From the reading, John cheever’s story talks about a man called Neddy Merrill who has an adventure around his neighborhood. In a normal day, he started his adventure to be an explorer and to do something unusual. So he decided to swim from a party to go to his home in a different way. He swam in all pools in the neighborhood houses and drank alcohol to reach his house. at the beginning, his adventure did not goes just meeting people but also he talks with his neighbors and drink with them. From the story, we realized the lie despondency and emptiness in that neighborhood. He looked like he has a really happy life, but he was isolated from his neighbor. The author uses emptiness theme which is obvious to the reader because he talks about how Neddy’s life changed, and what he experienced from that journey. 

Neddy’s life begin to change when he started his journey. He was passing from a pool to the another. Which caused him to feel colder more than the first pool. This shows that the journey is getting harder for Neddy because of his age. During the journey, a storm came and Neddy went to gazebo to cover from it and he wait until it passes.

"Since it was midsummer the trees must be blighted, and yet he felt a peculiar sadness at this sign of autumn. He braced his shoulders, emptied his glass, and started for the Welcher’s pool. This meant crossing the Lindleys’ riding ring and he was surprised to find it overgrown with grass and all the jumps dismantled. He wondered if the Lindleys had sold their horses or gone away for the summer and put them out to board. He seemed to remember having heard something about the Lindleys and their horses but the memory was unclear. On he went, barefoot through the wet grass, to the Welchers’, where he found their pool was dry." (730).

This passage, illustrates that Neddy’s memory inaccurate. He did not remember much details about his neighbors for example when Mrs. Levy had bought the lanterns from Japan. At Neddy’s age, it is probably psychological illness that caused him to be not able to see the difference about his memories and the real life. 

 From Neddy’s adventure, he found out that things can be easy at the beginning but then it gets worse. For example, marriage. However, Neddy did not go to any of their invitations, but he was keeping up with his friends. These events caused some of his neighbors to be enemies. Each time he goes to a place he found people drinking heavily like they are trying to hide or escape from their lives.

 “He was not a practical joker nor was he a fool but he was determinedly original and had a vague and modest idea of himself as a legendary figure,” (727) Neddy is satisfied of himself because he was surrounded by his family and friends. From this quotation, Neddy was not right about his view because under the name of “Swimmer” all what he has disappeared like his family and his friends are not close to him anymore. Eventually the story shows us that he is not a legend anymore, he is alone and confused. When he arrived home, he found his home empty without his wife and his kids are not their anymore. From his adventure, we find out that living a life with ignoring reality and having a lack of feeling can destroy our lives and our families vey quickly. And we can not have things back as it is being. 

Neddy’s journey taught him many things in life. He begins it as a fun thing but it turns the opposite. 

Why, believing as he did, that all human obduracy was susceptible to common sense, was he unable to turn back? Why was he determined to complete his journey even if it meant putting his life in danger? At what point had this prank, this joke, this piece of horseplay become serious? (731)

As it being said that journey was done for fun at the beginning for Neddy but he found out it is not, it was a meaningful than he expected. He did not understand why the journey is not fun any more and it became more serious. His life need for seriousness not for jokes. As he could not stop his journey he cannot go to the past and do what is right. He just has the chance to go forward. 

In conclusion, the the idea of “Swimmer” Neddy was realizing after being happy in his life that all decisions that he have taken and his life are having sequences. Due to he did not go to any of his neighbor’s invitations they became his enemies. He destroys his marriage and his family and he lost all what he owned.

