
The passage of time is a scary yet inevasible part of life.  To many, the passage of time sneaks up until the effects of time are no longer able to be ignored. In John Cheever’s short story “The Swimmer” we are introduced to Neddy Merrill, a man described as still feeling the light of youth despite his increasing age. He is enjoying the memories of mischievous actions from the night before, filled with alcohol and raunchy behavior, while enjoying a dip in his neighbor’s pool, alongside his wife in their affluent neighborhood when a peculiar idea strikes him. Neddy believed he could get through his neighborhood by only swimming in the pools that his neighbors own. Starting out, Neddy has a positive almost boyish excitement about his idea. He took joy in knowing that he was free to do as he pleased without anything confining him. Neddy starts out his aquatic adventure diving into pools and even took the time to think of his contempt for men who did not hurl themselves into a pool. As Merrill goes from pool to pool we get to see him interact with his different neighbors. The first neighbors he encountered welcomed him enthusiastically with open arms, but as time goes on the neighbors’ demeanor get colder. Neddy’s positive attitude toward his adventure starts to decrease as the story goes on as well. His dependence on alcohol becomes apparent as well as his inability to grasp the negative realities surrounding his life, such as his money problems and family issues. As the story progresses Neddy comes to one of the swimming pools on his route only to notice that those particular neighbors had drained the pool and moved out of their house, leading Neddy to believe that more time has passed him by than he has realized. Neddy finally finishes his adventure only to return home to an empty house, no family and no money. Time had passed Neddy by without him realizing it, leaving him feeling old, withered down and alone. The passage of time is a major theme throughout this short story and it eventually leads to the downfall of Neddy Merrill. 

From the very beginning of the story we notice Neddy is very reliant on alcohol. The story starts with him reminiscing about the drunken night before all the while holding a new drink in his hand. After he starts on his adventure, every new pool he goes to he either gets offered a drink by a neighbor, which he gladly accepts, or he asks for one. At the beginning his consumption of alcohol was merely for entertainment purposes but as his adventure went on and the more pools he went through he grew a dependency on the alcohol to even get through the rest of his journey. “The worst of it was the cold in his bones and the feeling that he might never be warm again…He needed a drink. Whiskey would warm him, pick him up, carry him through the last of his journey…” (Cheever 733-734). During one of the final pools, neighbors start acting differently toward Neddy, one even describing Neddy coming to their house drunk one-night, begging for money, an event in which Neddy has no recollection. His dependence on alcohol distorts Neddy’s perception of time and makes him unaware of how much time has actually passed him by during his adventure across his county, as well as cause Neddy not to be able to recollect actions he has done while intoxicated. 

Throughout the story, Neddy Merrill uses pools as his mode of transportation. Starting out, he would dive into the pools with excitement. He never needed the ladder to pull himself up out of the water and he would glide through the water with grace and ease. However, as time went on the more pools he went through you could see the impact it had an Neddy. No longer could he hoist himself out of the pool, but had to use the ladder. No longer was he gracefully gliding across the water, but miserably trying to get through the water, which acted as a barrier. No longer was Neddy excited about his adventure, but saw it as a chore or an obligation that needed to be completed. During the course of the story it becomes apparent that the pools don’t just represent water but also represent the passing of time. “The force of the wind had stripped a maple of its red and yellow leaves and scattered them over the grass and the water,” (Cheever 730). The fact that Neddy started his adventure in the summer and then he noticed that the leaves are changing colors shows that enough time had passed for the seasons to change.  The way neighbors act toward Neddy over the course of the different pools demonstrated a change in time as well. When Neddy started in the first of the pools he was regarded warmly by his neighbors including his wife, but as he goes on neighbors became less enthralled that he is there and instead feel burdened about having to assist him on his journey. Eventually he arrived home to an empty house and no wife indicating a large portion of time had passed by. 

The passage of time was a major theme in “The Swimmer” but the time passing was hidden inside the context of the story. The alcohol that Neddy drank and relied on made him impervious to what was occurring around him including his family leaving him and him losing all of his money. The swimming pools represents the passage of time in Neddy Merrill’s life that stole the youth from him and made him a tired and lonely old man. Neddy tried to run away from time but couldn’t outrun the inevitable outcome.
