"The Swimmer" is a short story by American author John Cheever. It was originally published in The New Yorker on July 18, 1964, and later in the short-fiction collections The Brigadier and the Golf Widow (1964) and The Stories of John Cheever (1978). Considered one of the author's most outstanding works, "The Swimmer" has received exhaustive analysis from critics and biographers.Leithauser, 2012: "The Swimmer" : "...what may be his greatest story…"Yardley, 2004: "The Brigadier and the Golf Widow" (1964), which includes his most famous short story, 'The Swimmer.'"Donaldson, 1988 p. 204: "...his magnificent story, "The Swimmer"..." And p. 212: See here attention the story received from literary critics.Waldeland, 1979 p. 94: "The most famous story in The Brigadier and the Golf Widow, and the best example of Cheever's use of mysterious transformations is "The Swimmer."

In 1968, "The Swimmer" was adapted into a film of the same name, starring Burt Lancaster.Bailey, 2009 (2) p. 381-383 This is the only literary work by Cheever that has appeared on screen.Waldeland, 1979 p. 94: "The only story ever made into a movie."Meanor, 1995 p. 21: "As soon as "The Swimmer" appeared in The New Yorker, Cheever was contacted by film director Frank Perry, who promptly proposed a film version." "The Swimmer" is also a crucial plot reference in the 2023 film A Brighter Tomorrow.

Plot The story is told mostly from a third-person limited point-of-view, in which the focal character is Neddy Merrill, a resident of suburban Westchester County, New York. The story shifts briefly to an omniscient narrator after the first break (“Had you gone for a Sunday afternoon ride...”) showing Neddy as an observer might have seen him.

In midsummer, Neddy is lounging poolside at the residence of his well-to-do neighbors, the Westerhazys. Though entering middle age, he appears to possess a supreme optimism. On a whim, he conceives of returning to his home, located eight miles away, by way of the swimming pools of fourteen suburban couples, all friends or acquaintances of his. Styling himself a new-age explorer, he dubs the series of pools the "Lucinda River" in honor of his wife.

Initially, he is greeted warmly by friends and associates, and imbibes alcoholic beverages they offer him along the way. Despite the ever-present afternoon light, it becomes unclear how much time has passed. Threatening storm clouds gather.

Midway through his journey, some of Neddy's friends mention his serious financial misfortunes, although he seems unaware of these. He meets with undisguised hostility at the poolside party of the Biswangers, a couple whom Neddy and Lucinda have persistently snubbed. At the home of Eric Sachs, one of Neddy's closest friends, he is informed by Sachs' wife that Eric survived a life-threatening operation three years prior, of which Neddy has no recollection. At the pool of his discarded mistress, Shirley Adams, she informs him that she will not lend him any more money or serve him a drink, and dismisses him.

Neddy's physical strength declines precipitously, and it becomes painful for him to swim the length of each pool. He is further disoriented when he feels a chill in the air, and notices the constellations of autumn rather than summer in the darkening skies. The normally stoic swimmer begins to weep.

Neddy staggers to his home to find it empty, locked, and damaged, and is unable to enter.O'Hara, 1989 p. 67-70Waldeland, 1979 p. 94-95Meanor, 1995 p. 144-122Coale, 1977 pp. 43-45: Plot summaryDonaldson, 1988 p. 211: Plot summary here

Background The story, originally conceived as a novel and pared down from over 150 pages of notes, is among Cheever's most famous and frequently anthologized. As published, the story is highly praised for its blend of realism and surrealism; the thematic exploration of suburban America, especially the relationship between wealth and happiness; and his use of myth and symbolism.

According to critic Scott Donaldson, the composition of "The Swimmer" was a protracted struggle which occupied Cheever for two months.Donaldson, 1988 p. 211-212: "...150 pages of notes for 15 pages of story…" He described the "terribly difficult" ordeal in an interview with Alexandra Grant:O'Hara, 1989 p. 68

Cheever biographer Scott Donaldson reports that "it was the last story [Cheever] wrote for a long time."Donaldson, 1988 p. 212

Critical assessment "The Swimmer" is widely regarded as one of Cheever's "genuine masterpieces" and perhaps the finest piece of short fiction in his oeuvre.Meanor, 1995 p. 20: Among Cheever's "genuine masterpieces."Leithauser, 2012: "The Swimmer" : "...what may be his greatest story…" The work is frequently anthologized.Meanor, 1995 p. 106: Among Cheever's "most frequently anthologized stories." And p. 107: Meanor quoting William Peden on "The Swimmer" and its frequent inclusion in anthologies.Coale, 1977 p. 1Yardley, 2004: "...his most famous short story, 'The Swimmer.'" Donaldson writes that "The Swimmer" has received "as much critical attention as anything Cheever wrote, and deservedly so, since it is beautifully crafted and carries a powerful emotional charge."Donaldson, 1988 p. 212:Meanor, 1995 p. 110: An "ingeniously wrought" story. And p. 114: "...what many critics consider his greatest story, "The Swimmer"...the story as much critical attention as just about any of his novels or other stories."

W. B. Gooderham of The New York Times writes: "Cheever's greatest short story transcends its influences and any autobiographical frisson to emerge as a quietly devastating journey into one man's heart of darkness. And as a piece of prose it is as near-miraculous as the journey it describes…"Gooderham, 2015

Theme Cheever's original concept for "The Swimmer" was a straightforward retelling of the Greek myth of Narcissus.Meanor, 1995 p. 114: "...a blatantly mythological figure" in its first drafts." And: "No Cheever story ever projected its hero so deeply into the frightening waters of the unconscious." He recalled:

Cheever deepened the metaphoric and mythic elements. Biographer Patrick Meanor identifies several layers of ancient myth and legend in Cheever's story. Among these are references to the Arthurian quest for the Holy Grail and the Fisher King, the Odyssey, and Dante's Inferno.Meanor, 1995 p. 114-121

Meanor also notes "an ethnic arrangement" for the names of the couples Neddy Merrill encounters, beginning with the Scottish and English surnames of WASPs, then to surnames associated with "German to the Jewish to the Irish." He also detects an underlying "water metaphor" in the roots of these names.Meanor, 1995 p. 115: For "ethnic arrangement" see here. And p. 115-116: For "water metaphor" see here.

Literary critic Lynne Waldeland contends that Neddy's aim in swimming home is more than mere amusement: "the real point of the story is the celebratory motive of Neddy's act with the social realities that emerge as the story progresses, realities that have to do with the role wealth and social status play in the world which Neddy wishes to invest with legendary beauty and meaning...Whatever 'happened' we have seen a brightly lit, intelligible, comfortable world suddenly become dark and cold. The story, like a nightmare, leaves the reader with a residual uneasiness."Waldeland, 1979 p. 94: Waldeland includes this passage from the story.

Literary critic Samuel Coale observes that "The Swimmer" confronts both Cheever's protagonist and the reader with a shocking epiphany:

Footnotes

Sources Bailey, Blake. 2009 (1). Notes on Text in John Cheever: Collected Stories and Other Writing. The Library of America. Pp.1025-1028 Bailey, Blake. 2009 (2). Cheever: A Life. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. 770 pp. Coale, Samuel. 1977. John Cheever. Frederick Ungar Publishing Company, New York. Donaldson, Scott. 1988. John Cheever: A Biography. Random House, New York.

Meanor, Patrick. 1995. John Cheever Revisited. Twayne Publishers, New York. O'Hara, James E. 1989. John Cheever: A Study of the Short Fiction. Twayne Publishers, Boston Massachusetts. Twayne Studies in Short Fiction no 9. Waldeland, Lynne. 1979. John Cheever. Twayne Publishers, G. K. Hall & Company, Boston, Massachusetts.

Bibliography

External links "The Swimmer" by John Cheever