The Swimmer tells the tale of Neddy Merrill, a rich socialite who has come upon hard times but has a narcissistic view of his condition and he begins to feel that he is young, athletic, and still good-looking. The real fact of the matter is that he is married with four daughters, has lost heavily in business, his wife and daughters have left him and that he is going around borrowing money and making a fool of himself. However, his delusions are so great that he cannot acknowledge these facts to himself. One afternoon as he us sitting drunk in at a place with his friends, he suddenly has a whim, a fantasy that he may very well swim back to his house that is situated about 8 miles away through the many swimming pools that each house in the community has. There are plenty of pools and houses and he wants to go by water back to his house. The resolve is emboldened by the fact that he is dead stone drunk Then it occurred to him that by taking a dogleg to the southwest he could
reach his home by water. Now, Neddy was not a fool or a stupid person but the combination of having too many drinks had clouded his mind and he felt that he could make it through He was not a practical joker nor was he a fool but he was determinedly original and had a vague and modest idea of himself as a legendary figure. When he starts swimming, he imagines himself as a great explorer on a voyage of discovery. When he jumps into other peoples pool, the owners invite him in for a few drinks and he does oblige, but in a patronizing manner 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. There are three sources that are used for the analysis and they are Mathews (1992), Allen (1989) and Blythe (1992). These authors have analysed and provided a critique of the story and given their interpretations about the story and the various themes presented.