The Vague Eeriness of The Swimmer

The Swimmer, by John Cheever, is a short yet intriguing story that left me feeling quite unsettled. The story is told through the third person limited perspective of Neddy Merrill, an ordinary man from a seemingly old-fashioned suburb. One night he decided to go for a swim, claiming he's going to swim across the county. So, he starts in the pool of the neighbor's house which he and his wife are at and has at it.

Though what he's doing seems perfectly normal, there's a strange sort of eerie vibe that the story gives off. For one, Ned is jumping into his neighbor's pools, swimming the length of them, and getting out and running to the next pool- once even crossing a highway where he is ridiculed by passing cars for being only in his swim trunks. This is the first time the readers see that what he's doing isn't received without notice in his suburb. Throughout his swim, the readers get to hear Ned's thoughts and learn about his past experiences. We find out that he and his wife don't go to many social events, there may be trouble with his daughters, and that he may be having financial problems.

Even though most of what's going through his mind seems to be ordinary, he starts to feel uneasy and indifferent once he arrives at the pool of the Biswangers. His feelings are confirmed when Mrs. Biswanger approaches him and rudely calls him a "gate crasher".

Through the limited third person perspective of Ned, the readers are left with quite a few questions. Why is he doing what he's doing? At the end of the story, Ned goes back to his house to find it empty and with no one home. I felt really troubled at this discovery, because it confirmed the gossip people had been saying about him- such as that he has no money, and that something has happened with his family.

After the discovery of his house, Ned vaguely recalls that "it has been some time since they had employed a maid or a cook." We never get any explanation as to what happened to Ned mentally to make him forget like this, whether it was simply repression or something more. For such a simple story, I love how well the tension was built up and how we never quite find out what happened to Ned or his daughters or house.