Chris Williamson's new critical analysis of "The Swimmer" by John Cheever

John Cheever's work "The Swimmer" details the adventurous journey of Neddy Merrill as he swims his way across multiple pools in the county where he lives to get home. As Neddy progresses through his neighborhood swimming through each pool he has plotted as part of an aptly named "The stream Lucinda" a tragic progression develops. Neddy finds himself becoming increasingly alienated and bewildered the less he finds to drink and closer he comes to home. Once he reaches the house Merrill realizes that he entirely alone and finds himself more lost than ever before; It is this increasing disorientation as his perception is sharpest and he stands on such familiar ground that forms the paradoxical backbone of the story.

Neddy Merrill is introduced at the edge of his friends Helen and Donald Westerhazy's pool with his wife Lucinda. The setting is a warm summer Sunday in which the four are lounging around and drinking at the Westerhazy's extravagant pool recalling their excessive drinking the night before. Alcohol plays a large role in the perceptual clarity Neddy Merrill has thought his journey and it is only when the liquor is no longer available that Neddy begins to see through the narcissistic veil he has developed. This is exemplified best when Neddy reaches the Welcher's property were the pool is found to be dried up symbolizing an upcoming alcoholic drought. As he continues without his beverages the world around him becomes very hostile, passing cars ridicule him as he crosses a busy road, the public pool has burdening regulation and is chaotic to navigate and the Halloran's enlighten Neddy of his own financial ruin. Within 3 pools Mr. Merrill's perception has become lucid to the reality of the world around him. It's apparent Neddy's ability to process such jarring information is still lacking though as he begins to question further once Hellen Sachs reveals her husband Eric's fight against an illness that leaves him visibly scarred, "Was he losing his memory, had his gift for concealing painful facts let him forget that he had sold his house, that his children were in trouble, and that his friend had been ill? His eyes slipped from Eric's face to his abdomen, where be saw three pale, sutured scars, two of them at least a foot long" just before Merrill begins next sobering swim through their pool. (Snubs at the Biswanger's). (Sobering swim at Shirley Adams). (Distraught breakdown from sober confusion and his final icy swim at the Gilmartins'). (Realization of his demise)

The pools that make up what Mr. Merrill has dubbed "the stream Lucinda" create a very strict order for Neddy as he progresses in his journey home, this symbolizes time and its singular direction forward; Further the notion is expanded upon with each pool symbolizing a crucial point in time of Neddy's life. Initially the pools seem fairly benign as Merrill opts to swim them for fun, but as he grows old and tired and the cold winter of his twilight years approaches Neddy finds himself inexplicably drawn to each pool. This inability to skip the pools binds him to the events of his life. This sectioning of Neddy's life creates a profound order that is very enigmatic in the beginning of the story but eventually is revealed as the reader picks up on references to years gone by "(Sachs 3 years ago)" as well as other cues. The imagery and the events that occur at each pool portray Neddy's state of affairs at each interval in a suggestive manner.  Ironically the farther Merrill progresses along his tragic journey down the stream Lucinda to return home to his family, the further he finds himself drifting from them. The pools and their symbolic meanings develop in such a manner that their assistance is crucial to develop the central paradox.