The Curious case of Benjamin Button and the Swimmer

1.- What is your interpretation of this short story?

 This is a very strange story. In the beginning I couldn´t find any sense about it, but when I went on, it became quite interesting.

Neddy Merrill, in a hot summer evening, decides to return home swimming across all the swimming pools of the county, creating a new route which he would call Lucinda. That evening, everybody is suffering from a hangover because they drunk too much the previous night. When he starts his adventure, he swims across nice pools and he meets prosperous and kind people who have good dealings with him. But when the day goes on, the pools become worse, with colder and dirtier water. The people even give him a worse treatment each time, the same as if he were mad. In the end, when he arrives home and hopes to find his wife and daughters, he can only find his empty house.

I think the writer wants to show us that time when people got drunk and only thought about parties and have fun. Meanwhile, everything was wonderful, everybody was nice people and we were all good friends. The problem was when those effects disappeared and people went back to real life. Then, they realised about their true situation, where everything was fake: friends, happiness, family,… Everything was disguised, but nothing was true. Behind those parties and amusement there was nothing.

2.- Say which of the two short stories we have read in this book you have liked more

 and why.

 I’ve liked more “The swimmer” because I think it is more original and shows a situation that everybody can be a victim of. It’s closer to real life. Any of us can fall into that way of life, thinking only about having quick fun and being apart from reality. Especially when things are not going on in the right way and we look for an easy shelter, like drugs, drinking, easy entertainment and fake friends. During this, the situation is covered and we don’t think about it. The problem is that it’s only covered, but things must be fixed in time.

“The curious case of Benjamin Button” is also original, but is fiction and no closer to reality at all. It is quite interesting and makes you think about it, but I prefer much more likely real situations.

Alberto Suárez García 1NA