The Swimmer Summary & Analysis

Cheever begins the story with a litany of people saying the same thing. The repetition illustrates that the suburbs offer an extremely narrow range of experience, even among such different people as priests and birdwatchers. The focus on alcohol also reveals the most important way in which suburbanites are alike: seeking self-destructive pleasures.

Neddy’s morning routine speaks to his self-image as a man who feels younger than he is. Slapping the “bronze backside” of the Greek goddess of love shows Neddy insisting on his own virility, even as a man “far from young.” Further, the impression of “clement weather” suggests an uncomplicated man, someone untroubled by deep doubts or fears.

Neddy experiences a moment of extreme physical pleasure, which he hopes to honor and prolong by swimming home. An eight-mile swim is an enormous task, but Neddy expects every subsequent swim to be just as pleasing as this one. Therefore, he arranges his day around a vain and ridiculous pursuit.

Neddy’s desire for masculine virility finds expression in the form of the explorer. Through an effort of imagination, he delusionally turns the suburbs into uncharted territory, which suggests that the masculinity and virility he imagines in himself are also somewhat delusional. Grandiose whims like these are hallmarks of a youthful orientation towards life, which is somewhat troubling in a man his age.

Neddy expresses a dominance over other men by diving into pools rather than stepping into them. Furthermore, he explicitly thinks that being in the water is his “natural” condition, suggesting that swimming is putting him in touch with who he really is. This lacks credibility, however, since he’s still so beholden to what the neighbors think, which is evident in his choice of the crawl.

As Neddy lists all the neighbors whose pools he plans to cross, the repetition of last names is both bewildering and monotonous. The complexity and tediousness of managing this network of relationships becomes clear. Nevertheless, Neddy is filled with youthful optimism and a naïve belief that he’ll find help and support along the way. This speaks to Neddy’s self-absorption, in that he believes everyone he meets will share in his childish goal.

Mrs. Graham welcomes Neddy and notes in an offhanded way that she’s been trying to call him. It’s unclear whether this is sincere or simply a social nicety. Already, Neddy is coming to see his neighbors as a burden or impediment, as Mrs. Graham’s hospitality keeps him from his journey. The lens of “hospitable natives” preserves the fantasy of a suburban wilderness, but it clashes with exactly how comfortable the natives make Neddy as an arriving explorer.

The metaphor of Neddy’s neighbors as “natives” crosses into satire as he observes them lounging in the pool or waited on by caterers. Cheever allows Neddy’s exploration fantasy to appear ridiculous as a way to emphasize how much he’s still a creature of civilization. Neddy also allows his good mood to project onto every situation he encounters, even attributing joy to a distant plane.

Mrs. Bunker greets Neddy in much the same way that Mrs. Graham did, even repeating the words “marvelous surprise.” This echoes the repetition of “I drank too much” at the beginning of the story and reveals how much suburban conversation consists of stock phrases. The italics around “die” suggest a specific mode of upper-middle class insincerity, which people use to express more affection than they feel. Furthermore, the bartender that Neddy has seen “a hundred times” suggests that the party itself is a repeated action, another mundane ritual of suburban life.

The Levys’ absence is haunting, as if they vanished in the middle of entertaining. Neddy is unsettled by the house, but he seeks some relief in the alcohol left out. The mention of his fourth or fifth drink shows just how much artificial support Neddy needs for his journey, and this first instance of him drinking alone makes the reader wonder if drinking is more than just a social pleasure for him.

Several natural elements clash with artificial ones as Neddy anticipates the storm. The birds have an instinctual knowledge of the change in the weather, but Neddy thinks of them in derogatory terms: as “pinheaded.” Furthermore, instead of being out the in the weather as might suit someone in touch with primitive human nature, Neddy takes refuge under a gazebo, an example of shelter that’s especially civilized and sophisticated. While there, the Japanese lanterns give Neddy the sense that his memory is unreliable and that he may not know the Levys’ as well as he thinks he does.

After the storm, the mood of the day changes completely, becoming more subdued and eerie just as signs of fall (changing leaves, a chill) begin to appear. It’s notable that, to fortify himself against these new challenges, Neddy turns to drinking.

The changes in his neighbors’ lives upsets Neddy for several reasons, the most important being the gaps that have clearly opened in his memory. But there’s a purely practical reason that Neddy is upset: the Welchers drained their pool, which means he can’t swim through it to get home. This interrupts his imagined river, so it threatens to jolt him out of his comfortable delusions.

Neddy openly admits to his skill for repressing unpleasant thoughts, and it almost leads him to confront his problems. However, he’s immediately distracted by the sound of a tennis game, which is a prime example of how shallow Neddy’s emotional world is and how childlike his thoughts are.

Here, Neddy’s imagined uncharted wilderness faces a reality check. Route 424 is full of all the unpleasantness of modern life. While Neddy could sustain his fantasy when the natives were friendly people milling near the pool, he can’t when they’re obnoxious drivers throwing cans and insults. 

Neddy has a full-blown crisis, one that might even be understood as a mid-life crisis. He observes how far he is from the initial pleasures that set him out on this quest. The first few pools stand in for youth, where life seems less complex and there are fewer obstacles. Now, facing resistance, Neddy questions the choices that led him to this point, just as everyone approaching the middle of their lives might.

Neddy’s vision of a wilderness in the suburbs finally snaps at the public pool. The mention of chemicals (the chlorine and suntan oil) marks the distance between a pool and a pristine river. He also faces artificial intrusions into his desire to swim according to his nature: he’s forced to clean himself before entering and the lifeguards harass him for not following the rules. Previously, any rules he followed were self-imposed.

After a traumatic experience at the public pool, the wooded area of the Hallorans’ property, as well as their tendency to swim naked (which Neddy had longed for), seems to offer some relief. But woven into these natural tendencies are more suburban concerns. The Hallorans, by breaking the conventions of their neighborhood, are actually providing the kind of tame disobedience that’s acceptable in the suburbs. The Hallorans show off these light eccentricities for the benefit of their neighbors, rather than out of an authentic political commitment.

Neddy sees a yellow beech hedge and assumes it’s another blighted plant (rather than a sign of advancing seasons and, correspondingly, his advancing age). Despite these disquieting signs, the Hallorans’ pool is roughly cut out of fieldstone and fed by a natural source, which should help Neddy return to his wilderness fantasy.

Mrs. Halloran sympathizes with Neddy in distinctly cliched suburban language, noting that she’s “terribly” sorry in a way that sounds insincere. But the outreach reveals a troubling detail that neither the reader nor Neddy is prepared for: Neddy has lost his house. It’s a suggestion that he flatly denies, but Neddy’s previous mention of his gift for repressing unpleasant memories suggests that Mrs. Halloran is close to the truth.

Even the Halloran’s “natural” pool hasn’t helped Neddy recover his strength and determination. The scent of woodsmoke implies that the seasons have turned even further, approaching winter. Mirroring the season, Neddy feels tired and begins to regret his swimming quest. The way Neddy refers to this morning as if it were long ago emphasizes how much time seems to have passed for Neddy.

Here, Neddy tries to return to his former self-image as an explorer or trailblazing athlete. A “channel swimmer” calls to mind a previous era of masculine achievement when swimmers would pit themselves against nature. But what Neddy needs to achieve that image is a convenience of civilization: whiskey. Neddy’s delusion is such that he thinks all it would take to return to his youthful state is a drink.

Helen’s small, confining pool symbolizes how meager and unpleasant Neddy’s ambitions now seem. His effort to get back on track with a drink is further frustrated when Helen mentions Eric’s operation. Since it happened three years ago, Neddy surely should have know about that already, but he’s shocked all the same. The repressed memory further chips away at his delusion, and Neddy’s denial about his family leaving almost falls away.

Eric’s operation seems to Neddy an unnatural intrusion into the natural process of birth. The operation removed his navel, or belly button, and with it the reminder of the umbilical cord that once attached him to his mother. This disturbs Neddy because of his investment in fantasies about a connection to primal human nature. The scars also represent the bodily markers of age and a reminder of human frailty. As Neddy still believes himself a young man, he turns away from Eric because of what it might say about himself.

Neddy says to Helen that he will “get wet,” which seems like an admission that his romantic return home has been completely shorn of any illusions. What was once a heroic swim along a river is now just an obligation to get in the pool so he can say he did. Leaving their house, Neddy repays Helen’s kindness with the same sort of insincere invitation that Mrs. Graham and Mrs. Bunker used. The emphasis in his speech shows that the words aren’t believable on their own. He has to insist this is the truth, even though everyone knows it’s a throwaway gesture.

The Biswangers are people who haven’t learned (whether out of ignorance or stubbornness) the subtle signaling involved in suburban  life. Neddy and Lucinda had rejected Mrs. Biswanger’s careful invitation as a way of barring her from their social circle without any actual insult or confrontation. The mention of “undemocratic realities” highlights a basic cruelty and inequality of this social environment. Additionally, discussion of the “price of things” seems boring to Neddy, but it may also activate Neddy’s repressed memories of losing his house. The discussion of money triggers a deep-seated anxiety.

Neddy’s naivete on his approach to the Biswangers’ house is total. Despite the severe insult he dealt to her by refusing her invitations, Neddy still expects to be welcomed. It’s a clear sign that the pain of others isn’t intelligible to Neddy because his repression is so complete. Neddy is also insulated from Mrs. Biswanger’s insults by a sense of social superiority, believing she’s not respected enough for her insults to carry social weight.

The gossip around the party creates a fuller picture of Neddy’s downfall. His discomfort with “the price of things” becomes clearer as the guests around him tell stories about him showing up drunk and begging for money. His financial problems are undoubtedly a deep source of shame and pain for Neddy, a prime target for his repression. His description as “drunk” also puts his drinking in perspective. What seemed before a harmless supplement to his swim now seems like an addiction born of the need to escape.

The casualness with which Neddy thinks of his mistress provides more context for the collapse of his marriage. Neddy haughtily thinks of an affair as something due to him, just another harmless whim, rather than a reason for his family’s departure. Neddy’s shift from the word “love” to “sexual roughhouse” further illustrates his emotional immaturity. He thinks of Shirley not as a real person, but as an object, one of several that can provide a momentary relief from pain.

Neddy’s studious avoidance of emotional life makes him unable to process or even notice pain in others. The tension between Neddy’s blitheness and Shirley’s sorrow shows that they had not been approaching the relationship with the same expectations. Neddy had thought of Shirley as a disposable pleasure, another “painkiller,” while she might have truly loved him.

When Neddy describes his quest to swim across the country, it sounds ridiculous, even childish. Shirley pushes back in a way that shows the depths of Neddy’s delusion and immaturity, telling him to “grow up.” The appearance of the young man in the bathhouse puts this delusion into greater relief. The young man appears to Neddy as if to highlight Neddy’s identity as an old man.

Looking for summer constellations and finding winter ones, Neddy is nearly broken by the asymmetry between his delusions and reality. The approaching winter of age has replaced the summer of youth, but Neddy is so disassociated that he just weeps. The metaphor of “immersion” speaks to the fact that he lives inside a delusion. Neddy’s admission that “he had swum too long” seems to say that he had been distracted by pleasant fantasy while his life was falling apart.

The final pools complete Neddy’s transformation into an old man. Neddy is now the man he once mocked: someone too weak to dive into the pool. He is also too weak to abide by social convention, as he abandons the crawl as his stroke of choice, preferring an easier one. The virility of the man who slapped the bust of Aphrodite in the morning is gone, which shows the painful absurdity of an old man completing a young man’s challenge.

Neddy has completed a significant physical challenge, which should provide him with a feeling of achievement, but instead he’s old and broken. The fact that the triumph is “vague” just shows that Neddy now barely understands what he wanted out of his quest when he set out that morning. His total exhaustion seems to say that there’s no valor in completing a foolish vow out of stubbornness or emotional avoidance.

Neddy keeps deluding himself until the very last sentence of the story. He frantically searches for alternate explanations for his empty house, anything to avoid confronting his own immaturity, infidelity, and shortsightedness. The realization that he hadn’t been able to employ a maid or cook for a while confirms what the gossip at the Biswangers’ hinted at: Neddy’s financial collapse. But Cheever suggests that Neddy’s financial ruin was preceded by years of emotional unavailability and selfishness. His return home by water stands in for these long years where he sought momentary pleasure—and “swam” in the alcohol he was always drinking—instead of permanent love and happiness.