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.

"The Swimmer" was published in 1964, at a time of great prosperity for middle- and upper-class Americans. Having survived World War II, which ended in 1945, and the Korean War, which took place in the 1950s, many Americans—at least white Americans—were enjoying the wealth and affluence of the postwar era. It was during this time that the American suburbs, the setting of "The Swimmer," grew at a rapid pace. This world of the upper classes is the world of Neddy Merrill as he appears at the beginning of "The Swimmer."

Neddy Merrill's world was in no way, however, one to which most Americans had access. The Civil Rights Movement was active, and basic liberties were still an issue of great concern for many Americans. Although slaves had been freed as outlined in the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and slavery was abolished in 1865 with the enactment of the Thirteenth Amendment, many African Americans continued to be denied their civil rights. The Civil Rights Act issued in June 1964 was intended to end this discrimination. Despite the progress that the passage of this bill symbolized, the problems faced by women and many minorities were not immediately resolved. Various other "rights" movements were also active in the early 1960s. The environmental movement gained much momentum in 1962 with the publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique (1963) shed much light on the problems faced by American women.

Allegory "The Swimmer'' is often considered an allegory about decline, the aging process, and the life cycle. An allegory is a symbolic representation through characters or events of truths or generalizations about human existence. In allegories, people, places, and events often have more than one meaning—that is, they can stand for more than one thing. As such, allegories relate a surface story and a "hidden" story that focuses on other issues. The surface story of "The Swimmer" concerns the protagonist's swim home. The hidden, allegorical meaning of "The Swimmer" has to do with aging, physical decline, the life cycle, and the hypocrisy of the upper classes. Parables and fables are often considered types of allegories.

Point of View The point of view of "The Swimmer'' is one of the most intriguing aspects of story. Because it is told completely in the third person ("I" constructions are not used), the reader is never able to get inside Neddy Merrill's mind. This adds to the confusion of the story. For example, when friends try to console Neddy about his recent misfortunes, he denies that anything bad has happened. As a result of this narrative strategy, the reader is unable to decide whether Neddy is telling the truth, lying, deluding himself, or if he is simply disoriented.

Hero/Heroine The concept of the hero is another important aspect of "The Swimmer." In a certain sense, Neddy, as the protagonist of the story, is the hero of the story. He even views himself as something of a hero or a legendary figure. This view of himself as larger than life accounts, in part, for his desire to find a new way home. Swimming home is something that has not been done before, and his success will only add to his worth as a hero. "The Swimmer" also draws parallels between Neddy and characters appearing in other works of fiction. Many critics note that Neddy's journey shares many similarities with the journey of the hero as depicted in classical mythology, particularly with Odysseus in Homer's The Odyssey.

Irony Irony is another important aspect of the "The Swimmer." Irony is a literary technique that attempts to highlight the opposite meaning of a situation. Cheever's portrait of the hero, for example, is ironic. Instead of being vibrant, successful, and young—qualities often associated with heroes— Neddy is eventually portrayed as old, fatigued, weak, miserable, confused, lonely, and disoriented. He has been snubbed by acquaintances and seems to have forgotten various details about his life. Swimming through a series of pools is also not the great undertaking Neddy assumes it is. His homecoming is also considered ironic; homecomings for heroes are typically joyous occasions. Neddy's return to his home, which is empty, dark, and locked, is disheartening.

Dream Vision Neddy's tale is often considered a modification of the dream vision, or a story in which the main character falls asleep and dreams the events in the story. Dream visions are often filled with surreal, fantastic, and illogical events that make it difficult for the reader to discern what really is happening. Washington Irving's tale about Rip Van Winkle is an example of a dream vision. In Irving's story, Rip falls asleep for several years and, upon waking, learns that things have changed drastically. In Cheever's version of the dream vision, Neddy is not said to have fallen asleep, but he similarly ages considerably during his surreal journey. Within the span of an afternoon, Neddy grows older, can no longer trust his memory, and finds that the seasons have changed. As in dreams, time does not have meaning and events seem illogical for Neddy.

Names The meanings of the names mentioned in "The Swimmer" are considered significant. The name of Levy, for example, brings to mind the word levee, a word associated with water. Likewise, the Welchers' pool is empty; as welshers, they have disappointed Neddy by not having water in their pool and living up to their "word." Neddy's desire to get home to his wife and warm home is reflected in his wife's name, Lucinda, which means light. Several other names given in the story are related to water. For example, Merrill means "seabright"; Lear means "dweller by the sea"; the Clyde is a river in Scotland; and Halloran means "stranger from beyond the sea." The name Lear also brings to mind the Shakespearean king who lapsed into madness and lost his belongings and family. Critics have noted that names like Hammers, Bunkers, and Crosscups foreshadow violence, and that the owners of the pools that Neddy encounters in the first half of the tale are largely of Anglo-Saxon descent, much like Neddy. The names that are mentioned in the second half of the story, during which Neddy becomes more and more alienated, are more ethnically diverse.

1960s: Affluent Americans have more money than ever before. The gross national product, the value of goods produced by the national workforce, increases almost 36 percent during the first half of the decade. Salaries increase about 20 percent during this same period.

Today: The United States uses about one-third of the world's raw materials consumed each year. This is five times the average consumption for 1/15th of the earth's population.

1960s: Many cities continue to experience a rise in suburban development which began in the 1950s. Many middle-class whites flee from cities to the suburbs, resulting in an increasing disparity between the quality of life in the city versus the surrounding area.

Today: The federal government institutes a number of programs designed to rejuvenate America's cities, among which is the designation of "empowerment zones." The program is designed to spark growth in these areas by offering incentives to businesses located within the zone.

1960: Some 400,000 marriages are dissolved by the courts.

Today: In 1994, 1.2 million marriages were dissolved by the courts. Experts estimate that 50 percent of all marriages will end in divorce.

A film version of "The Swimmer'' was released in 1968 by Columbia Pictures. It was directed by Frank Perry (and Sydney Pollack, uncredited), adapted by Eleanor Perry, and starred Burt Lancaster.

Sources Meanor, Patrick John Cheever Revisited, Twayne Publishers, 1995.

Further Reading Cheever, John, The Journals of John Cheever, Alfred A. Knopf, 1991. Contains journal excerpts covering a period from the late 1940s until 1982 in which Cheever comments on his homosexuality, his alcoholism, and his processes of composition.

Riley, Kathryn, ''John Cheever and the Limitations of Fantasy," in CEA Critic, Vol. 45, nos 34, March-May, 1983, pp. 21-26. Riley provides a brief thematic overview of "The Swimmer" and other stories 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. A close reading of the story, concentrating on mythological parallels and sources for Cheever's character.