John Cheever The Swimmer

John Cheever The Swimmer
Page: 1492

“It would storm. The stand of cumulus cloud- that city- had risen and darkened, and while he sat there he heard the percussiveness of thunder again.”

Up until the storm hit, Cheever had created a story where Ned was a modern-day explore. Swimming through all the pools on the way home would be an adventure full of friends and pleasant surprises. After the storm, the tone of the story changes. Ned’s world is striped of is simple façade to reveal a more complicated and confused reality.

John Cheever The Swimmer
Page: 1496

“It was probably the first time in his adult life that he had ever cried, certainly the first time in his life that he had ever felt so miserable, cold, tired, and bewildered…He had swum too long, been immersed too long”

This quote is the onset of reality for Ned. His adventure had turned ugly forcing Ned to face a more complicated reality he had blocked out. In the process of completing a simple goal, Ned’s entire image of reality had begun to crumble in his waterlogged mind. He had been surrounded by it for so long that he had not even seen it coming or he had refused to acknowledge it.