The Swimmer By John Cheever - 1528 Words

Shep Davis Mrs. Smith English 102 27 April, 2016 The Swimmer In the short story â€Å"The Swimmer† John Cheever characterizes Neddy in a selfish and content manner to illustrate his detachment from society. The swim that Neddy starts in the beginning of the play seems fun and innocent in nature. He enjoys stopping at all of his friends and families house drinking every time after he finishes swimming the pool. The drinking depicts his easy lifestyle, lack of care for the world, and his detachment from society. The repetition of drinking eventually is what brings him to his â€Å"cold† and â€Å"bewildered† reality because he has suppressed everyone around him by only wanting to swim. At the end of the story he is left with no friends to talk with or family to care for him because he has been self-centered. He also is unaware of what has transpired while he was swimming. This displays his mindsets lack of care for others he just wants to drink and have a good time. However as he progresses he goes further into h is loop of the pools, and he desires to swim in more and more. This loop symbolizes his life, and how he is not progressing or doing anything important with it. He wants to just go around in circles hiding from reality. The irony is he is left poor and all of his friends leave him. His entire image of life, and how he wanted to live was based on himself and money. After the money disappeared so did his companions because he was living a life that did not value relationship or care.Show MoreRelatedThe Swimmer, by John Cheever1513 Words   |  7 Pagessomething within us which is always surprised by change. In The Swimmer, the world around Ned Merrill, the main character, transforms constantly as time goes by, causing Neds physical, mental, and social state to decline. However, although Ned Merrill experiences the inevitable - growing older - he does not fully grasp reality and the idea that time moves on, even if one is not ready. The Swimmer is a short story written by John Cheever , a writer who used his own experiences as inspiration for hisRead MoreThe Swimmer By John Cheever1424 Words   |  6 Pages In his story, The Swimmer, John Cheever does a clever job engaging the reader in understanding the complexity and change in Ned Merrill’s life circumstances through his travels to various pools. It is implied that Ned was once successful and had everything. He had a wife, named Lucinda, and children. He had a beautiful home and a circle of friends. It seemed like he had it all. However, his travel through pools and time, show the reader that Ned’s life is not all that it seems. At the time thatRead MoreThe Swimmer By John Cheever1584 Words   |  7 Pages The author of â€Å"The Swimmer†, John Cheever, was born in 1912 in Quincy, Massachusetts. During the downfall of his life, Cheever had a twenty-year battle with alcoholism. Then after, he went to rehab for alcoholism in 1975. This experience then led him to write about his issues with alcohol in the short stories, â€Å"The Swimmer† and the â€Å"Falconer.† Over his lifetime, Cheever has obtained several awards including the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. Even though Cheever got kicked out of hisRead MoreAn Analysis of the Swimmer by John Cheever1694 Words   |  7 PagesApril 2014 An Analysis of The Swimmer by John Cheever Most stories can have an emotional impact on people, but once in a while certain stories can take the reader to the edge of reality. The Swimmer is a fascinating story with primary use of a setting and amazing characters that engages readers and can move them to experience life in an unfathomable way. Cheever was born May 27, 1912, in Quincy, Massachusetts, to Frederick Lincoln Cheever and Mary Liley Cheever. His father owned a shoe factoryRead MoreAnalysis Of The Swimmer By John Cheever1143 Words   |  5 Pages The Swimmer by John Cheever tells the story of a man journeying to retain his youth but in the end, loses more than he realises. Ironically enough, this is similar to what the protagonist in Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been, (written by Joyce Carol Oates) experiences. Both characters have an established goal yet never quite reach it. Imagery and symbolism are used to adeptly express this throughout each piece which creates an unsettling mood following the resolution . Imagery to infer theRead MoreAnalysis Of The Swimmer By John Cheever1925 Words   |  8 PagesBook Award in 1958 for his debut novel The Wapshot Chronicle, John Cheever was highly acclaimed as a novelist, but he may be best remembered for his array of short stories. In the words of the acclaimed novelist Philip Roth, Cheever was an â€Å"enchanted realist† who had â€Å"as rich and distinctive [voice] as any of the leading voices of postwar American literature.† This ‘voice’ was in full display Cheever’s stories, especially in â€Å"The Swimmer,† which is about a man named Neddy Merrill who embarks on a ‘voyage’Read MoreEssay on John Cheever the Swimmer1951 Words   |  8 PagesHierarchy in Cheever’s â€Å"The Swimmer† John Cheever’s short story, â€Å"The Swimmer,† describes the epic journey of Neddy Merrill as he attempts to swim his way back home. Throughout the story, readers continually question reality and fantasy while wondering whether Merrill is really experiencing what Cheever portrays or if he is simply stuck in the past. Merrill goes from house to house as he freestyles across each swimming pool along the way. As the story draws to the end, Cheever points out that Merrill’sRead MoreAn Analysis Of John Cheever s The Swimmer 1385 Words   |  6 Pages Snigdha Sama Mrs. Hurtado English I H 9 March 2016 A Tale of Riches to Rags in â€Å"The Swimmer† The character and intelligence of a person is truly shown when he or she is forced to face reality. This is clearly established in â€Å"The Swimmer†, a story about a man thrown off his high horse. The story starts with Neddy Merrill and his group of wealthy socialites conversing at the Westerhazys’ house. Flashing back to his Olympic days, Neddy decides to swim through bodies of water to reach hisRead MoreThe Passage of Time and Life in The Swimmer, by John Cheever2346 Words   |  10 Pagesstories and novels, author, John Cheever, has showcased his incredible writing abilities multiple times throughout his career. Even as a child, Cheever outwardly expressed his desire to write. As proven by his longstanding career, Cheever’s thirst for writing remained with him throughout his entire life. In perhaps his most famous piece of work, â€Å"The Swimmer,† Cheever’s impeccable writing ability is showcased brilliantly. Although originally set out to be a novel, â€Å"The Swimmer† has grown to become a widelyRead MoreLosing Time in Life: The Swimmer by John Cheever1203 Words   |  5 Pages Founding Father Benjamin Franklin, once declared â€Å"Lost time is never found again.† This quote ties to the meaning of how people frequently let time seep through their hands. John Cheever’s The Swimmer portrays this through the eyes of suburban man Neddy. Neddy is the average ‘Joe’ of most suburban households. Life in suburbia is repetitive in most scenarios, and humans can easily get lost in the monotonous adventure known aslife. Time leaks away from his figure, and he is not sure of he is the