In John Cheever’s short story, “The Swimmer” the suburban life is painted and portrayed to perfection. This is how suburbanites live: a great big life of masks and charades and notions that nothing can go wrong. The whole society in a particular suburb has the collective mindset of someone who has gone senile. Nothing is wrong, everything is status quo in their lives.
I grew up in the “suburb” of North Buffalo, and I hate the people. The place is nice, and I am very fortunate that my parents are well of and that we live in a nice house. It appears hypocritical of me to not complain about the house and the bills being paid, and it is hypocritical of me in some regards. However, the actual place I lived (the house, the street the neighborhood) was beautiful, and I have many good memories of the physical space. The people though, are the ones that make a place a “suburb”. The people in Cheever’s story were the equivalent of what is known as “Old Buffalo” here. This elite group consists of family money and well to do citizens. The money however is not the dilemma, the ATTITUDE is the problem. In “The Swimmer” it wasn’t really the money that made the people look like fools, it was their outlook on life...especially Neddy’s outlook and the outlook of the people he visited.
People in this “Old “Buffalo” cult have no more personality than a vegetable one eats with dinner. There is rarely an attempt to get to know anyone else, and never any attempt for emotions or feelings. Quite possibly, it could be that stereotypical Republican personality I am labeling them with, but they just seem to have a general apathy towards everything. The one trait of people in this ilk, is their disdain for anyone below them in class. This is the only money issue I have with these kings and queens of society. Having grown up in this world, one tends to get influenced if barraged by one consistent train of thought. When I was 19, I dated a girl whose parents were not as rich as us, and she came from a place that was foreign to my sheltered world. My mom obviously did not approve of her, but the sickening part was that I almost had some problems with her because of her background. This was a girl, the first girl, who I loved and I almost gave it up because I did not like who she was externally. This train of thought made me sick and if I hadn’t stepped outside myself and realized how petty I was, then I would have lost something in a girlfriend, and lost something more in my self respect.
In the Cheever story, these people have the same ideas about life. When Neddy reaches the last pool, Mrs. Biswanger treats him like a vagrant; she displayed indifference, which is a negative emotion worse than hatred. She felt this way because of the change Neddy’s life took. Neddy was no longer in the social circle, no longer had that perfect life of the wife, kids and house. So, instead of confronting the problem, Mrs. Biswanger swept it under the rug as is appropriate for that society. However, before Neddy lost it all, Mrs. Biswanger was nice to him. In the “Old Buffalo” circle, people are always nice to one another until that person takes a fall; then they are no longer friends, just like that. This rational of this thinking, that friends are expendable, and your status in the culture weighs heavily on your association with certain people is such an unhealthy way to live a life. It is immoral, and makes ones life more worthless than anyone else in any social circle.
I much prefer living in the suburbs than in the city just because of the safety and the fact you don’t need to LIVE in the city to experience it, because any idiot can find his way from Mapletree Rd to Martin Luther King Pkwy in any big city. I like the suburbs, but not the suburban people. The form their own world and are oblivious to everything outside their cocoon. In “The Swimmer”, I don’t think there were any “good guys” in the story because Neddy and all of his neighbors were too shallow to really confront ANYTHING head on.
In John Cheever’s short story, “The Swimmer” the suburban life is painted and portrayed to perfection. This is how suburbanites live: a great big life of masks and charades and notions that nothing can go wrong. The whole society in a particular suburb has the collective mindset of someone who has gone senile. Nothing is wrong, everything is status quo in their lives.
I grew up in the “suburb” of North Buffalo, and I hate the people. The place is nice, and I am very fortunate that my parents are well of and that we live in a nice house. It appears hypocritical of me to not complain about the house and the bills being paid, and it is hypocritical of me in some regards. However, the actual place I lived (the house, the street the neighborhood) was beautiful, and I have many good memories of the physical space. The people though, are the ones that make a place a “suburb”. The people in Cheever’s story were the equivalent of what is known as “Old Buffalo” here. This elite group consists of family money and well to do citizens. The money however is not the dilemma, the ATTITUDE is the problem. In “The Swimmer” it wasn’t really the money that made the people look like fools, it was their outlook on life...especially Neddy’s outlook and the outlook of the people he visited.
People in this “Old “Buffalo” cult have no more personality than a vegetable one eats with dinner. There is rarely an attempt to get to know anyone else, and never any attempt for emotions or feelings. Quite possibly, it could be that stereotypical Republican personality I am labeling them with, but they just seem to have a general apathy towards everything. The one trait of people in this ilk, is their disdain for anyone below them in class. This is the only money issue I have with these kings and queens of society. Having grown up in this world, one tends to get influenced if barraged by one consistent train of thought. When I was 19, I dated a girl whose parents were not as rich as us, and she came from a place that was foreign to my sheltered world. My mom obviously did not approve of her, but the sickening part was that I almost had some problems with her because of her background. This was a girl, the first girl, who I loved and I almost gave it up because I did not like who she was externally. This train of thought made me sick and if I hadn’t stepped outside myself and realized how petty I was, then I would have lost something in a girlfriend, and lost something more in my self respect.
In the Cheever story, these people have the same ideas about life. When Neddy reaches the last pool, Mrs. Biswanger treats him like a vagrant; she displayed indifference, which is a negative emotion worse than hatred. She felt this way because of the change Neddy’s life took. Neddy was no longer in the social circle, no longer had that perfect life of the wife, kids and house. So, instead of confronting the problem, Mrs. Biswanger swept it under the rug as is appropriate for that society. However, before Neddy lost it all, Mrs. Biswanger was nice to him. In the “Old Buffalo” circle, people are always nice to one another until that person takes a fall; then they are no longer friends, just like that. This rational of this thinking, that friends are expendable, and your status in the culture weighs heavily on your association with certain people is such an unhealthy way to live a life. It is immoral, and makes ones life more worthless than anyone else in any social circle.
I much prefer living in the suburbs than in the city just because of the safety and the fact you don’t need to LIVE in the city to experience it, because any idiot can find his way from Mapletree Rd to Martin Luther King Pkwy in any big city. I like the suburbs, but not the suburban people. The form their own world and are oblivious to everything outside their cocoon. In “The Swimmer”, I don’t think there were any “good guys” in the story because Neddy and all of his neighbors were too shallow to really confront ANYTHING head on.
In John Cheever’s short story, “The Swimmer” the suburban life is painted and portrayed to perfection. This is how suburbanites live: a great big life of masks and charades and notions that nothing can go wrong. The whole society in a particular suburb has the collective mindset of someone who has gone senile. Nothing is wrong, everything is status quo in their lives.
I grew up in the “suburb” of North Buffalo, and I hate the people. The place is nice, and I am very fortunate that my parents are well of and that we live in a nice house. It appears hypocritical of me to not complain about the house and the bills being paid, and it is hypocritical of me in some regards. However, the actual place I lived (the house, the street the neighborhood) was beautiful, and I have many good memories of the physical space. The people though, are the ones that make a place a “suburb”. The people in Cheever’s story were the equivalent of what is known as “Old Buffalo” here. This elite group consists of family money and well to do citizens. The money however is not the dilemma, the ATTITUDE is the problem. In “The Swimmer” it wasn’t really the money that made the people look like fools, it was their outlook on life...especially Neddy’s outlook and the outlook of the people he visited.
People in this “Old “Buffalo” cult have no more personality than a vegetable one eats with dinner. There is rarely an attempt to get to know anyone else, and never any attempt for emotions or feelings. Quite possibly, it could be that stereotypical Republican personality I am labeling them with, but they just seem to have a general apathy towards everything. The one trait of people in this ilk, is their disdain for anyone below them in class. This is the only money issue I have with these kings and queens of society. Having grown up in this world, one tends to get influenced if barraged by one consistent train of thought. When I was 19, I dated a girl whose parents were not as rich as us, and she came from a place that was foreign to my sheltered world. My mom obviously did not approve of her, but the sickening part was that I almost had some problems with her because of her background. This was a girl, the first girl, who I loved and I almost gave it up because I did not like who she was externally. This train of thought made me sick and if I hadn’t stepped outside myself and realized how petty I was, then I would have lost something in a girlfriend, and lost something more in my self respect.
In the Cheever story, these people have the same ideas about life. When Neddy reaches the last pool, Mrs. Biswanger treats him like a vagrant; she displayed indifference, which is a negative emotion worse than hatred. She felt this way because of the change Neddy’s life took. Neddy was no longer in the social circle, no longer had that perfect life of the wife, kids and house. So, instead of confronting the problem, Mrs. Biswanger swept it under the rug as is appropriate for that society. However, before Neddy lost it all, Mrs. Biswanger was nice to him. In the “Old Buffalo” circle, people are always nice to one another until that person takes a fall; then they are no longer friends, just like that. This rational of this thinking, that friends are expendable, and your status in the culture weighs heavily on your association with certain people is such an unhealthy way to live a life. It is immoral, and makes ones life more worthless than anyone else in any social circle.
I much prefer living in the suburbs than in the city just because of the safety and the fact you don’t need to LIVE in the city to experience it, because any idiot can find his way from Mapletree Rd to Martin Luther King Pkwy in any big city. I like the suburbs, but not the suburban people. The form their own world and are oblivious to everything outside their cocoon. In “The Swimmer”, I don’t think there were any “good guys” in the story because Neddy and all of his neighbors were too shallow to really confront ANYTHING head on.
In John Cheever’s short story, “The Swimmer” the suburban life is painted and portrayed to perfection. This is how suburbanites live: a great big life of masks and charades and notions that nothing can go wrong. The whole society in a particular suburb has the collective mindset of someone who has gone senile. Nothing is wrong, everything is status quo in their lives.
I grew up in the “suburb” of North Buffalo, and I hate the people. The place is nice, and I am very fortunate that my parents are well of and that we live in a nice house. It appears hypocritical of me to not complain about the house and the bills being paid, and it is hypocritical of me in some regards. However, the actual place I lived (the house, the street the neighborhood) was beautiful, and I have many good memories of the physical space. The people though, are the ones that make a place a “suburb”. The people in Cheever’s story were the equivalent of what is known as “Old Buffalo” here. This elite group consists of family money and well to do citizens. The money however is not the dilemma, the ATTITUDE is the problem. In “The Swimmer” it wasn’t really the money that made the people look like fools, it was their outlook on life...especially Neddy’s outlook and the outlook of the people he visited.
People in this “Old “Buffalo” cult have no more personality than a vegetable one eats with dinner. There is rarely an attempt to get to know anyone else, and never any attempt for emotions or feelings. Quite possibly, it could be that stereotypical Republican personality I am labeling them with, but they just seem to have a general apathy towards everything. The one trait of people in this ilk, is their disdain for anyone below them in class. This is the only money issue I have with these kings and queens of society. Having grown up in this world, one tends to get influenced if barraged by one consistent train of thought. When I was 19, I dated a girl whose parents were not as rich as us, and she came from a place that was foreign to my sheltered world. My mom obviously did not approve of her, but the sickening part was that I almost had some problems with her because of her background. This was a girl, the first girl, who I loved and I almost gave it up because I did not like who she was externally. This train of thought made me sick and if I hadn’t stepped outside myself and realized how petty I was, then I would have lost something in a girlfriend, and lost something more in my self respect.
In the Cheever story, these people have the same ideas about life. When Neddy reaches the last pool, Mrs. Biswanger treats him like a vagrant; she displayed indifference, which is a negative emotion worse than hatred. She felt this way because of the change Neddy’s life took. Neddy was no longer in the social circle, no longer had that perfect life of the wife, kids and house. So, instead of confronting the problem, Mrs. Biswanger swept it under the rug as is appropriate for that society. However, before Neddy lost it all, Mrs. Biswanger was nice to him. In the “Old Buffalo” circle, people are always nice to one another until that person takes a fall; then they are no longer friends, just like that. This rational of this thinking, that friends are expendable, and your status in the culture weighs heavily on your association with certain people is such an unhealthy way to live a life. It is immoral, and makes ones life more worthless than anyone else in any social circle.
I much prefer living in the suburbs than in the city just because of the safety and the fact you don’t need to LIVE in the city to experience it, because any idiot can find his way from Mapletree Rd to Martin Luther King Pkwy in any big city. I like the suburbs, but not the suburban people. The form their own world and are oblivious to everything outside their cocoon. In “The Swimmer”, I don’t think there were any “good guys” in the story because Neddy and all of his neighbors were too shallow to really confront ANYTHING head on.