
“He stayed in the Levys’ gazebo until the storm had passed. The rain had cooled the air and he shivered. The force of the wind had stripped a maple of its red and yellow leaves and scattered them over the grass and the water. Since it was mid- summer the tree must be blighted, and yet he felt a peculiar sadness at this sign of autumn. He braced his shoulders, emp- tied his glass, and started for the Welchers’ pool. This meant crossing the Lindleys’ riding ring and he was surprised to find it overgrown with grass and all the jumps dismantled. He won- dered 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)

In this excerpt of the close reading, The Swimmer by John Cheever, he is becoming increasingly overwhelmed by the rapid passing of time. At this particularly bleak point of the short story, Cheever portrays Neddy, the main character, as being incoherent and merely unaware of the the elapsed time that has gone since the beginning of the story. This specific part in the close reading also gives the reader the self-evident impression that Neddy is becoming of old age and could potentially be suffering from dementia or excessive memory loss. 

“He stayed in the Levys’ gazebo until the storm had passed” (Cheever 730). This is the first sign in the story that indicates that the events in Neddy’s life will eventually cause him to become depressed. It also foreshadows how he will soon be at a dreadful standpoint in his life. As the reader of this passage, it is clear to comprehend that Cheever's way of showing that Neddy is watching his life pass right by him very rapidly is when he is peering out of the Levys' gazebo during the atrocious storm. The storm metaphorically represents the horrible events and the reality he needs to face in his life. During the storm he is alone for the first time in the story and speaks of a “particular sadness” that comes upon him all of a sudden. He speaks on this sudden sadness as if he had never felt this certain despairing emotion. The beginning of the story is expressed as being undoubtedly joyful and amusingly pleasant. He had been adapted to enjoying himself and being surrounded by an abound amount of people. During this time of solitude Neddy has to spend with himself and his inner thoughts, he begins to notice some drastic changes that have occurred around him. “Since it was mid- summer the tree must be blighted, and yet he felt a peculiar sadness at this sign of autumn” (Cheever 730). He begins to notice that that the color of the leaves has turned from the vibrant green he remembered from the summer to the deeper toned yellows and oranges of the fall. Seasons are gradually changing and he is finally coming to a realization that conditions are not at all the same as what he recalls. Neddy has spent his time focusing on the less important things in life such as drinking and being attentive to every social event offered to him. His abhorrent and repugnant social ways prevent him from being aware of what is happening around him and gives him the characteristic of being incoherent.

Cheever mentions a moment in which Neddy is beginning to approach the next step of his journey; the Welchers’ pool. “This means crossing the Lindleys’ riding ring and he was surprised to find it overgrown with grass and all the jumps dismantled” (Cheever 730). This too is another indication of his unawareness of the passage of time.

Cheever makes it known that Neddy is getting older as the story progresses. In the beginning he is young and in the prime of his lavish lifestyle. Now that Neddy is beginning to pay attention to the recognizable changes that have developed over the prolonged and elapsed time period, it seems as though he is going through a sort of midlife crisis. It is not in his favor to come to realization that he himself is growing old of age, but sooner or later in the advancement of the story he will understand that there are things that he has to deal with as a matured adult. All of his antecedent acquaintances and the people he used to socialized with have all aged, as did he, with the exception that his former friends have lived up to the responsibilities and dealt with the problems and downfalls that have occurred within their life. “He seemed to remember having heard something about the Lindleys and their horses but the memory was unclear” (Cheever 730). This is the first discernible indication that shows that reality has bypassed Neddy so far in time that he is incognizant of the things happening around him. Although it is not directly stated amongst the story, readers can see that Neddy could potentially be suffering from memory loss or even dementia. With this selected quotation from the excerpt, it is obvious that he cannot remember whether or not “the Lindleys had sold their horses or gone away for the summer and put them out to board” (Cheever 730). He very faintly remembers it and has a slight memory of what happened, but he is skeptical. 

In this chosen selection from the passage The Swimmer, Cheever shows that Neddy is undoubtedly unaware of his surroundings, becoming old in age, and suffering from memory loss. On his journey swimming from pool to pool he encountered various obstacles that helped him come to grasp the concept of reality. By the end of the story, Neddy came to realization that he had missed out on the important things in life and became habituated with things of lesser value. He has become a bewildered man and he is again, lonely. For instance, at the end of the story Neddy makes it back home and finally comes to realize that his wife, (whom he had been traveling through various swimming pools for), and kids have all abandoned their former house that by this time has been weathered down and damaged; all without him noticing. He has nothing left that he once cared deeply about and had an affinity for. He paid more attention to the things in life that could not replace the things that had great value. In this process, he lost everything that ever mattered to him. 
