A Critical Study on John Cheever’s The Swimmer within the Context of Narrative Theory

Abstract

John Cheever is a remarkable American short story writer and novelist. He is recognized as one of the most significant short story authors of the previous century. His themes mainly involve the duality of human nature which is usually illustrated through the chasm between a character's comme il faut communal character and interior degradation. Most of his works also reflect nostalgia for a disappearing life style, demonstrated by following cultural customes and a deep communal feeling, in contrast to the estranging nomadism of contemporary backstreets. Being Cheever's most popular story, The Swimmer (1964) represents these backsteet stories, which discover the glory and sufferings of people living within the chaos of a so-called peaceful American suburbia. Mostly considered as Cheever's best work, The Swimmer mixes legend and reality while narrating Neddy Merrill's realtivley long trip along the pools of Westchester County. In this study, The Swimmer will be analysed in terms of major narrative theories in order to examine how authorial preferences support major themes and motifs within the short story. To do so, the study sets out to reveal narrative agents and their voices, analyse representation of consciousness, and finally discuss post-modern reality in American fiction.