Neddy's Punishment in The Swimmer

Time passes quicker than it seems most times. Neddy is a character that experiences this as he shifts from pool to pool. Although everything seems nice in his suburban, quaint life, his despair and hopelessness seeps through as he runs away from nothing. In Cheever’s The Swimmer, Neddy’s obliviousness and alcoholism leads him into a state of delirium, with the more drinks he takes on his journey, the more delirious he gets. As Cheever’s story progresses, Neddy’s emotions reflect the state he’s in financially and physically.

Time’s passing is inevitable. As Neddy goes from pool to pool, the seasons change and his friends aren’t home. Once he gets to his house at the end, 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” (Cheever 737). His house had been abandoned for years as he had been in oblivion trying to get to it. He was confused, and thought that a cook or someone else locked the house, but doesn’t realize how much time has really passed. When he passes his ex-mistress along the journey, she asks him “Will you ever grow up?” (Cheever 736). She hasn’t been in contact with him for years as he’s been absent from everyones including his own life. She asks if he will ever grow up, as he’s coming back to her after so long, but he’s confused because he does not think it has been that long.

He thinks that the affair they had was recently, but can’t remember the exact date. Neddy does not act like an adult, but like a child avoiding all his problems. This is why he chooses to swim away, taking the longest route home. By taking as long as possible, all his problems will be put off. Everyone that he encounters is living a healthy adult life, with a family and a home. Neddy comes up to all these people with a childish approach, usually asking for money or for a drink.

Neddy’s life, although filled with friends, is empty. He lives in a sunny, suburban area with friends and parties. Even so, Neddy avoids all this and never accepts the invitations by friends. He forgets details about the people he considers friends, such as Ms. Levy. When he is at her house he questions himself if the lanterns she bought were from “Kyoto the year before last, or was it the year before that?” (Cheever 730). As he rejects invitations and slowly fades from society, he forgets details about the people he was so close with. This is also a disconnection from time, wondering which year she bought it in, wondering which year he is currently living in even. Almost every house and almost every person that Neddy encounters, he has a drink or several drinks with them. This shows him trying to escape his problems and escape society. Getting drunk is Neddy’s way of losing himself and avoiding his responsibilities. As he drinks more and more, the people he was closest with are encountered, ending with his own house. The closer and closer he gets to his own house, the more sad and in touch with reality he becomes.

Neddy approaches his home slowly and with despair. As Neddy began to cry, he blamed it on him needing “ a drink, some company, and some clean, dry clothes”, even though he is already drunk, pushes off everybody, and is diving in pools reluctantly (Cheever 729). He again avoids his responsibilites by getting more drunk. He’s contradicting himself by wanting things such as dry clothes, but resolves his issue by diving in another pool. When Neddy reaches his own house, he is in the most touch with reality.

He realizes how his once-friends, he barely knows anymore, and everything he had he doesn’t anymore. After many years of his journey, arriving home after swimming through multiple pools for multiple years had made him realize the situation he had put himself in. Now Neddy is in touch with society and is lost and confused, coming down from his drunken state and into a sobriety and sadness.

His house is empty as it had been abandoned for years, since his journey had been everlasting. Cheever’s “The Swimmer” portrays Neddy as a childish adult escaping his responsibilities and problems by drinking and taking the longest possible route home. Once he arrives home, he finally comes down from the state he was in for the past couple years, seeing how he has destroyed his life in the worst way. He abandoned his friends, family, and home while swimming through pools and drinking other people’s drinks.

Everybody he encounters lives a happy, adult life with a family, and Neddy would barge into their home, ask for a drink and swim through their pool, like a reckless child. That is what he was, a child as he never owned up to the responsibilities layed out for him as an adult. He had a happy, rich home in a sunny suburban neighborhood, with no reason for him to feel sad or unhappy with his standing. Nonetheless, he runs from everything that comes with adulthood, avoiding everything for as long as possible. He was not able to run forever, though, as once he reaches his home, he realizes everything he had done for the past years had destroyed everything he worked for in his life. His family, friends, and home were all gone.