“It is a time of day when you can see the sun setting and the moon rising, a time of day when you can see your whole life, if you have been lucky, spread out before you.”
— From 'The Swimmer', reflecting on a man's life as he swims across pools.
Archivist's Choice
The Stories of John Cheever
John Cheever (2000)
Genre
Literary Fiction
Reading Time
1500 min
Key Themes
See below
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In mid-century American suburbia, Cheever's characters face quiet despair, infidelity, and the fading promise of the American dream, often finding brief moments of grace or deep disappointment by the swimming pool.
Synopsis
John Cheever's collected short stories show American suburban life from the mid-20th century, mostly on the East Coast, near New York City. The stories often look at the hidden worries and moral compromises beneath a respectable surface. Characters, usually middle-aged, deal with marriage problems, alcoholism, and trying to find happiness and meaning despite having material comfort.
The stories range from the strange, like 'The Enormous Radio' where a couple's new radio broadcasts their neighbors' private lives, to the realistic, like 'The Swimmer' where a man's journey across his neighbors' pools shows his life falling apart. Common themes include the decline of old values, the fight between fitting in and being free, the mixed feelings of memory, and the search for grace in a less religious world. Even with a sad tone, Cheever's writing is often witty, elegant, and observant, capturing human behavior and changes in American society.
Reading time
1500 min
Difficulty
Medium
Pacing
Moderate
Mood
Reflective, Melancholy, Witty, Observational, Poignant
✓ Read this if...
You appreciate masterfully crafted short stories that delve into the complexities of human nature, particularly the lives of the American middle and upper-middle class in the mid-20th century. You enjoy elegant prose and a blend of realism with occasional surreal undertones.
✗ Skip this if...
You prefer fast-paced plot-driven narratives, optimistic themes, or contemporary settings. The focus on suburban angst and male ennui might not appeal to all readers.
Plot Summary
The Enormous Radio
Jim and Irene Weston, an ordinary couple in a New York City apartment, buy a new radio. At first, it works normally. Soon, it starts making strange noises and then broadcasts the private conversations and sounds from their neighbors' apartments. Irene becomes fascinated by this, listening to the private lives of others, including the Loudons' fights and the Hatchers' routines. Jim, initially doubtful, also becomes unsettled by the radio's intrusive abilities, which seem to expose the hidden anxieties beneath the surface of respectability. The broadcasts become more personal, revealing infidelities and financial problems, forcing the Westons to confront uncomfortable truths about their own lives and those around them.
Goodbye, My Brother
The story is told by a man remembering a summer vacation with his family at their old home on a New England island. The family includes his two brothers, Lawrence and Chaddy, and his two sisters, Helen and Louise. Helen's critical presence dominates the vacation, as she constantly finds fault, especially with Lawrence, the eldest. Lawrence is sensitive and somewhat sad, often the target of Helen's sharp comments. The narrator observes the complex family dynamics, old resentments, and the fragile connections that hold them together. Despite the nice setting, the underlying tensions create a sense of unease, showing the often painful nature of family relationships, especially between siblings who have grown apart.
The Country Husband
Francis Weed, a suburban husband and father, barely survives a plane crash. This event deeply shakes him, making him see his comfortable life differently. Back in his routine, he finds himself drawn to Anne Murchison, the new babysitter, and fantasizes about her. He also sees his neighbor, Mrs. Wright, having an affair and tries to warn her husband, but is ignored. His attempts to tell his wife, Julia, about his new worries are met with indifference. Francis feels more and more alone from his family and community, struggling to balance his inner turmoil with the calm appearance of suburban life. His deep fear ends in a vivid dream, after which a psychiatrist advises him to chop wood, an act that briefly brings him back to reality, showing the superficiality and hidden desires in his suburban world.
The Swimmer
Neddy Merrill, a wealthy suburban man, decides on a hot summer afternoon to 'swim home' by going through his neighbors' pools in the fictional Bullet Park. He starts with high spirits, seeing his journey as an epic adventure across the 'Lucinda River,' named after his wife. As he goes from pool to pool, visiting friends, he meets increasingly clear signs of decline. People he knows greet him with confusion, some houses are empty, and the weather gets colder. Neddy's memory becomes unreliable, and he starts to realize that more time has passed than he thought. By the time he reaches his own house, it is dark, cold, and empty, locked up and neglected, suggesting a deep loss of his former life, wealth, and perhaps sanity, leaving him alone and confused by time and the decay of his world.
The Housebreaker of Shady Hill
Johnny Hake, a middle-aged resident of the rich Shady Hill suburb, faces financial trouble and deep dissatisfaction with his life. Despite his respectable appearance and family, he feels trapped. Driven by a vague desire for excitement and a need for money, he starts breaking into his neighbors' homes, beginning with small thefts. He tells himself he is not a true criminal. His burglaries become more frequent, and he develops a strange closeness with the homes he invades, learning their routines. The thrill of the theft offers a temporary escape from his suburban boredom, but the emptiness and guilt remain, showing the hidden despair and moral compromises that can exist beneath seemingly perfect lives.
The Wapshot Chronicle (excerpt)
This story introduces the Wapshot family of St. Botolphs, an old New England village. Leander Wapshot, the father, is an eccentric figure who writes a journal filled with sayings and observations. His two sons, Moses and Coverly, go on their own journeys to find love, success, and meaning in a world far from their father's traditional values. Moses pursues a career in finance and marries Melissa, while Coverly struggles with his identity and seeks an academic path. The story explores their attempts to navigate modern life, their relationships, and their connection to their eccentric family. It contrasts the charm of the old world of St. Botolphs with the confusing realities of the new, focusing on themes of tradition, modernity, freedom, and belonging.
The Brigadier and the Golf Widow
Charlie and his wife are involved in the social rituals of their suburban community. Charlie, a successful businessman, is having an affair with Mrs. Farquarson, while his wife is secretly involved with a brigadier. Their lives are a complex mix of social events, work pressures, and personal unhappiness. The story looks at the superficiality of their relationships and the emptiness of their pursuits. Charlie's affair, though thrilling at first, leaves him feeling hollow, reflecting the unfulfilling nature of his marriage and social interactions. The story reveals the moral compromises and emotional distance in their wealthy world, where appearances are kept up while true connection remains elusive, showing the widespread loneliness and the search for fleeting comfort in a society that values outward success over genuine experience.
The Jewels of the Cabots
The story centers on a woman from the wealthy Cabot family, who feels weighed down by her inherited privilege and the strict social expectations that come with it. She describes her life, marked by a sense of unfulfillment despite her material comforts. The 'jewels' symbolize not just her inheritance but also the stifling weight of her family's legacy. She observes others in her social circle, noting their similar struggles with boredom. Her attempts to find meaning are often stopped by the invisible chains of her class. The story explores the psychological cost of inherited wealth and the difficulty of creating an authentic identity when defined by social roles, revealing hidden unhappiness beneath a glamorous facade and the desire for a more real existence.
The World of Apples
Asa Bascomb, a once-famous but now aging author, lives alone in Italy. He becomes obsessed with apples, believing them to be pure and inspiring. He starts seeing apples everywhere and gives them deep spiritual meaning, eating them constantly and including them in his rituals. This obsession further isolates him from the few people he meets and seems to be a desperate attempt to find meaning in a world he sees as chaotic. His wife, who initially tries to understand, eventually leaves him, unable to cope with his fixation. The story is a sad exploration of artistic eccentricity, the search for spiritual comfort, and the isolation that can come with a unique vision, showing the line between genius and madness, and the longing for something beyond the ordinary.
The Geometry of Love
The main character has a recurring dream of a complex geometric figure, which he believes explains love and the universe. This dream affects his perceptions and relationships throughout his life. He goes through various romantic encounters and marriages, trying to apply his abstract understanding of love to the realities of human connection. Each relationship is seen through this geometric ideal, often leading to frustration. The story explores the way emotion is intellectualized, the human desire to find order in the chaos of love, and the difficulty of matching ideals with real life. Ultimately, he realizes that love is not a solvable problem but a complex force, leaving him to deal with the limits of his own intellectual framework.
The President of the Argentine
The story follows a man in the suburbs who gets caught in a strange political situation involving a visiting dignitary, the President of the Argentine. His life, usually ordinary, is suddenly disrupted by this foreign leader and the related social events. He observes the superficiality of the social elite and the absurdities of international diplomacy. The story blends satire and social commentary, showing the character's detachment and his struggle to understand the strange events around him. The story critiques the pretentiousness of suburban society and the performative nature of power, revealing how ordinary people can get caught up in extraordinary circumstances, often feeling confused and losing personal control.
The Fourth Alarm
The main character, a man with traditional values, attends an avant-garde play with his wife. The play, experimental and provocative, deeply disturbs him. He struggles to understand its meaning and is offended by its directness. His wife, however, seems more open to the experience, which creates a subtle tension between them. The story explores the clash between old and new art, the discomfort of facing challenging art, and the character's struggle to maintain his worldview in the face of cultural changes. It shows the anxieties of a man confronted with modernity and the erosion of his beliefs, making him question his own views on morality, art, and societal change.
Principal Figures
Irene Weston
The Protagonist
Irene transforms from a contented housewife into a deeply disturbed and disillusioned woman, forced to confront uncomfortable truths about her neighbors and her own marriage.
Francis Weed
The Protagonist
Francis moves from a state of complacent suburban existence to one of profound existential questioning and alienation, culminating in a search for grounding through manual labor.
Neddy Merrill
The Protagonist
Neddy begins as an ebullient, self-assured man and ends as a bewildered, broken figure, stripped of his wealth, family, and sense of self, symbolizing a profound loss.
Johnny Hake
The Protagonist
Johnny descends from a respectable, albeit unhappy, suburbanite to a petty thief, driven by financial woes and a search for an elusive sense of self, without finding true satisfaction.
Leander Wapshot
The Supporting
Leander remains a steadfast, if eccentric, figure, symbolizing the enduring spirit of an older generation grappling with the inevitable march of modernity.
Helen (from 'Goodbye, My Brother')
The Antagonist/Supporting
Helen remains a consistent source of friction and judgment, her character highlighting the enduring nature of familial grievances.
Asa Bascomb
The Protagonist
Asa's journey is one of increasing isolation and deepening, almost delusional, obsession, leading him further from conventional society in his pursuit of spiritual and artistic purity.
Charlie (from 'The Brigadier and the Golf Widow')
The Protagonist
Charlie cycles through affairs and social obligations, his character highlighting the lack of genuine emotional growth or resolution in a life driven by superficial desires.
Themes & Insights
The Decadence and Hypocrisy of Suburban Life
Cheever shows the wealthy American suburb, revealing the moral decay, hidden worries, and deep loneliness often found beneath its perfect lawns. Characters like Francis Weed ('The Country Husband') and Johnny Hake ('The Housebreaker of Shady Hill') feel an emptiness and resort to desperate acts—fantasy, theft, or infidelity—to escape their comfortable but suffocating lives. The 'enormous radio' literally broadcasts neighbors' secrets, while Neddy Merrill's journey in 'The Swimmer' shows a life built on superficiality falling apart. Cheever highlights the social pressure to maintain appearances, even as personal lives crumble.
“What is the matter with us, what is the matter with us, what is the matter with us?”
Loss and the Irreversible Passage of Time
A common theme is the sad awareness of loss—of youth, innocence, wealth, and a simpler past—and the ongoing passage of time. 'The Swimmer' explores this, as Neddy Merrill's journey home reveals years of personal decline and the disappearance of his former life. Stories often feature characters looking back with nostalgia ('Goodbye, My Brother,' 'The Wapshot Chronicle') or struggling to adapt to a changing world ('The World of Apples'). This theme creates a sense of sadness and the realization that what is lost cannot be regained, leaving characters to deal with a changed reality.
“He felt that he had been swimming too long, that he had been swimming too far.”
The Search for Meaning and Transcendence
Many of Cheever's characters, despite their material comfort, long for something deeper than their routines. This search often appears in unusual ways: Francis Weed's fantasies ('The Country Husband'), Johnny Hake's thrill-seeking ('The Housebreaker of Shady Hill'), or Asa Bascomb's obsession with apples ('The World of Apples'). They search for beauty, truth, or a connection to something larger, often finding only temporary satisfaction or more isolation. This theme highlights the human desire to escape the ordinary and find a deeper purpose, even if it leads to eccentricity or disappointment.
“He felt that the force of love in the world was like the force of gravity, and if you were not pulling your weight, it would pull you down.”
The Fragility of Identity and Social Constructs
Cheever often explores how easily one's identity and perceived reality can fall apart, showing how social roles are created. Characters often feel distant from their own lives or the expectations placed on them. Johnny Hake's change into a housebreaker, Neddy Merrill's loss of his entire life, or the woman burdened by her family name in 'The Jewels of the Cabots' all show how external events or inner disappointment can shatter a person's sense of self. The stories suggest that the identities we show the world are often fragile and can be easily removed, revealing a deeper, more vulnerable core.
“He was a man who had lost his way in life, and he knew it.”
Familial Dysfunction and Unspoken Resentments
Family relationships, especially between siblings and spouses, are often complex, filled with unspoken resentments and lasting tensions. 'Goodbye, My Brother' clearly shows the critical dynamic between siblings, highlighting the impossibility of truly escaping family bonds. Marriages are often superficial or strained, marked by infidelity, misunderstanding, or quiet despair, as seen in 'The Enormous Radio' and 'The Brigadier and the Golf Widow.' Cheever reveals that even within the closest units, individuals can feel deeply alone, struggling to share genuine feelings or resolve old problems, creating a widespread sense of emotional distance.
“We were a family that was not at peace with itself.”
Plot Devices & Literary Techniques
Magical Realism/Surreal Elements
Introduction of fantastical or impossible events into a realistic setting.
Cheever often injects a single, inexplicable surreal element into an otherwise realistic, mundane suburban setting. The most prominent example is the 'enormous radio' that broadcasts private conversations, but also Neddy Merrill's inexplicable journey through time in 'The Swimmer.' These elements serve not as escapism, but as catalysts to expose the hidden truths, anxieties, and moral decay of the characters and their environments, forcing them to confront uncomfortable realities that conventional realism might obscure. They heighten the psychological impact and symbolic weight of the stories, blurring the line between the ordinary and the absurd.
First-Person Narration (Confessional Tone)
Stories often told from the intimate perspective of a character revealing their inner thoughts and struggles.
Many of Cheever's stories are narrated in the first person, often by a male protagonist who reveals his deepest insecurities, desires, and moral failings in a confessional style. This allows for an intimate exploration of the characters' psychological states, their struggles with identity, and their often-hypocritical observations of others. This narrative voice creates a sense of immediacy and draws the reader into the protagonist's subjective experience, fostering empathy even for characters who engage in questionable behavior, such as Johnny Hake in 'The Housebreaker of Shady Hill' or the narrator of 'Goodbye, My Brother'.
Symbolism (Water, Houses, Seasons)
Use of recurring concrete objects and settings to represent abstract ideas.
Cheever masterfully employs symbolism to enrich his narratives. Water, particularly swimming pools and rain, often represents purification, escape, or the passage of time ('The Swimmer'). Houses, while appearing as symbols of domesticity and stability, frequently become sites of hidden dysfunction, moral compromise, or even imprisonment ('The Housebreaker of Shady Hill'). The changing seasons often mirror the emotional states or life cycles of the characters, from the vibrant summer of youth to the stark coldness of decline. These symbols add layers of meaning, allowing the stories to resonate beyond their literal plots and evoke deeper emotional and thematic truths.
Social Satire
Humorous or critical commentary on societal norms, particularly those of the upper-middle class.
Cheever often uses a subtle, often melancholic, form of social satire to critique the pretensions, materialism, and moral superficiality of the American upper-middle class. Through characters' dialogue, actions, and inner thoughts, he exposes the absurdity of social rituals, the emptiness of consumerism, and the hypocrisy inherent in maintaining appearances. The suburban setting is frequently the target, with its emphasis on status, conformity, and suppressed desires. This device provides both humor and a sharp critical edge, highlighting the disconnect between outward respectability and inner turmoil, as seen in 'The Brigadier and the Golf Widow' or 'The President of the Argentine'.
Critical analysis
Notable Quotes
“The only thing that makes life endurable is the knowledge that we are going to die.”
— A somewhat cynical observation, recurring theme of mortality.
“What we want to change we oftentimes cherish.”
— A paradoxical insight into human nature and desire for change.
“The world is full of people who are dying to be heard.”
— From a story where characters often struggle with communication and loneliness.
“The true business of life is to get out of bed, to wash, to dress, to eat food, to work, to love, to be loved, to sleep, to dream, to wake, to start again.”
— A simple, yet profound summary of daily existence.
“He seemed to have lost his way in the long, sad corridor of his own past.”
— Describing a character burdened by nostalgia and regret.
“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.”
— A general observation on human psychology, though Cheever often explores anxieties of suburban life.
“The light at the end of the tunnel is not an illusion. The tunnel is.”
— A hopeful, yet perhaps ironic, statement on perspective.
“There are times when the world seems to have no center, no focus, no true north.”
— Reflecting a sense of disorientation and loss of meaning in modern life.
“Happiness is a kind of courage.”
— A unique perspective on the active effort required for happiness.
“The world is an old house, and we are its tenants, and we must learn to live with its eccentricities.”
— A metaphor for accepting the imperfections and strangeness of life.
“Love is a kind of remembering, a remembering of what we have always known.”
— A romantic and philosophical take on the nature of love.
“He felt that he had been living in a dream, and that he had just woken up to find himself in a much more interesting, if perilous, reality.”
— A character's awakening to a new, often challenging, truth about their life.
“The past is a country from which we are constantly trying to emigrate.”
— A poignant reflection on the human desire to escape or move beyond one's past.
“It was one of those perfect autumn mornings, when the air is like wine and the sky is a painter's dream.”
— A vivid sensory description of a beautiful, idyllic setting.
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Key Questions (FAQ)
Many of Cheever's stories explore the anxieties, disillusions, and quiet desperation lurking beneath the veneer of post-war American suburban affluence. They frequently depict characters grappling with existential ennui, marital strife, alcoholism, and a longing for lost innocence or meaning in their seemingly comfortable lives.
About the author
John William Cheever was an American short story writer and novelist. He is sometimes called "the Chekhov of the suburbs". His fiction is mostly set in the Upper East Side of Manhattan; the Westchester suburbs; old New England villages based on various South Shore towns around Quincy, Massachusetts, where he was born; and Italy, especially Rome. His short stories included "The Enormous Radio", "Goodbye, My Brother", "The Five-Forty-Eight", "The Country Husband", and "The Swimmer", and he also wrote five novels: The Wapshot Chronicle , The Wapshot Scandal, Bullet Park (1969), Falconer (1977) and a novella Oh What a Paradise It Seems (1982).
