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Definition of Allegory
An allegory is a work that conveys a hidden meaning—usually moral, spiritual, or political—through the use of symbolic characters and events. The story of "The Tortoise and The Hare" is... read full definition
An allegory is a work that conveys a hidden meaning—usually moral, spiritual, or political—through the use of symbolic characters and events. The story of "The... read full definition
An allegory is a work that conveys a hidden meaning—usually moral, spiritual, or political—through the use of symbolic characters and... read full definition
Allegory
Explanation and Analysis—Neddy’s Journey:
The situational irony at the heart of “The Swimmer” is the fact that the simple and lighthearted endeavor Neddy embarks on at the beginning of the story—to swim his way home through his suburban community over the course of a summer afternoon—ends up being a devastating and life-changing experience.
While Neddy and readers alike expect Neddy’s progress through the pools to be easeful—and, indeed, the first half of his journey is—the second half of his journey becomes a surreal combination of loss, humiliation, rapid aging, and emotional repression that makes way for emotional distress. Taken together, these factors create an allegorical representation of what the passage of time can feel like to people leading emotionally fraught—and, more importantly, emotionally repressed—lives.
It is not until the final lines of the story that readers—and Neddy himself—fully understand how awry his journey has gone. In this moment, Neddy finally makes it home, only to discover that his house is abandoned, as seen in the following passage:
The house was locked, and he thought that the stupid cook or the stupid maid must have locked the place up until he remembered that it had been some time since they had employed a maid or a cook. He shouted, pounded on the door, tried to force it with his shoulder, and then, looking in at the windows, saw that the place was empty.
Neddy shifts from believing that his home is locked because a member of his household staff made a mistake, to believing that a member of his family must have locked it (since they don’t have employees anymore), to facing the fact that the house is empty because he and his family no longer live there, likely due to the marital and financial problems alluded to by neighbors along his route home.
Cheever makes the choice to end the story before Neddy reckons with this truth emotionally, but the way that Neddy “shout[s], pound[s] on the door, trie[s] to force it with his shoulder” indicates that he is aware of the truth of his situation while simultaneously trying to resist and repress it, as he has done throughout the story. In this way, this is a moment of both irony and tragedy.
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