The Swimmer-John Cheever (Quote Response)

"He had an inexplicable contempt for men who did not hurl themselves into pools." (Cheever, 1490)

-The above quote is a very good description of the type of person Neddy Merrill, the main charachter, is in the story. It shows that he believes you should come at life head on, not slowly approach it. The fact that Cheever uses the word "hurl" just shows you that he's trying to show you the lack of control that Neddy idolizes when approaching life. Although it says earlier that Neddy "dives", Cheever then uses the word hurl when describing Neddy's feeling towards this. The fact that Neddy doesn't like men that go slowly into a pool just shows that he believes he "hurls" himself. This can be interpreted as him believing he takes life head on, or the water of a pool head on.


"He saw then, like any explorer, that the hospitable customs and traditions of the natives would have to be handled with diplomacy..." (Cheever, 1491)

-The way that Neddy thinks of himself as an "explorer" really shows you his view on life. To Neddy life is uncharted territory, just as his adventure is, and you need to go through it in a diplomatic way to not upset the "natives", or the people you cross in your life. This also shows that Neddy isn't quite in his right mind, because although his observation is correct, these "natives" are actually people he knows, and it seems strange for him to talk about them as objects that need handling.