AI ToolsNew
Tools to make learning and teaching easier
Definition of Tone
The tone of a piece of writing is its general character or attitude, which might be cheerful or depressive, sarcastic or sincere, comical or mournful, praising or critical, and so on. For instance... read full definition
The tone of a piece of writing is its general character or attitude, which might be cheerful or depressive, sarcastic or sincere, comical or mournful, praising or critical... read full definition
The tone of a piece of writing is its general character or attitude, which might be cheerful or depressive, sarcastic or sincere, comical... read full definition
Tone
Explanation and Analysis:
The tone of “The Swimmer” is simultaneously ironic and earnest. The ironic tone comes across in the way that Cheever highlights Neddy’s haughtiness and lack of self-awareness as he hops from pool to pool, trying to swim his way home through his suburban community. Cheever’s tongue-in-cheek tone is apparent in the following passage, which comes as Neddy arrives at the pool belonging to his former mistress, Shirley Adams:
[Shirley] was there, her hair the color of brass, but her figure, at the edge of the lighted, cerulean water, excited in him no profound memories. It had been, he thought, a light-hearted affair, although she had wept when he broke it off. She seemed confused to see him and he wondered if she was still wounded. Would she, God forbid, weep again?
Here, Neddy notes how he found his affair with Shirley to be “light-hearted” and is confused about why she does not seem happy to see him. By having Neddy demonstrate a complete lack of empathy for this woman he spurned—going as far as wondering if she, “God forbid,” might cry the way she did when he broke up with her—Cheever subtly communicates to readers that it is acceptable to judge this man for his behavior. The tone is therefore ironic—Cheever and readers know that Neddy is behaving poorly in this moment, while Neddy himself does not.
The story also contains moments of more earnest emotion on the part of Cheever and the narrator, particularly in its final paragraphs. At the end of the story, Neddy returns home and must reckon with the fact that he has been in denial about painful things that have happened to him (such as losing his wife, daughters, fortune, and home).
Related Themes:
