“Why, believing as he did, that all human obduracy was susceptible to common sense, was he unable to turn back?” ( “The Swimmer" 1463) Interpret this narrative statement in terms of the protagonist’s beliefs: what is the narrator saying Neddy believes in, and how does this belief exhibit itself during his journey?
The question in the mind of Neddy Merrill, "The Swimmer" as he says "Why, believing as he did, that all human obduracy was susceptible to common sense, was he unable to turn back?" is his thought in the middle of his journey swimming across the country. The pools he has swam in previously had been warm, clear water and the people that he came across had all been warm and welcoming. This is symbolic of his life when he too had a beautiful home and pool and great friends who invited he and his wife over often. When all was well in his life he made a series of mistakes, had "misfortunes" (1465) including financial blunderings "They went broke overnight" (1466), abused alcohol "showed up drunk" (1466) and had an affair "They had had an affair" (1466). Now there was no turning back to that life. The life of a man wealthy both financially and emotionally was gone and would never be again. His life was now empty told to us symbolically as the author ends the story by telling us that when he finished swimming across the country to his former home he "saw that the place was empty." (1467).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment