Comparing John Cheever’s The Swimmer and The Five-Forty-Eight

Comparing John Cheever’s The Swimmer and The Five-Forty-Eight

Two stories by John Cheever, The Swimmer and The Five-Forty-Eight (5-48), will be explored in terms of how the characters, genre and point of view in these stories give rise to classic fiction.

The Swimmer is of a suburban man, Neddy Merrill, who decides to return home from work by swimming eight miles through all of his neighbors' pools along the way. At each pool he encounters a former mistress, distant and unfriendly neighbours and other symbols of a bitter, frustrated life. To Neddy, this is his epic day's journey. However, when he arrives home, his family has left him. The swimmer has made it home; but too much has changed.

While 5-48 is about the protagonist, Blake, having an affair with the emotionally weak Dent. The story begins with Blake firing Dent and she in turn stalks him to the 5-48 with a gun. She gains her revenge by making him kneel before her. Blake’s humiliation is complete when she forces him to rub his face in the dirt.

5-48 is developed as a typical story with the two principal characters, Blake and Dent, very well developed. There is constant tension from the point where Blake (depicted as egotistical, insensitive and in control) leaves the office to the train 5-48, all the while being pursued by Dent (the victim, who is emotionally weak, manipulated and cheated). Its chronological form simplifies the story and makes it a fast paced and delightful read. In addition, there is realism injected by actual places like the 5-48 train and Shady Hill, tired and cold relationships, betrayal, revenge and affairs that are so commonplace in society.

Swimmer seems to be a painful reflection of his own life that was blighted by serious al...

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...s request for a drink or the idea of entertaining him or give him money.

In retrospect after analyzing Cheever’s The Swimmer and The Five-Forty-Eight, I think that isolation stands out as the underlying theme for both stories although they are markedly different in plot and genre. Also these stories seem to be a poignant reminder of Cheever’s personal life and to an extent a chapter of life in that period, although poverty, discrimination and adultery are still present today and affect both you and me.

Works Cited

Cheever, John. “The Five-Forty-Eight.” The Stories of John Cheever. New York: Knopf, 1978.

---------------. "The Swimmer." The Stories of John Cheever. New York: Knopf, 1978.

Works Consulted

Slabey, Robert M. "John Cheever: The Swimming' of America." Critical Essays on John Cheever. Ed. Robert G. Coolins. Boston: Hall, 1982. 180-90.