theme of change in the physical, social and economical aspect of the characters in The Swimmer and Misery

 theme of change in the physical, social and economical aspect of the characters in The Swimmer and Misery

Introduction

The passage of time brings along major changes in life. The changes are in all aspects including physical, pyschological, social and also economical. Change is evident in The Swimmer by John Cheever where Neddy Merrill engages in a swimming voyage that is symbolic to the journey of his life. He is faced with major changes throught the  swimming journey that have an impact on him. In a similar manner in Misery by Anton Chekvoh, Iano is faced with a changing world with no one to share his pent up misery with. In both readings, time passage brings about major changes which at some point become unbearable . This essay will focus on the theme of change in the physical, social and economical aspect of the characters in the two readings.

Discussion

Physical Change

According to Jamie (2015), no matter how hard we try to slow down time, there is no stopping it. Meanwhile, each passing moment brings a new experience that deserves our attentio.  This implies that in all aspects of life the passage of time brings about change. At the beginning of the reading The Swimer, Neddy Merrill is presented as a slender man with the special slender of youth (Cheever, 1967). Although Neddy is not as young, he has the energy and the will of a youth and therefore leads a youthful life. Neddy makes the decision to swim his way home because it seems like a fun thing to do and furthermore he has the energy for it. When he begins his swim, he is energetic and even hard swimming strokes seem customary to him. Cheever (1967) states that, “it was not a serviceable stroke for long distances but the domestication of swimming had saddled the sport with some customs and in his part of the world a crawl was customary”. However, as time passes and as he continues to swim, his energy fades off and Neddy finds swimming difficult.  According to Cheever (1967), he dove in and swam the pool, but when be 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 implies that the energetic and youthful Neddy is long gone and in his place is a tired and old man without energy. In the same manner, in Misery by Anton Checkov, Iona Potapov is no longer a young man as he used to be.

He says that he has become too old to drive (Anton, 1979). This statement by Iona is as a result of the rude comments he got from his fares due to poor driving. In both cases, the Nelly and Iona have changed physically and they find it hard to keep up with the tough enviromnent around them.

Social Change

The society around Neddy and Iona has changed significantly with the passage of time. In the case of Neddy, when he first begins his swim, he is met by friendly people who treat him with hospitallity but as the journey proceeds, people become hostile towards him with little attention to what he is doing. This is in line with Anton (1979), he saw then, like any explorer, that the hospitable customs and traditions of the natives would have to be handled with diplomacy if he was ever going to reach his destination. Later in his voyage, Neddy is faced by rude people as opposed to the ones he met at the beginning.  Neddy could not understand the rudeness of the caterer’s barkeep or the rudeness of a mistress who had come to him on her knees and showered his trousers with tears (Anton, 1979). He is finding it hard to understand how society has changed from the hospitable environment it was to the rude and unwelcoming society it has become. Similarly, Iona has pent up feelings regarding the death of his son but he has no one to talk to. The world around him is busy and no one is paying attention to his troubles. He is yearning to talk about the death of his son with someone in order to relieve the sorrow and misery pent up in him but he finds no one (Anton, 1979). Society has changed so much that people no longer pay attention to the wellbieng of others and because of that, Iona is in a city full of people but he has no one to talk to. Both Neddy and Iona are taken aback by the society around them because it has changed from hospitable to rude and hostile.

Economical change

The economical status of Neddy and Iona has changed with time. At first, Neddy is presented as a man with financial security. This is because he can afford social functions with his friends and he has a house and a tenniss court in Bullet park (Cheever, 1967). However, as time passes, he is met with a rude shock of the change in his financial status. He hears Grace tell people about how he went bankrupt overnight and showed up at her house drunk and asking for a loan. When he shows up at the house of his former mistress, he is told that there is no money to borrow. Reality sinks in when he gets to his house. He has not employed any helpers in the house for a long time because of his financial status. On the other hand, Iona is faced with a major economical change since the death of his son. When his son was the cab driver, he made enough money for oats because he was a much better driver. However, Iano is too old to drive and he can barely raise money to feed his horse. In both cases, the passage of time has brought major economic changes in their lives Neddy and Iano can no longer keep up with the cost of living.

Conclusion

From both readings, one can conclude that change is innevitable . As time goes by, all aspects of life change and it has impact on day-to-day activities. Also, change can have a positive or negative impact and from both readings, change had a negative impact.

References

Cheever, J. (1967). The swimmer. New York: Stein and Day.

Chekhov, A. (1979). Anton Chekhov’s Short Stories (Norton Critical Editions). Ed. Ralph E. Matlaw. New York: WW Norton & Co.

Time brings change. Retrived from https://www.americanscientist.org/article/time-brings-change