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Literary

The Swimmer" is a short story by John Cheever published in 1964. It tells the story of Neddy Merrill, who decides to swim home through the pools of his affluent suburban neighborhood. As he progresses, he begins to realize the emptiness of his life. The story is a critique of postwar American society and the failure of the American Dream. It explores themes of denial, disillusionment, and the hollowness beneath a seemingly ideal suburban lifestyle.

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29 views

Literary

The Swimmer" is a short story by John Cheever published in 1964. It tells the story of Neddy Merrill, who decides to swim home through the pools of his affluent suburban neighborhood. As he progresses, he begins to realize the emptiness of his life. The story is a critique of postwar American society and the failure of the American Dream. It explores themes of denial, disillusionment, and the hollowness beneath a seemingly ideal suburban lifestyle.

Uploaded by

Jomar Nodado
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Title: "The Swimmer"

Author: John Cheever


Background of John Cheever- John Cheever was an American writer and novelist born on May 27, 1912,
in Quincy, Massachusetts. He is best known for his short stories, which often explored the lives of
suburbanites and the tensions and contradictions of American society in the mid-twentieth century.

Cheever grew up in a well-to-do family and attended Thayer Academy in Braintree, Massachusetts. He
then went on to study at Ohio State University but left before earning his degree. He later attended
Yaddo, a writer's colony in New York, where he met fellow writers such as Eudora Welty and Truman
Capote.

Publication Date: 1964

Synopsis: "The Swimmer" is a short story about a man named Neddy Merrill who decides to swim his
way home through the various swimming pools in his affluent suburban neighborhood. Along the way,
he meets his neighbors and old friends, and through their interactions, he begins to realize the
emptiness of his own life. The story explores themes of denial, disillusionment, and the failure of the
American Dream.

Analysis: "The Swimmer" is a post-war modernist short story that captures the disaffection and
disillusionment of the 1950s and 60s. The story is structured around Neddy Merrill's journey through his
neighborhood, which serves as a metaphor for his journey through life. Each swimming pool represents
a stage in his life, and as he swims from one pool to the next, he begins to realize that his life is not as
idyllic as he once believed.

At the beginning of the story, Neddy is confident and optimistic, convinced that he can swim his way
home and reclaim his rightful place in the world. However, as he progresses through the pools, he
begins to encounter obstacles and setbacks. Some of his neighbors are hostile or indifferent, and others
are preoccupied with their own problems. As Neddy's journey becomes more difficult, he begins to feel
a sense of desperation and despair.

The story's ending is ambiguous, with Neddy arriving at his empty and neglected house, which suggests
that his life has fallen apart. He is confused and disoriented, unsure of how he got to this point. The final
line of the story, "he was a long way from home," suggests that Neddy has lost his way in life and is now
facing the consequences of his denial and delusion.

In conclusion, "The Swimmer" is a powerful and haunting exploration of the failure of the American
Dream. Cheever's spare and elegant prose captures the disaffection and disillusionment of the post-war
period, and his character of Neddy Merrill represents the empty promises and false illusions that
characterized American society in the mid-twentieth century. The story's ambiguous ending invites
readers to reflect on their own struggles with disillusionment and the search for meaning in a world that
often falls short of our expectations.

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