Story Summary
The short story describes the life of Neddy, a middle-aged man who cherishes alcoholism and extra-marital affairs. One summer afternoon, he starts a journey from a cocktail party, traversing the entire neighborhood, swimming in public and private swimming pools. The seemingly energetic and cheerful man is lost in his enjoyment and forgets about his family. Time flies during his journey, and soon, he realizes that he has grown old and confused.
He returns home only to find his house abandoned, and his family is nowhere to be seen. He looks back at his life with nostalgia, but unfortunately, it is too late to revive it. The story reflects the postmodern genre of writing because it manifests the feature of self-reflectivity (Wrethed, 2020). An audience can use the protagonist’s life to reflect on their own and make amends to avoid ending up like him.
Story Interpretations
The first interpretation is that middle-aged people must make decisions that favor their families. Neddy’s life shows that people of median age are emotionally unsatisfied with their lives and wish to seek enjoyment in different ways. Enjoyment prevented him from understanding the realities of changing times, and he made poor decisions to quench his thirst for pleasure.
The man found happiness by stopping everywhere to “kiss eight or ten women and shake hands with as many men (Cheever, 2009, pp.727). Unfortunately, the friends he cherished when he was energetic turned against him in his old age and talked behind his back about how he made poor decisions. People must care for their families because a loving family provides love and care for people in their old age.
The second interpretation is that alcoholism and extra-marital affairs ruin families in contemporary society. Neddy lost his family because he was lost in alcoholism, which blinded his ability to make decisions in favor of his family. Most of his friends knew him as a drunkard, and instead of calling him for business, they always called him for a drink.
One working day, a friend told him, “I have been trying to get you on the phone since morning; here, get a drink (Cheever, 2009, pp.728). Since he had no time for his wife, his family could not be sustained. Middle-aged men must always take care of their families and avoid alcoholism.
References
Cheever, J. (2009). The Swimmer. HarperCollins. Web.
Wrethed, J. (2020). The postmodern genre. In The Palgrave handbook of contemporary gothic (pp. 1123-1136). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. Web.