The Swimmer

by

John Cheever

Mrs. Halloran Character Analysis

An older woman who is one of the wealthier residents of their town. Mrs. Halloran and her husband are known eccentrics: they are often naked in their backyard, and she takes pleasure in local speculation about her communist politics (although Neddy notes that she’s merely a “reformer”). Mrs. Halloran is closer to Neddy than the other neighbors, and she’s the only neighbor to explicitly offer comfort and try to get Neddy to confront his painful memories.

Mrs. Halloran Quotes in The Swimmer

The The Swimmer quotes below are all either spoken by Mrs. Halloran or refer to Mrs. Halloran. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
The Natural vs. The Artificial Theme Icon
).
The Swimmer Quotes

The Hallorans were friends, an elderly couple of enormous wealth who seemed to bask in the suspicion that they might be Communists. They were zealous reformers but they were not Communists, and yet when they were accused, as they sometimes were, of subversion, it seemed to gratify and excite them.

Related Characters: Neddy Merrill (speaker), Mrs. Halloran
Page Number: 608
Explanation and Analysis:
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Mrs. Halloran Quotes in The Swimmer

The The Swimmer quotes below are all either spoken by Mrs. Halloran or refer to Mrs. Halloran. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
The Natural vs. The Artificial Theme Icon
).
The Swimmer Quotes

The Hallorans were friends, an elderly couple of enormous wealth who seemed to bask in the suspicion that they might be Communists. They were zealous reformers but they were not Communists, and yet when they were accused, as they sometimes were, of subversion, it seemed to gratify and excite them.

Related Characters: Neddy Merrill (speaker), Mrs. Halloran
Page Number: 608
Explanation and Analysis: