30 pages • 1 hour read
The Swimmer
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Character Analysis
Neddy Merrill
Neddy Merrill serves as the protagonist of “The Swimmer,” and readers gain insight into his thoughts through the third-person narration. Neddy views himself as a heroic figure, much like Odysseus in The Odyssey, but his story arc more closely mirrors that of Narcissus in his egotism, callousness, and desire to preserve his youth. Neddy’s reliance on alcohol, growing confusion, and the hostility shown to him as the story progresses exemplify The Alienation of Postwar American Suburbia, as well as its hedonism.
Neddy’s perception of himself as a virile, athletic figure also ties to The Fragility of Suburban Masculinity. Neddy is initially presented as a hypermasculine man full of “youth, sport, and clement weather,” old enough to have four daughters yet agile enough to slide down the banisters (Paragraph 2). His determination to complete an epic journey validates his opinion of himself as a “legendary figure” in his own life (Paragraph 3). His journey makes him feel like “a pilgrim, an explorer, a man with a destiny,” all having connotations of masculinity and greatness (Paragraph 5).
Over the course of the narrative, Neddy’s masculinity and social status are called into question. His masculine facade is shaken when he cries after his interaction with his former mistress, echoing his memory of Shirley crying and begging him not to call off their affair. Neddy views crying as not only a childlike act but also a feminine one. His sense of masculine entitlement is demonstrated in his deluded belief that both Shirley and her “possessions” belong to him (Paragraph 38). His social status is undermined when readers realize that Neddy is likely the person Grace Biswanger refers to when she declares he “went for broke overnight” (Paragraph 37). In the final paragraph, Neddy also recognizes that “it had been some time since they had employed a maid or a cook” (Paragraph 49), implicitly acknowledging that he has lost his power over Lucinda, his daughters, and his household staff.
Lucinda Merrill
While Neddy’s wife is not a direct character in the story, her presence is felt throughout, as Neddy names his imaginary river after Lucinda. While this seems like a romantic gesture, Neddy’s quest involves leaving his wife behind at the Westerhazys’ rather than swimming toward her. In this respect, his journey is a reversal of Odysseus’s, whose goal is to be reunited with his wife, Penelope. Neddy’s abrupt abandonment of Lucinda suggests her lack of agency. While Neddy conveys Lucinda’s feelings and opinions to others—“Lucinda and I want terribly to see you” (Paragraph 32)—he does not appear to consult her. His lack of consideration for his wife is illustrated in his former affair with Shirley Adams. Nevertheless, John Cheever suggests that Lucinda shares her husband’s preoccupation with social status when Neddy observes that the lower-class Biswangers are “not even on [her] Christmas-card list” (Paragraph 33).
Mr. and Mrs. Halloran
Mr. and Mrs. Halloran live on a large property between the Westerhazys’ home and the Merrill residence. They are described as “an elderly couple of enormous wealth” (Paragraph 14), and the narrator mentions that they are suspected to be Communists. “The Swimmer” was published just after the worst of the Red Scare in the United States, where being accused of Communist sympathies was enough to get one fired or blacklisted.
The Hallorans stand out in the neighborhood for their relative unconventionality compared to their more suburban neighbors. They prefer to swim nude and also appear closer to nature than the other residents. Their house sits behind a large, unmanaged wood, and their pool is “fed by a brook” (Paragraph 15). This contrasts with the other residents’ proclivity for creating manmade facsimiles of nature on their properties. The Hallorans express sympathy over Neddy’s “misfortunes,” but Neddy shrugs off this genuine attempt at meaningful connection, highlighting his self-imposed alienation.
Helen and Eric Sachs
Helen Sachs, formerly Helen Halloran, still lives in a small house with her husband, Eric, on her parents’ property. The fact that she continues to live by her parents’ home suggests a closeness that seems to elude the other suburban residents. Eric is one of the few characters whom Neddy identifies as a “friend,” and yet the protagonist has no memory of the surgery, three years earlier, that has left Eric with “three pale, sutured scars, two of them at least a foot long” across his abdomen (Paragraph 30). Neddy feels a deep discomfort at seeing Eric, not only because his illness adds to the list of events he has forgotten but also due to the disappearance of his friend’s navel. The removal of Eric’s connection to his time in utero creates an unnatural image, reflecting the artificiality of suburban life. The two characters become foils, as Eric is physically scarred and the physical reminder of his youth has been stripped away, while Neddy is emotionally damaged with a visible youthfulness that he attempts to maintain at all costs.
Mr. and Mrs. Biswanger
Neddy and Lucinda’s attitude toward the Biswangers illustrates their elitism and fixation on social status. Although the couple repeatedly invites the Merrills to their parties, they always decline. Neddy considers them vulgar, remarking that Grace is “always talking about money,” and that the two of them tell “dirty stories to mixed company” (Paragraphs 33, 37). Neddy also implies that Grace is a social climber, attempting to make friends with the wealthiest residents of the neighborhood, such as doctors and real estate agents. His observations on the Biswangers expose the hypocrisy of the neighborhood, as all the residents are materialistic, but it is considered socially inappropriate to show a preoccupation with wealth. The Biswangers demonstrate the community’s unspoken social stratification. Neddy and Lucinda dislike the couple, as they seem immune to “the rigid and undemocratic realities of their society” that place the Merrills higher in the social hierarchy (Paragraph 33). During his journey, Neddy feels charitable for showing up at the Biswangers’ house at all. Grace’s hostile reception to his arrival and her complaint about a drunken man (presumably Neddy) asking them for a $5,000 loan underline the dramatic decline of Neddy’s social status.
Shirley Adams
Shirley Adams was once Neddy’s mistress. Her hair is “the color of brass,” but there is little else to describe her appearance, except that her figure “excited in [Neddy] no profound memories” (Paragraph 38). This assessment of her, through Neddy’s perspective, highlights his sexual objectification of Shirley.
Shirley operates more as a metaphor than a rounded character in “The Swimmer,” representing Neddy’s deteriorating memory and mental state, his financial and familial troubles, and his relationship to gender and power. Shirley serves as a reminder of the parallel story of Narcissus. Having once been callously rejected by Neddy, like Echo in the Greek myth, Shirley asks him if he will “ever grow up,” observing how he clings to his youth (Paragraph 41).
One of the few concrete characterizations of Shirley besides her existence as Neddy’s old mistress is the reference to how she cried when Neddy called off their affair. For Neddy, this is a sign of weakness and femininity, but he replicates this behavior, weeping after he leaves Shirley’s property. His vulnerability and distress are prompted by his former mistress’s indifference to him and her replacement of him with a younger man, dealing a blow to his masculine pride. Cheever ultimately characterizes Shirley as the once-invested mistress who has moved on from her past, while Neddy pursues his past, futilely attempting to recapture his lost youth.
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