The curious case of Benjamin Button and The Swimmer

Liudmyla

The Swimmer

What is your interpretation of the short story “The Swimmer”?

1. In my opinion, this story is about a man whose World was crushed but he didn’t accept it and continued to live in his former glorious beautiful life. The main character simply got out of his head the past few years of his life which had been not so glorious for him.

One day he decided to swim home across his neighbors’ swimming pools, and at that point the journey of his real and unreal life began , the journey of one day’s afternoon. When he decided to take that adventure he thought that everything was ok in his ordinary life; he thought that his daughters and wife were waiting for him at home as they always did. But, when he finally came home he didn’t meet anybody there, his house was empty, dark and locked, at this moment he fount he found himself alone, frustrated and exposed when he realized that he had been deceiving himself about the past few years of his life; the truth of his failure in life appeared very hard to him and he felt himself completely exhausted and failed.

But I personally don’t feel any sorrow for him, and don’t like his character at all. I truly believe that he deserved what he got at the final, as he was lying to himself throughout his journey home, about why everything had passed to him. He was an egoistic, philander, arrogant and vain person whose behavior and attention to his own family was not that good, but rude and selfish. He himself spoiled his life and broke down his family which left him.  So at the end he got what he had deserved with his actions towards his family and friends.

Say which of the two short stories we have read in this book you’ve liked more and why.

2. I’ve liked more the story of the Swimmer, because it reminded me about the moral of the crime and the punishment. You can't treat all people bad and disdainfully and after that wait for something good from them in exchange. The moral is there that everyone has a reward according to his merits. If you are not able to appreciate your family and friends, eventually you will remain without them, alone and desolate.