The Value of Life in The Swimmer by John Cheveer

What would you do to break the everyday routine of life? Just for one day, to be part of something new, and to engage in random activities. How far would you go to feel alive again? A wealthy suburban man named Neddy Merrill, who the author John Cheveer portrays in his short story titled “The Swimmer”, was living a quiet and uncomplicated life. Despite this “high quality” life, Neddy Merrill felt bored and fatigued by it. Trying to find something exciting, he decided to take on an unusual and adventurous task. Along the way it becomes clear that Neddy’s journey may represent more than meets the eye. He finds out that things are not how they used to be, and that his life and relationships with people have changed. As the story goes on, we can observe the inevitable passage of time, and the repetitive emptiness life of the suburbs.

The story begins on a Sunday afternoon in midsummer where Neddy and his wife Lucinda Merril, were accompanied by their neighbour friends Helen and Donald Westerhazy. They were all sitting around the Westerhazy’s pool, complaining about their hangovers from last night, while they were drinking. At that time Neddy was feeling young, energetic and happy as the author describes, “He was a slender man – he seemed to have the especial slenderness of youth”. He notes that his house is eight miles away, where his four daughters might have just finished lunch. Then, he was struck by a crazy idea. He decides to get home by swimming across all the pools in his county. Feeling like an explorer, Neddy imagines the backyard pools from here to his house as line of uninterrupted water, more like a river which he named after his wife, ”Lucinda River”. This idea made him feel alive. “His life was not confining and the delight he took in this observation could not be explained by its suggestion of escape”. He thinks about all the pools that lie ahead and the friends that await him. As determined as he was, and full of energy, Neddy began his unfamiliar quest.

His first stop was the Grahams’ pool. Mrs. Graham welcomes Neddy and notes that she’s been trying trying to call him, while pouring him a drink. As soon as he finished his drink, he swam the length of their pool and went back on track as he was feeling distracted from his journey. After passing the pools of the Hammers’, the Lears’, the Crosscups’ and the Howlands’, he arrived by the Bunkers’ where he could hear a party going on. When Enid Bunker saw him she rushed to meet him. The author describes her greetings to Neddy with a touch of irony: “Oh, look who’s here! What a marvelous surprise! When Lucinda said that you couldn’t come i thought I’d die.” He then gets a drink from a bartender he’s seen a hundred time from similar parties. This makes us think that the life in the suburbs really gets repetitive sometimes. Neddy’s next destination was the Levy’s pool. As soon as he got there he found out that they are away, but they had just left, as there are glasses and bottles left in the backyard. He enters their backyard and swims their pool, helping himself to a drink afterward. He notes that this is his fourth or fifth drink, and he’s only halfway to the end of the “river.” The Levys’ absence is haunting Neddy but he seeks some in the alcohol left out. Alcohol was like an artificial support to him. Hard to imagine that a wealthy man from the suburbs need an artificial boost to find happiness.

“A train whistle blew and he wondered what time it had gotten to be. Four? Five? It was suddenly growing dark; it was at that moment when the pinheaded birds seem to organize their song into some acute and knowledgeable recognition of the storm’s approach.” We can observe that the time is passing quickly as the birds were warning that the storm is approaching. The weather is starting to change as if it’s not a midsummer day. Than the author let us understand that at this point Neddy has lost the sense of time by questioning himself: “There was an explosion, a smell of cordite, and rain lashed the Japanese lanterns that Mrs. Levy had bought in Kyoto the year before last, or was it the year before that.” As the storm emerges, Neddy hides in the Levy’s gazebo. After the storm the air has cooled significantly. There is a hint of mood changing after the storm as signs of fall begin to appear. “The force of the wind had sripped a maple of its red and yellow leaves and scattered them all over the grass and the water. Since it was midsummer the tree must be blighted, and yet he felt a peculiar sadness at this sign of autumn.” The author is letting us know that the time is going on quickly. The changes in season and weather also symbolize the mood, attitude and emotions of Neddy.

He then heads towards the Welchers’ pool. When he arrives there, he could see that their pool was dry. “He was disappointed and mystified. It was common enough to go away for the summer but no one ever drained his pool. The Welchers’ had definitely gone away.” Neddy Merrill, with his perfect family, high social standing, and pricey suburban home, was feeling sad. The man who started this journey as a legendary figure, is now tired and disgusted of himself, and disappointed on how things had changed. He couldn’t even remember the last time he had heard from the Welchers’ He wonders whether his memory is failing him or he has just repressed unpleasant information. After leaving their home he starts walking in the driveway. People in the cars start throwing things at him. He thinks about going back to the Westerhazys’, but he can’t. “Why was he determined to complete his journey even if it meant putting his life in danger? What point had this prank, this joke, this piece of horseplay become serious?” This passage, which appears about halfway through the story, suggests that Neddy’s journey, which had begun as a game, is actually more meaningful than Neddy had anticipated. Neddy began his pool-to-pool journey with a view of himself as an explorer, doing something unexpected on an ordinary afternoon. Neddy just wanted to take a new way home and didn’t conceive of it as a life-changing decision. At this point, however, Neddy is standing in his swim trunks beside a busy highway, and the journey suddenly becomes something more than just a game.He doesn’t understand why he is persevering or why the journey has become something serious, but he recognizes that the fun is gone.

This quotation points to a larger idea of “The Swimmer” as well. Neddy claims to be satisfied and happy with his life, but he doesn’t seem to realize that this life is all he has and his actions have consequences. All his rejected invitations have gained him enemies. He has also ruined his marriage and apparently lost his fortune. His life, as the quotation suggests, is indeed serious, not a prank or joke. Just as he feels unable to stop his strange journey home, he is unable to turn back the clock and make up for past mistakes. There is nowhere to go but forward, across the highway and on into the future.

He then arrives at the Hallorans’.and start swimming immediately in their pool before he starts talking to them. The Hallorans greet him and say that they’re sorry for all his “misfortunes,” hinting that he’s sold his house and something has happened to his family. Neddy denies that anything has happened, puts his swim trunks and leaves. From here his journey only keeps getting worse. He found out that he didn’t know about his friends surgery and he ends up at the Biswangers’ party. Neddy and Lucinda used to never reply to the Biswangers’ invitations, and they had never attended one of their parties. So he knew he would not get a nice hospitality. When he went to get a drink he noticed the bartender being rude to him. Neddy knows that their odd behavior means something has happened to his own social standing because caterers and bartenders always know what’s happening in his social circle. In the background, Grace Biswanger said something about someone losing all their money and asking her for a loan: “They went for broke overnight-nothing but income-and he showed up drunk one Sunday and asked us to loan five thousand dollars…”. The next pool he went through, was that of his old mistress, where he’d expect to get a warm welcome. Neddy couldn’t remember the last time they were together, or how long ago their affair has ended. Shirley tells him she won’t give him any more money and that she won’t give him a drink because someone is in the house. He repeatedly was seeking for a drink as the time goes by. Neddy swims across the pool, but he has trouble getting out and must use the ladder. As he walks away, he smells fall flowers and sees fall constellations in the sky.

Neddy starts crying for the first time since childhood, feeling cold and confused. He thinks that he has just been swimming too long and needs a drink and dry clothes. He swims weakly across a few more pools. Finally, he reaches his own house. The lights are all off, and Neddy doesn’t know where everyone could be. Every door is locked, and no one answers when he knocks. He looks in the windows and sees that his house is empty.

We can see in this short story that Neddy’s journey progresses, we see that time is actually passing much more quickly than Neddy realizes. Leaves and hedges turn yellow and red, the constellations in the sky change, and the air gets colder. Friends are not at home when he expects them to be. All of these changes have happened without Neddy’s knowledge. Neddy questions his memory, but he also wonders whether he has simply denied reality to a dangerous degree. His peers have acted their age and faced adult problems, whereas he has resisted. His former mistress even asks him, “Will you ever grow up?” Only at the end of the story when Neddy faces his dark, empty house does he realize that time has passed. He has tried to ignore it, but its passage has proven to be inevitable.

From the short story “The Swimmer” it is clear that life is short. The story can teach us that our time on earth is limited and hence we should try to use our time in productive and worthy ways. We should not use our time like Neddy who spent it pursuing a mistress, alcohol and social and material success. No matter if you’re wealthy or not we all get bored and tired of everyday life. The goal is to not let time pass without enjoying it.