The Swimmer

A detailed Summary of The Swimmer


In John Cheever's short story "The Swimmer", the main character Ned Merrill, does exactly as the story's title implies. The story is being told in the third person. It begins with a small group of people sitting around one of Ned Merrill's neighbor's pool one midsummer Sunday. All of the guests are talking of how they had drank too much the night before and are suffering from terrible hangovers.

The story's main character, Ned, begins to feel as if he is a great swimmer who could swim a huge river. In order to prove this to himself he embarks on a journey to swim to his house. To do this he must swim in all of the pools possible between his neighbors, where he is now, and his own house. This would be no easy task by any means, considering his house is eight miles away.

As the story goes on Ned begins to actually believe he is on some great journey. He refers to himself as a cartographer and pilgrim and goes on to name his path after his wife Lucinda. He also thought eventually people would line


down the Lucinda River to watch him as some kind of hero. As he came to the first house he was treated, as he saw it, like any other explorer. He swam the length of their pool, and had a rest with his neighbors and then moved on.

The next pool Ned comes to is the Welchers but their pool is covered up and all the pool furniture is packed up, there is also a for sale sign in the front yard. This was odd to Ned because it seemed to him only a week ago that the Welchers had asked Ned and his wife to dine with them but could not. He then comes to the point in his journey where he has to cross a highway. He thinks to himself he could turn back but like a man on a mission he presses on despite the odd looks and ridicule he recieves from people who pass by.

By this time Ned has lost all track of time and is still in disbelief at what he saw at the Welchers. Ned's next stop takes him to the Halloran's where they remark that they are sorry to here about his misfortunes but Ned replies that he doesn't unders

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 684
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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