to be “handled with diplomacy.” He sees himself as distinct and superior to these people, who he knows how to play along with to get his way. In the midst of these endless parties and summer afternoons, he avoids the harsh realities, like the financial issues that have caused a family to sell their horses and another to sell their home.

As he has to move away from those welcoming parties and into the “real world,” like the busy road and the public pool, he feels increasingly uncomfortable, possibly because the element of control and superiority he felt previously is no longer as easy to maintain over these new situations. In his talk with Mrs. Halloran about his house being sold and his “poor children,” it becomes increasingly clear that he has entirely created the previous world of wealth and potential as an illusion of control. His former mistress, with whom he enjoyed the “possession of...with an authority unknown to holy matrimony,” rejects him and has moved on to another lover. The facade of security and optimism is increasingly removed, much to Neddy’s anguish. Even his perspective on himself as being so youthful and strong begins to fail, as he becomes more exhausted by his journey, which had been done in the hopes of regaining that positivity and control he desired; “he had done what he wanted, he had swum the country, but he was so stupefied with exhaustion that his triumph seemed vague.” By pretending that his situation was fine, by conquering the “country” through his swim, Neddy hoped that he would eventually find or create that world for himself. But as he discovers his uninhabited former home, his quest was unsuccessful.

Neddy in John Cheever's "The Swimmer" relates to his world as one who is entitled to its largess and friendship without thought of giving much, if anything, in return. We learn he slid down the banister that morning and slapped the backside of the bronze Aphrodite statue—actions that reveal his confidence of ownership. After his swim, he breathes heavily, as if to "gulp into his lungs the components of that moment . . . the intenseness of his pleasure." This suggests his hedonistic attitude—he is taking in but not giving back. When he does imagine himself contributing to the world, he considers his trivial offering to be on a par with that of great men of history who actually experienced hardship in order to serve a greater goal.

Envisioning how he might swim the eight miles to his home, he believes "he had made a discovery, a contribution to modern geography; he would name the stream Lucinda after his wife." He imagines himself "a pilgrim, an explorer, a man with a destiny." These fantasies are ironic in that they reveal that he is indeed the opposite—someone who has not benefitted his world or his neighbors in any noteworthy manner. Indeed, as the story progresses, his sense of entitlement becomes clearer, especially when he interacts with Shirley Adams, a former mistress whom he still expects to show him love. Her name is a pun and a symbol—he thinks of himself as Adam, the most important or only man on the planet, and thinks she is "surely" Adam's.

Neddy decides to swim home more or less on a whim: "it occurred to him." Once the thought enters his mind, his sense of entitlement and his high opinion of himself carries it along. He knows that he will find friends all along the banks of "the Lucinda River." These friends will be there to give him what he needs—he isn't thinking about how he might benefit them or enhance their lives. He imagines this trip will bring him friendship and accolades and will confirm his abilities. Of course, it does just the opposite as his trek reveals more and more of who he truly is until he arrives home a lonely and broken man.