The Swimmer

“He had made a discovery, a contribution to modern geography; he would name the stream Lucinda after his wife. He was not a practical joker nor was he a fool but he was determinedly original and had a vague and modest idea of himself as a legendary figure.”

Neddy conceives of himself as an explorer and adventurer, one who “discovers” that which already exists by simply being the first to put a name to it. He thinks of himself as smart and original, and this endless confidence leads to his downfall, similar to Narcissus.

“Making his way home by an uncommon route gave him the feeling that he was a pilgrim, an explorer, a man with a destiny, and he knew that he would find friends all along the way; friends would line the banks of the Lucinda River.”

Here, John Cheever foreshadows Neddy’s relationship to his neighbors; while in this sentence he describes them as “friends,” there is almost no instance (except for his conversation with Helen and Eric) when he truly seems to enjoy his interactions with those he meets. He constantly tries to duck out of conversations and spends much of his time judging others and engaging in superficial interaction.

“He saw then, like any explorer, that the hospitable customs and traditions of the natives would have to be handled with diplomacy if he was ever going to reach his destination.”

This sentence confirms Neddy’s growing disconnect from his neighbors, those he had originally conceived of as “friends”; now, Neddy sees them as belonging to an unfamiliar Indigenous culture that he cannot read and can only “handle with diplomacy” as a means to an end. For Neddy, his interaction with these individuals is not of meaningful connection or friendship but as pawns to help him along his journey. As in the case of Narcissus, the rest of the world falls away as he becomes solely focused on his one goal.

“The water refracted the sound of voices and laughter and seemed to suspend it in midair.”

Cheever introduces an image that will be constant throughout the story—that of the swimming pools’ water and their effect on voices and surroundings. For Neddy, the swimming pool “refracts” the sounds of connection and “suspends” it, making it seem unreal. As Neddy commits more and more to his journey by water, he slips further away from humanity, the voices of others further “refracted” and “suspended.”

“All the doors and windows of the big house were open but there were no signs of life; not even a dog barked.”

This sentence is a metaphor for the emptiness of suburban life. The house is described by Neddy as “big,” presumably worth a substantial amount of money considering the previous references to this community’s wealth. The house is also, as it appears from the outside, physically engaging with the space around it, with its open windows and doors. However, it is not meaningfully engaging with public space, as there are “no signs of life,” human or not, in the house. The house has the illusion of wealth (and therefore happiness), connection, and breaching the divide between public and private, but there is no life to be found in it.

“Was his memory failing or had he so disciplined it in the repression of unpleasant facts that he had damaged his sense of the truth?”

This line adds to Neddy’s indirect characterization as a hedonist in endless pursuit of pleasure. Earlier, he mentions his “contempt for men who did not hurl themselves into pools,” who would not immerse themselves in the pleasure of swimming all at once (Paragraph 4). Once set on his decision to swim across the county, he will not stop, even once he feels he has reached a point of diminishing returns. His repression or loss of unpleasant memories adds to the reality of Neddy as one who attempts to escape discomfort.

“He could have gone back, back to the Westerhazys’, where Lucinda would still be sitting in the sun. He had signed nothing, vowed nothing, pledged nothing, not even to himself. Why, believing as he did, that all human obduracy was susceptible to common sense, was he unable to turn back? Why was he determined to complete his journey even if it meant putting his life in danger?”

Cheever uses self-questioning to convey the impending futility of Neddy’s journey. He made no promise, “not even to himself,” to continue this adventure and considers himself to be smart and sensible, but he is unable to abandon it and return to his ostensibly safe and protected existence. This quote marks one of the first times Neddy understands that there may be real risk involved in this journey and marks a turning point: He, like Narcissus, continues to retreat to the water despite knowing better.

“In the space of an hour, more or less, he had covered a distance that made his return impossible.”

As “The Swimmer” continues, the changing landscape makes it clear that much more than an hour has passed. Perhaps Neddy has made multiple consecutive journeys and repressed them or lost time to alcohol-induced blackouts. The inclusion of the clause “more or less” reveals Neddy’s subconscious acknowledgment that perhaps the world he is experiencing is not the world as it truly is.

“He was cold and he was tired and the naked Hallorans and their dark water had depressed him.”

Throughout the short story, the description of the water in the various pools transitions from “a pale shade of green” in Paragraph 2 to “sapphire-colored” in Paragraph 7 to “murk” in Paragraph 12 (the public pool) to now “dark” and “depressing.” This transition in visual imagery mirrors the temporal transition in the story of the setting sun and also the perceived transition of seasons from summer to fall, as well as the increasing mental and emotional disconnect suffered by Neddy throughout the story.

“Gone was [Eric’s] navel, and what, Neddy thought, would the roving hand, bed-checking one’s gifts at 3 A.M., make of a belly with no navel, no link to birth, this breach in the succession?”

Here, Cheever deviates from his use of the second-person “you,” adding distance via the third-person pronoun “one.” Neddy, upon seeing Eric’s scars and obvious physical deformity, is unsettled by the fact that Eric has no visible navel and thus no reminder of his time in the womb. In the myth, the water of Narcissus’s fountain is a metaphor for the return to the water of the womb. If this is to be extended to Neddy’s character, he is deeply unsettled by the idea that Eric no longer has a physical connection to the womb, a link that Neddy seems to crave in his hunt for eternal youth or rebirth through water.

“The Biswangers invited him and Lucinda for dinner four times a year, six weeks in advance. They were always rebuffed and yet they continued to send out their invitations, unwilling to comprehend the rigid and undemocratic realities of their society.”

Cheever uses connotation to imply a characterization of the Biswangers as widely disliked by their community, and especially by the Merrills. Later in this paragraph, the narrator mentions that all the Biswangers do is talk about money, which Neddy views as uncouth. Still, even within this neighborhood, there are “rigid and democratic” stratifications; the Biswangers are of lower status than families like the Merrills, perhaps because of their inability to grasp the social mores of their community, and everyone but the Biswangers seems to know it.

“They went for broke overnight—nothing but income—and he showed up drunk one Sunday and asked us to loan him five thousand dollars.”

Grace Biswanger provides a veiled direct characterization of Neddy and his family: He “showed up drunk one Sunday” begging for a loan, which suggests that Neddy’s journey has overtaken his life or began as an attempt to escape the pressures he represses on his journey.

“It seemed in a way to be his pool, as the lover, particularly the illicit lover, enjoys the possessions of his mistress with an authority unknown to holy matrimony.”

When Neddy approaches Shirley Adams to swim across her pool, he is met with deep disdain. Even so, Neddy seems obsessed with having obtained the “upper hand” in breaking off their affair. The word “possession,” used here as a noun but also applicable as a verb, affirms Neddy’s patriarchal view of the world, especially coupled with “authority.” Neddy views Shirley’s possessions as his own. As her lover, he held a form of power as he encroached upon her marriage that he doesn’t hold within marriage, and despite his disdain for Shirley, he gains a sense of control from the memory of his hold over her.