Sosa, Bea Francesca C.

ENG 11
WFW
August 23, 2015 Ms. Isa
Lorenzo
When You Least Expect It
Sometimes, things happen in life when you least expect them. One
day, you can start off with the wrong foot but towards the end of that same
day, you may end up realizing that many blessings actually came your way,
or the other way around. The same way that one may initially think of a story
as trivial and nonsensical only to end up internalizing what happened to the
story.

The Swimmer, by John Cheever, may seem to be uninteresting at

first glance because the author devoted much part of the story in describing
the different settings, the main character, Neddy Merill, has to swim or
travel, in order to reach his destination- his house. Neddy decided to swim
eight miles to the south to reach his house. He swims from one pool to
another including a public pool, across the county and even named the
stretch after his wife and called it the Lucinda stream. He is drunk but he is
determined to finish his journey and reach his house where his four
daughters are. He goes through his journey using the imaginary map from
one pool to another, from the Grahams to the Clydes.

While reading the story, I feel Neddys determination to finish what he

started as if there is a prize at the end of the finish line. There is also an
urgency for him to complete his task for he does not have the time to linger
in one place, he just has the courtesy of saying his short hellos or have a
quick drink with the pool owners. He has to go over a thorny hedge, go
through a vacant lot and cross the highways. He has to withstand ridicules
and pranks from some bystanders. The people he meets along the way also
have different reactions toward Neddy. Some were polite while others show
their rudeness. He feels the exhaustion and fatigue because of the numerous
pools he has to swim and the distance he has to travel to reach his
destination. Nevertheless, he endures all these and continues with his
journey. It is in the end of the story that the author reveals his misfortunes
that Mrs. Halloran mentions when she said Weve been terribly sorry to hear
all your misfortunes, Neddy. His goal and destination, his home is no longer
his. He finds it locked and empty. He has no home and no family waiting for
him.

In my opinion, the author wants to show Neddys weakness in dealing

with his problems. Instead of accepting the truth that he sold his house and
other implied problems that he has, he tries to escape by forgetting his
misfortunes and focus on swimming. Mr. Cheever mentions this when he
writes Was he losing his memory, had his gift for concealing painful facts let
him forget that he has sold his house, that his children were in trouble.
The author also describes his journey in detail by giving us a good picture of
the places Neddy goes through in his journey to reality. The different
settings, the thorough description of the path he has to travel, the different
attitudes of the people that Neddy encounters along the way and what these
characters tell Neddy stand for what people with difficult problems go
through.

This short story, The Swimmer, teaches me that life is full of

surprises, twists and turns. Life in itself is a long journey and things happen
when we least expect them. We may encounter ups and downs, anxieties
and jubilations, tears and laughters. That is why we need to appreciate the
people and things that we have right now and be thankful for them. In our
low moments, we need to get hold of ourselves, be positive and pray for
Gods help. For even if bad things happen when we least expect them, there
is always hope when we exercise our faith in God.
Source: Cheever, J. (1964). The Swimmer. Retrieved August 23, 2015,
from www.loa.org/images/pdf/Cheever_Swimmer.pdf