The Swimmer
Symbolism is one of the widely used literary devices. Authors use symbolism to bring a deeper meaning and to pass messages. The swimmer is an epic short story by John Cheever. Neddy Merrill, the primary character in the story, engages in a swimming voyage that is symbolic to the different stages of his life. In the story, the river is the symbol which represents the life of Neddy Merrill. Throughout his life, Neddy has passed several stages, and at the end, he is tired and lonely, as a result of the choices he made in his youthful days. In “The Swimmer,” the pools that Neddy swims through as he tries to get home to symbolize the stages of life that Neddy goes through.
The series of pools in the story are literary symbols that represent the life of Neddy. The first pools that Neddy enters represent a high point of his life. Neddy is still youthful, and he has the energy to swim. Neddy is presented as a slender man with the special slender of youth (Kelly 69 ). Therefore, although Neddy is not young, he seems youthful and energetic. At the beginning of the story, Neddy maps out the pools he has to swim through to get home. Symbolically, Neddy has his life mapped out, and he thinks the journey will be smooth. Furthermore, Neddy is the envy of most people because of the success he has achieved. Thus, at the beginning of his prime life, Neddy is energetic and successful.
The pools also represent the fantasies Neddy harbored in his life. According to Nelly, the series of pools he intends to swim through is the wild “Lucinda River” (Kelly 70). In reality, however, the “river” is a series of disconnected suburban pools. Neddy imagines the pools to be a river because a river is continuous and free chemicals. The reality of life is different from the imagination that Neddy harbors. Since Neddy lives life as a blissful imagination, he is unable to deal with real problems surrounding his life. “He seemed to see, with a cartographer’s eye, that string of swimming pools, that quasi-subterranean stream that curved across the county. 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” (Kelly 70). The effect of a disoriented view of life is fully visible at the end of the story where Neddy is old and lonely because the choices he made in his youthful days were based on fantasies.
The chain of pools represents comfort and security in the life of Neddy. According to (Mays, 29), characters in a story may depend on items to derive pleasure and safety because of familiarity. Neddy names the series of pools as “Lucinda River” after his wife. Throughout his life, Neddy longs to be with his family, but just as he takes the swimming voyage for granted, Neddy takes his family for granted. Neddy gets involved in an affair confident that his wife Lucinda, just like a river, would always be there to take him back. However, the river leaves him at a lonely place where he has to face the consequences of his actions.
In conclusion, the series of pools in “The Swimmer” is literary symbols representing the life of Neddy. Neddy begins his prime life full of energy and youth. However, due to his disoriented view of life and poor life choices, Neddy ends up old and lonely.
Works Cited
Mays, Kelly J. The Norton Introduction to Literature. WW Norton & Company, 2015.
Kelly, Joseph, ed. The Seagull Reader: Literature, 2006.