Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
"
(Cheever)
In the narration Ned continues on his journey home. Once he is home it is revealed that his house is indeed empty and his wife and daughters are gone. This is just one example of the conflict that exist in this narration between was is reality and what is illusion.
In addition to this aspect of conflict in The Swimmer, there is also a great deal of conflict associated with Ned's ability to swim across the county. This conflict exist because Ned also drank strong alcoholic beverages throughout his journey. It would have been next to impossible for him to swim after he had consumed just a few of these drinks. This is an obvious conflict that would have hindered his journey but the author presents it as fact and not fiction.
The presence of conflict is not confined to The Swimmer. Conflict is also a major them in "The Five-Forty-Eight," written in 1954. In this particular short story the entire narrative is centered around a conflict between Blake and a woman the he had a one night stand with. Blake is held at gunpoint and there is a great deal of tension in this partiular short story as a result.
Conclusion
The purpose of this discussion was to explore the major themes that are seen throughout his various works. The research found that themes concerning New England, infidelity, conflict and journeys are present throughout the works of John Cheever. The research seems to suggest that Cheever's opinions of New England were shaped in part by his upbringing. The research also found that Cheever utilizes journeys to provide a focal point in some of his works. That is, the journey becomes a central point n many of his narratives. They provide movement to the narrative. The characters always have a destination, they...
In some cases there is only a subtle mention of the infidelity and in other cases the theme of infidelity becomes the compass that directs the entire narrative. Likewise conflict is often utilized by Cheever to provide tension throughout the narrative. Throughout his works conflict is used to propel the narrative
Overall, Cheever's work encompasses a broad range of themes. These themes are the threads that connect all of Cheever's literary works to one another. The dominant theme is that of New England and the cast of characters that live in this region of the country. Cheever's seemingly wrote about what he knew and he had knowledge of New England. Although criticism has been levied against him concerning the way he portrays New England, his work has also been praised for the unconventional approaches it has taken in the realm of narrative storytelling.
Works Cited
Cheever, J. 1954. The Five-Forty-Eight
Cheever, J. 1964. The Swimmer
Cheever, J. 1957. The Wapshot Chronicles. New York: Harper,
Cheever, J. The Angel of the Bridge
Chesnick E. 1971. The Domesticated Stroke of John Cheever. The New England Quarterly, Vol. 44, No. 4, pp. 531-552
Gamble, G.Y. (1995) John Cheever's "Expelled": The Genesis of a Beginning
American Literary History, Vol. 7, No. 4, pp. 611-632
Morace R.A. (1989) From Parallels to Paradise: The Lyrical Structure of Cheever's Fiction Twentieth Century Literature, Vol. 35, No. 4, pp. 502-528
Ozick. C. (1992) Cheever's Yankee Heritage. The Antioch Review, Vol. 50, No. 1/2, 50th Anniversary Issue, pp. 156-161.
Works Cited
Cheever, J. 1954. The Five-Forty-Eight
Cheever, J. 1964. The Swimmer
Cheever, J. 1957. The Wapshot Chronicles. New York: Harper,
Cheever, J. The Angel of the Bridge
It's all the fault, she decided,... Of these absurd class distinctions." Mansfield blatantly shows us the indifferent heartlessness that the wealthy feel toward the poor, when Laura wants to stop the garden party out of respect for a worker who has died on the road outside their gate: Oh, Laura!" Jose began to be seriously annoyed. "If you're going to stop a band playing every time some one has an accident,
Yet perhaps no American author embraced the grotesque with the same enthusiasm as the Southern Flannery O'Connor. In "A Good Man is Hard to Find," O'Connor uses the example of a family annihilated by the side of the road by an outlaw named the Misfit to show the bankruptcy of American life. Instead of an evil serial killer, the Misfit is portrayed as a kind of force of divine
When Terri asks Mel is he is drunk, he becomes defensive because he realizes that something about his personality must be changing. In other words, he is getting drunk and behaving drunk but does not want to admit it and continues to drink to cover his emotions. Perhaps the most compelling aspect of the story in relation to drinking is the fact that the characters are drinking as if it
" Despite this apparent contempt, Frank does in fact desperately want to fit in with the happy crowd he suggests he otherwise despises, but April recognizes his hypocrisy as well as her own miserable lot in suburbia and takes her own life as a consequence. After April commits suicide, Frank's frantic reaction is not unlike the running part of the trip taken by Ned Merrill to reach a home that was
Eudora Welty -- a Memory There are several relevant themes in this short story. One powerful theme used by Welty in A Memory is very clear from the beginning: a vivid memory is not a list of scenes from the past, but instead memory can become a living, forceful part of the here and now. Her truthful recollections seem as alive as though she could actually be catapulted back to that
The various places he stops represent certain alternative futures, and the brothel promises one of pleasure. His ability to resist it -- whether through morality or lack of money -- and continue on his journey is indicative of the revolutionary spirit. The fact that he keeps moving, and keeps searching in new places, matched the movement of the revolution and indeed of the country since then as it goes