How Economic Class Effects Life In “The Swimmer” In The Swimmer a short story by John Cheever a man named Neddy Merrill decides to swim across every pool in the county naming his route the Lucinda River after his wife. As he goes on this journey some of his neighbors are nice, some show pity, and others show distaste for him. Throughout the story Cheever gives subtle hints that Neddy is disoriented as he doesn’t remember key details of things that have happened to his friends in the area. At the end of the story a disoriented Neddy reaches his home to find it empty, with his family gone. Cheever uses this short story to critique the way of life in the upper class suburbs of America that contributed to the social demise of Neddy Merrill …show more content…
The bar tender was rude to Neddy while serving him a drink and he began to realize he must have lost some social esteem. He left to go to the pool of Shirley Adams, his former mistress, where he expected to receive a drink and possibly even sex, but was also met with disdain for his unannounced arrival. He didn’t understand the barkeep or Shirley’s rudeness and began to cry. He made his way back to his home to find it empty. All of these events could be symbolic of what happens when a man focuses so hard on his class and his goals in life that he loses the important things that he didn’t give his attention to. Cheever shows what happens when a man loses his family and his social status through these scenarios. Neddy viewed himself as a bit of a socialite throughout the story. He felt the bartender was beneath him and could not dare to insult him and make him feel unwelcome. His weeping after this occurrence shows somewhat of a bruised ego, despite his confusion. Cheever critiques the upper class suburb in the story by showing the characters as being somewhat shallow. There wasn’t a large amount of depth to the interactions between each character. Neddy’s falling social class due to his affair could have contributed to the end of his marriage, forcing him to inebriate his mind to forget his pain and what he has lost. Mrs. Halloran felt sorry for Neddy and his misfortunes “We’ve been terribly sorry to hear about all
3. Go back to Figure 1, look at each stage, and predict where the antibodies in Annie’s blood could act to decrease synaptic function at the neuromuscular junction.
Is interesting to see the strong influence of religion and culture in a play like The Cuban Swimmer. How the traditional role of a father and an obedient daughter is play along with the Hispanic culture. Is very common for a Hispanic family like the Suarez family to come to the United States for a better life for them and future generations. Eduardo like many other fathers wanted the best for his daughter and for her to accomplish everything he did not have the opportunity to do so. But it sometimes can be hard for the sons of immigrants to accomplish these dreams because they are not only carrying their own dreams but the dreams of their families. As well, it was interesting to see the strong role that religion had on the play, how the entire
The Swimmer by John Cheever was published in 1964. The short story show the reader the emptiness many experienced during the mid-century white flight. The Swimmer gives a view into the life of Ned Merrill, an affluent suburban man’s life. Cheever uses symbolism, imagery, and tone to convey the theme of narcissism and suburban emptiness during the 1960’s.
The young waiter has a harsh view of him as well because on occasion the old man has been so drunk he walks out on his bill. The younger waiter has a different respect for time, it’s precious to him and he values it. “I wish he would go home. I never get to bed before three o’clock. What kind of hour is that to go to bed?” “He stays up because he likes it.” “He’s lonely, I’m not lonely. I have a wife waiting in bed for me.” “He had a wife once too” (153). The older you get, the more time wears down on you, and you begin to now, greater than ever, feel your mortality. This theme is used to help the reader understand the older mans pain and that no matter how young and confident someone is, they will eventually grow old and die.
Cheever uses metaphors throughout “The Swimmer” to cleverly explain to the audience without actually saying how Neddy’s life really turned out. The most profound metaphor throughout this short story is the swimming pool. The pools that Neddy swims through represent the periods of time that occurred in his life and how each was different than the other. During the first
In the article “Swimming for Her Life,” by Kristen Lewis, it describes the life of Yusra Mardini. When Yursa was 13 the civil war started. Yusra fled in 2015 when she was 18. Yusra faces many challenges. She faces being a refugee, crossing the Aegean sea and being smuggled into Germany and Greece. When the Civil war started it caused Yusra and Sarah to become refugees and get smuggled into Greece and Germany. They also were crossing the aegean sea when the mortar to their boat stopped and it started to fill with water. Yusra and sarah both hopped out of their boat and and swam for 3.5 hours saving 18 souls. Once Yusra made it to Germany she met a man named Sven Spannekerbs. She swam for him and he immediately recognized her talent for swimming.
“The Swimmer,” a short fiction by John Cheever, presents a theme to the reader about the unavoidable changes of life. The story focuses on the round character by the name of Neddy Merrill who is in extreme denial about the reality of his life. He has lost his youth, wealth, and family yet only at the end of the story does he develop the most by experiencing a glimpse of realization on all that he has indeed lost. In the short story “The Swimmer,” John Cheever uses point of view, setting and symbolism to show the value of true relationships and the moments of life that are taken for granted.
The short story of “The Swimmer,” by Cheever begins with imagery to provide the backdrop and the setting for the protagonist, Ned Merrill. The descriptions provided by Cheever give us the idea of a suburb where many people engage in playful behavior, individuals are generally wealthy, and in many instances engage in some overindulgence with alcohol.
The Cuban Swimmer is a play written by Micha Sanchez-Scott. The play follows the journey of Margarita a 19-year-old a Cuban swimmer who is in a swimming race from Long Beach to Catalina Island. Margarita’s family is with her throughout the race following her in a small boat. Her family tries to support her and encourage her, but they seem to be stressing her instead. Margarita tries to bring honor to her Race and family by breaking through stereotypes by winning the race. The literary elements in the play The Cuban Swimmer are components that give the play a unique perspective. The Cuban Swimmer is a one-act play composed of seven scenes. These seven scenes are complete with family drama that leads to a thrilling series of events. The Cuban Swimmer by Micha Sanchez-Scott is
"The Swimmer" by John Cheever describes Neddy Merril's "swim" home. Neddy is a husband and a father, he is also a drunk. The story encompasses about twenty years of his life of alcohol which ruined not only him but also his relationship with his family. One day after waking up with a hangover he drinks a little and decides to swim home. It is obvious he is a drunk because he is constantly searching for a drink on his swim home.
Cuban Swimmer is a one-act play which uses the concept of magical reality style. The drama portrays the struggles of a Cuban family in America. Margarita Suarez, the main character is competing in the Women's swim to Catalina. The rest of the family Eduardo Suarez the father of margarita, her mother Aida, Simon her brother and Abuela her grandmother have come to give her moral support. The writer seems to have written this play out of the experience because she was an immigrant at some point in her life. Milcha Sanchez has depicted themes of religion, relationships, ethnicity, identity crisis and persistence in her play.
Looking at “The Swimmer” through the Marxist lens suggests that the story is really about how easily social statuses can change under different circumstances and how blinding hubris can be. Neddy Merrill is clearly a man of means in the story. For one thing, it is clear he can afford to spend time during midday to enjoy the afternoon by the poolside. Living in an upper-middle class suburban neighborhood has given Neddy many benefits. But his extravagant lifestyle takes a turn for the worse once he starts his journey home. As Neddy swims home, cold and half-naked, he begins to “crash”
In the short story “ The Swimmer,” John Cheever expresses the idea that Neddy Merrill can lose everything if he denies reality. Cheever achieves this by employing various symbols during Merrill's cross county journey. The main symbols are the weather and seasons. Cheever uses the changing of seasons to distort the character’s sense of time and show the progression of Merrill’s life. In the beginning of the story the setting is described as a midsummer day and by the end of the story, Merrill is able to see the constellations of late autumn, meaning winter is near. The illusion of time allows the reader to understand the extent of Merrill’s state of denial, as his beliefs begin to contradict the reality around him. While Cheever uses the weather to describe how Merrill feels. When it is warm Merrill feels happy and youthful. However, when it becomes colder Merrill begins to feel weak and sad. To emphasize Merrill’s state of denial, Cheever employs the motif of alcohol in “The Swimmer;” the reader notices that when Merrill is presented with a reality that he deems unpleasant, he uses alcohol to enhance his state of denial. Through the critical lens of New Historicism, the reader can infer the author’s purpose for writing “The Swimmer” is to criticize the lifestyles of affluent people in the 1950s and early 1960s. Cheever focuses on the party lifestyle of affluent communities and how the use of alcohol allows them to deny the reality around their current misfortunes.
Watching the screen, many children and adults are glued to the swimmers that race each other in the Olympics. The swimmers are young and strong, but many do not know who these swimmers are. Adding on to what they do not know contains the history of swimming in the glorified Olympics. The backstory of this sporting event shows the progression and improvement of swimming because swimming evolved through the Olympics. This includes the beginning, improvement, and modern Olympic swimming sport.
The speaker uses end–stops to emphasize his confidence in his identity. The sextet has a plethora of metaphors which may stand for American society. Moreover, the speaker deploys imagery, such as, “darker brother”, “tables”, and “company” which frames America more as a salad bowl versus a salad bowl due to the lack of true integration into society (2). For instance, the imagery alludes that the poem’s theme is really about race and discrimination as one might assume when reading. Given these points, the poem illustrates the speaker’s critique of a larger order. In the following line, the line break allows the reader to pause before beginning the next line in the stanza, which introduces the imagery of a kitchen. The metaphor of the kitchen suggests the theme of a second class citizen subjected to segregation in the United States. In doing so, the speaker inadvertently compares his position to a servant when he states that the company shoos him away to eat in the kitchen like a servant against his own will. The speaker’s language suggests that he compares his position to the role of a servant and master to describe his present experiences with segregation. Despite being shunned due to his racial background, the speaker’s triumph is illustrated in a series of enjambements and commas that guide the reader: “But I laugh/And eat well” (5–7). Langston Hughes