
“He might have been compared to a summer’s day, particularly the last hours of one, and while he lacked a tennis racket or a sail bag the impression was deﬁnitely one of youth, sport, and clement weather” (Cheever 726). While looking about the previous quote, one may think that the main character, Mr. Neddy Merrill, had particularly good traits, but that isn’t the case for this individual. As Neddy was compared to a summer’s day, the sentiments of a glorious day, that youth looked forward to having, did not match his personality. The only comparison that seemed accurate was that he was physical strong, with the burning passion to achieve his own goals. However, his burning passion is what deteriorates his friendly, extrovert persona that could have been assumed at the beginning of the short story. By looking throughout “the Swimmer,” Neddy’s burning compassion for swimming overshadowed his selfish, improper behavior throughout the story, which most readers would fail to understand through the first reading of this short story. His persona is important to the story because it explains how serious he was about swimming, while showing no regards for the feelings of his neighbors that so generously tried to communicate with him or for women as equal humans.

Neddy’s determination throughout the short story shows his overwhelming desires to achieve his own goals. Although the previous statement initially shows passion for himself, it could also be seen as caring for his goals more than the feelings for those arounds him. If determination is the only factor to think about within the section, then it can be confirmed that his passion was far greater than he could withstand. Throughout the short story, there were numerous occasions that the reader can identify Neddy in pain, which he refuses to stop. “When he tried to haul himself up onto the curb he found that the strength in his arms and shoulders had gone, and he paddled to the ladder and climbed out;” this clearly demonstrates how exhausted he was that he could not pull up his own body weight up without support, in which he would need more of as he finished his goal (Cheever 736). As the readers could determine, he’ll rather put himself into a harmful situation than to give up on his goals, showing great determination and passion.

Although his determination was admirable, this doesn’t mean that everything he did throughout the story was creditable towards him; the way he acted towards people throughout the story could show how his goals did not regard everyone. For starters, he went to everyone’s pool to swim and ask for a drink, although he didn’t have the decency to accept any of their invitations to do what they wanted to do. Not only did Grace Biswanger made a direct comment to Neddy about how he never accept invitations, but “the bartender served him [a drink,] but he served him rudely,” showing his dislikes for how Neddy treats his neighbors (Cheever 735). He tried to avoid conversations that would delay him in completing his goal, and he also openly showed that he was a cheater and that he had no remorse for seeing his old mistress, except for not wanting to be there to listen to her cry. His uncaringness for others as he accomplished his goals made his determination impure and less inspiring.

“String of swimming pools, that quasi-subterranean stream that curved across the county. He had made a discovery, a contribution to modern geography; he would name the stream Lucinda after his wife” (Cheever 727). As impressive as it may be to name a path after his wife, this is but a minor contradiction that can easily be shown in a different light at the end of this discussion about Neddy’s personality. There are quite of few examples that shows his neglect to his wife and other women, including his daughters, within this short story. In order, there are three main demonstrations that shows his neglect to women, mostly dealing with his wife. 

The first comes from the page 728, near the ending of the page. After telling Neddy that his wife said that they wouldn’t be able to arrive at the party, Enid Bunker forced her way through the other guess to kiss him and offer him a drink, along with over a half-dozen other women kissing him on his way to the bar; “when Lucinda said that you couldn’t come I thought I’d die” demonstrates how important he was to Enid before he kissed her, which could give speculation of an affair with her without the extra information to the reader (Cheever 728). No wife would allow her husband to do such lustful actions such as kissing multiple people without feeling some form of jealousy, which shows how Neddy neglected in his wife’s feelings. 

The second representation of Neddy’s neglect for women was from his discussion from Shirley Adams, his former mistress. For those who don’t quite understand the concept of a mistress, it is describe through the eyes of others as a women that have sexual relations with a married man, although the concept of those relations being known to the wife is somewhat vague. From their conversation, there were sources of information that shows neglect that can be seen by the reading. The narrator commented as Neddy was departing to his destination that as the lover, he had possession over anything that his mistress owned, without being legally bounded by the laws of marriage (Cheever 736). It was also started that Shirley wasn’t going to give any more money, indicating that she has done it before; with these in mind, how should the reader think of his actions towards females? Does it seem right that he could ask or do anything he wanted with someone he was having affair with, although he had no attentions of leaving his wife? As the answer may be bias between gender and age groups, the majority of the female population would not agree to such possessive claims, unless they either have little care for others or themselves. As readers of the short story and/or this analysis, this evidence should cleared state his neglect for women.

The final of the three main samples is directed towards his family, which consisted of his wife and two daughters. As seen on page 737, when he arrived home, all the lights were out and the doors were locked; with further inspection, Neddy discovered that all of the things in the house were gone. This leads the reader back to what Mrs. Halloran told Neddy earlier within earlier in the passage. “Why, we heard that you’d sold the house and that your poor children . . .,” was a statement that she made to Neddy, although he rejected the claim by cutting her off (Cheever 733). Why would he be so surprised that there was nothing in his house if he knew about his family moving? The simplistic answer is that he had no idea that his family moved. So, that would lead to the question on why his wife and children moved without him knowing?  As this is only speculation, it can be that his wife could no longer tolerate living with him anymore and decided to take the children to somewhere far away. However, this can also be temporary memory loss from the excess drinking, yet the likelihood of that being the reason is slim at best. So with only the evidence proved throughout the reading, it is safe to assume that the neglect of his family was so great that they couldn’t stand living with him any longer.

In conclusion, the personality of Neddy Merrill was that of an impure man that only thinks of himself. He shows this by how much determination he had, although he didn’t care about the feelings of others, and how he neglected women, which had three separate subcategories, each describing different events that should demonstrate his demeanor towards different women. Even naming the swimming path that he swam after his wife could not counteract the misdeeds that he done to women, especially to the family that he drove away. One thing can be certain from this reading, as far as how passionate he is towards his goals, it is certainly a great characteristics to have if the passion can be controlled; however, that passion should not consumed over the normal thought process or the consequences to that would be that people all around will push themselves away. 
