoms were still a major concern for many. Although the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 had freed slaves and the Thirteenth Amendment of 1865 had abolished slavery, many African Americans continued to be deprived of their civil rights. The Civil Rights Act, passed in June 1964, aimed to end this discrimination. Despite the symbolic progress of this legislation, the challenges faced by women and many minorities were not immediately resolved. Numerous other "rights" movements were also active in the early 1960s. The environmental movement gained significant traction in 1962 with Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique (1963) brought attention to the issues faced by American women.
Literary Style
Allegory
"The Swimmer" is frequently interpreted as an allegory about the decline,
aging, and the life cycle. An allegory uses characters or events to
symbolically represent broader truths or generalizations about human existence.
In such stories, people, places, and events often carry multiple meanings,
standing for more than one concept. Thus, allegories offer both a surface
narrative and a "hidden" story that addresses deeper issues. The surface
narrative of "The Swimmer" follows the protagonist's journey swimming home. The
hidden, allegorical meaning delves into themes of aging, physical decline, the
life cycle, and the hypocrisy of the upper classes. Parables and fables are
commonly regarded as types of allegories.
Point of View
One of the most intriguing elements of "The Swimmer" is its point of view. The
story is entirely narrated in the third person, with no "I" constructions,
preventing readers from accessing Neddy Merrill's inner thoughts. This
narrative choice enhances the story's sense of confusion. For instance, when
friends attempt to console Neddy about his recent troubles, he insists that
nothing bad has occurred. This narrative strategy leaves readers uncertain
whether Neddy is being truthful, lying, deluding himself, or merely
disoriented.
Hero/Heroine
The notion of the hero is another significant aspect of "The Swimmer." In a
sense, Neddy, as the story's protagonist, can be viewed as its hero. He even
perceives himself as a heroic or legendary figure. This self-perception partly
explains his desire to find an unconventional way home. Swimming home is an
unprecedented feat, and achieving it would enhance his heroic stature. "The
Swimmer" also draws parallels between Neddy and characters from other literary
works. Many critics observe that Neddy's journey resembles the heroic journey
depicted in classical mythology, especially that of Odysseus in Homer's The
Odyssey.
Irony
Irony is another crucial element of "The Swimmer." Irony is a literary
technique that emphasizes the opposite meaning of a situation. Cheever's
portrayal of the hero, for instance, is ironic. Instead of being vibrant,
successful, and youthful—traits commonly associated with heroes—Neddy is
ultimately shown as old, fatigued, weak, miserable, confused, lonely, and
disoriented. He is shunned by acquaintances and appears to have forgotten
significant aspects of his life. Swimming through a series of pools is not the
grand achievement Neddy believes it to be. His homecoming is also ironic; while
homecomings for heroes are typically joyous, Neddy's return to his home, which
is empty, dark, and locked, is disheartening.
Dream Vision
Neddy's story is often viewed as a variation of the dream vision, a narrative
where the protagonist falls asleep and dreams the events that unfold. Dream
visions typically feature surreal, fantastical, and illogical occurrences,
making it challenging for readers to distinguish reality. Washington Irving's
tale of Rip Van Winkle exemplifies a dream vision. In this story, Rip falls
asleep for many years and awakens to find that everything has changed
dramatically. In Cheever's adaptation of the dream vision, Neddy does not
explicitly fall asleep, but he similarly ages significantly during his bizarre
journey. Over the course of an afternoon, Neddy becomes older, loses trust in
his memory, and observes the changing seasons. As in dreams, time seems
irrelevant, and events appear illogical to Neddy.
Names
The significance of the names in "The Swimmer" is noteworthy. For instance, the
name Levy evokes the word levee, which is related to water. Similarly, the
Welchers' pool is empty; as welshers, they have let Neddy down by not having
water in their pool and failing to keep their "word." Neddy's yearning to
return to his wife and warm home is mirrored in his wife's name, Lucinda, which
means light. Several other names in the story are also connected to water.
Merrill means "seabright"; Lear translates to "dweller by the sea"; the Clyde
is a river in Scotland; and Halloran signifies "stranger from beyond the sea."
The name Lear also recalls the Shakespearean king who descended into madness
and lost his possessions and family. Critics have pointed out that names like
Hammers, Bunkers, and Crosscups suggest impending violence, and that the owners
of the pools Neddy encounters in the first half of the story are predominantly
of Anglo-Saxon descent, similar to Neddy. The names mentioned in the latter
half of the tale, as Neddy becomes increasingly alienated, are more ethnically
diverse.
Compare and Contrast
1960s: Wealthy Americans enjoy unprecedented levels of prosperity. The gross national product, reflecting the total value of goods produced by the workforce, rises by nearly 36 percent in the first half of the decade. During this same time frame, wages see an increase of approximately 20 percent.
Today: The United States consumes about one-third of the world's raw materials each year. This consumption rate is five times the global average, despite the U.S. housing only 1/15th of the world's population.
1960s: Suburban development, which began in the 1950s, continues to expand in many cities. Numerous middle-class white families move from urban areas to the suburbs, creating a growing disparity in the quality of life between city centers and their surrounding areas.
Today: The federal government implements various programs to revitalize American cities, including the establishment of "empowerment zones." These zones aim to stimulate growth by providing incentives to businesses operating within them.
1960: Approximately 400,000 marriages are legally dissolved.
Today: In 1994, the number of legally dissolved marriages reached 1.2 million. Experts predict that 50 percent of all marriages will eventually end in divorce.
Media Adaptations
In 1968, Columbia Pictures released a film adaptation of "The Swimmer." Directed by Frank Perry (with Sydney Pollack contributing uncredited), the screenplay was adapted by Eleanor Perry and featured Burt Lancaster in the leading role.
Bibliography and Further Reading
Sources
Meanor, Patrick. John Cheever Revisited. Twayne Publishers, 1995.
Further Reading
Cheever, John. The Journals of John Cheever. Alfred A. Knopf,
1991.
This collection includes journal entries from the late 1940s to 1982, where
Cheever reflects on his homosexuality, his struggles with alcoholism, and his
creative process.
Riley, Kathryn. "John Cheever and the Limitations of Fantasy," in CEA
Critic, Vol. 45, nos. 3-4, March-May, 1983, pp. 21-26.
Riley offers a concise thematic analysis of "The Swimmer" along with other
works by Cheever.
Slabey, Robert M. "John Cheever: The 'Swimming' of America," in Critical
Essays on John Cheever, edited by R. G. Collins. G. K. Hall, 1982.
This essay provides an in-depth analysis of the story, focusing on mythological
connections and the inspiration behind Cheever's characters.
Bibliography
Bloom, Harold, ed. John Cheever. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 2004.
Bosha, Francis J., ed. The Critical Response to John Cheever. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1994.
Byrne, Michael D. Dragons and Martinis: The Skewed Realism of John Cheever. Edited by Dale Salwak and Paul David Seldis. San Bernardino, Calif.: Borgo Press, 1993.
Cheever, Susan. Home Before Dark. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1984.
Coale, Samuel. John Cheever. New York: Frederick Ungar, 1977.
Collins, Robert G., ed. Critical Essays on John Cheever. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1982.
Donaldson, Scott. John Cheever: A Biography. New York: Random House, 1988.
Donaldson, Scott, ed. Conversations with John Cheever. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1987.
Meanor, Patrick. John Cheever Revisited. New York: Twayne, 1995.
O’Hara, James E. John Cheever: A Study of the Short Fiction. Boston: Twayne, 1989.
Waldeland, Lynne. John Cheever. Boston: Twayne, 1979.
