Literary Analysis of “The Swimmer”
The Swimmer by John Cheever uses symbolism and foreshadowing through the protagonist, Neddy, to show that no matter how long people try to avoid reality, or how they attempt to numb the pain, they will eventually have to embrace reality. Symbolism and foreshadowing are used is in a subtle way, small details throughout the story; such as the weather, the change in season, the Lucinda River, the alcohol, and the condition of his house, all link together and tells the true story of Neddy, and how things are not as they appear to be on the surface.
In the beginning of the story, Cheever describes a tranquil setting, with the exception of one detail. Fine items like a bronze Aphrodite statue, an artesian well, and pale green water on a midsummer’s day put the reader in a mindset of a beautiful world, where people in this neighborhood live pleasurable lives. However, Cheever describes the sky, how beautiful it is, but in the distance there are cumulous clouds, described like a city, slowly moving towards Neddy (Pg 726). Cumulous clouds are storm clouds, and in this case, Cheever uses them to foreshadow that this dream like state Neddy is in will not last for long. On the surface Neddy is living in a beautiful place, but these small details tell the reader that there is a darker meaning looming in the story.
Neddy describes his map home by calling it the Lucinda River, connected together by all the pools that his neighbors own (Pg 726). Starting off on his journey, he is greeted happily as he walks under a flowered apple tree, and is offered alcohol and a swim in the crystal clear pool. The pools along the way symbolize the progression of events that Neddy goes through in his life. The cleaner and nicer the pools and house, the better his life is at the time. But the reader must also pay attention to the way he swims across the pools he encounters. The first pool he swims is very nice and clean, however he swims with a “choppy crawl,” thus suggesting that at that point in his life he is starting to struggle, although things are well. As he continues down the Lucinda River, the pools get worse and worse, and so does his stamina for each pool. He eventually reaches a pool that is empty, and this disgruntles him. This hints at a potential problem that Neddy met in his life, but he continues on and the pools turn from pleasant waters and lavish back yards, to places that are repulsive, such as a public murky pool or ice-cold waters. Cheever uses the pools to describe the events that happen in his life. Cheever is telling the reader that Neddy’s life is getting worse as time moves on.
The farther Neddy moved south toward his home, it seemed his social status decreased. He was not happily greeted anymore, and was publically ridiculed. At one point Neddy needed to cross the street, and was standing on the median waiting for the busy traffic to slow down so he could cross. While he was in the public eye, he was made fun of. People threw trash at him including beer cans (Pg 731). This is another demonstration of how his social status has gone down considerably since the beginning of his journey. Cheever also does an interesting thing with the juxtaposition of Neddy’s house. Neddy’s house is described as eight miles south from where he is, meaning that on his travels home he will be moving down. This minor detail is another hint to his social status as time moves on, the farther Neddy travels south, the lower his social status.
As his social status decreased as he travelled down the Lucinda River, his need for alcohol increased. Alcohol is seen as something used to ease the pain of reality. In Neddy’s case, alcohol seems to be a need for him. He is trying to forget the events in his life that make his life so unbearable. This suggests that Neddy was using alcohol to numb the pain of loss. In the beginning of the story, he seems to have control of it, but as he goes on it is clear it controls him. While it is apparent that he is need of it, Cheever tells us that others are too (Pg 726). Cheever tells us many people said they “drank too much” in the first paragraph. Neddy may not have been alone; his need could be sourced from the society’s need to mask the pain. The drunker Neddy was, the better every house appeared to him. But as he got more and more sober through his journey, the pools changed from pale green with artesian wells, to murky and cold. For Neddy, this means that when he has alcohol, he is living in a tranquil world, where everything is perfect for him. As his drunken haze begins to fade, he starts to notice the real way people are treating him. The pools turn into unpleasant experiences and his muscles begin to fade. Neddy was so dependent on alcohol that for him to feel any sort of happiness, that when he didn’t have it, he began to feel the pain of losing his wife, children, house, and money.
Another effect of the alcohol was his loss of memory. There were several people that he encountered that when they asked him how he was because of his wife and house, he did not understand what they were talking about. The neighbors moving away also confused him. It is obvious now to the reader that Neddy is not in his right mind, and his need for alcohol runs deeper than a social habit. Not only did he have a lapse in memory; he also had a lapse in time loss. When he began his journey down the Lucinda River, he was in the middle of a midsummers day. By the end of the journey, Neddy was in autumn. The weather has changed and the constellations that are in the night sky did not match what should be there in the summer. A midsummers day has the connotations of being warm and pleasant, while autumn is cold and windy. Cheever uses this change in season to allow the reader to understand how Neddy feels without alcohol. The reader gets an idea that while Neddy is drunk, he is warm and feels how one would on a summer’s day. By the end of the journey, the reader understands how Neddy truly feels when he is in his right mind. Neddy feels cold, shaken, and alone.
Cheever also uses rhetorical questions to emphasize what Neddy is going through. Neddy thinks to himself “Was it so late that they had all gone to bed?” (Pg 737). This shows that alcohol has had severe effects on him. Neddy is left standing there at his door. He comes back and is finally fully sober. After the mask of alcohol is finally out of his system, he is there on his doorstep coming back into reality, and realizes that so much time has passed, and everything that he once held dear is gone. By doing this, Cheever makes the reader feel pity for Neddy. He could only run from his problems for so long before he came back to reality.
Another way Cheever tells us about how long Neddy has been running from his situation, is describing his house. As he grabs the gate and pulls, rust falls off onto his hand. The gutter of the house is broken and hanging off the house. While the house shows many signs, it also is a reflection of Neddy himself. The house has aged, and has fallen apart. Neddy has grown older and is worse for wear. He is broken on the outside, just like the gutter on the house. He has rusted, as in he has not moved on or in so long. The most important description of the house is the inside. It is empty. As Neddy ran and avoided all the pain and sorrow, he became empty inside. He was only a shell of the man described as “summers day” (Pg 226). He is no longer full of life like he once was. After all that has happened to him, the loss of his possessions and his love for alcohol, he is barren and empty inside.
John Cheever uses this unique story to provide an example to the reader that running from a horrible situation solves nothing. Neddy went to extreme lengths to run from his problems of divorce, loss of his home and everything he held dear. Symbols such as where his home is, the Lucinda River, the pools, the alcohol, and the house all relate to each other to tell us the story of Neddy. He was never in a good place, even at the beginning of the story, and as time moved on, things only got worse for him. He ran until he was cold to the bone, fatigued, and empty inside. This is a harsh reality for him. But nonetheless, the conclusion remains the same. Eventually, one must face the harsh reality of life head on.