Cheever and Jen

Last Thursday, in our Swarthmore Short Stories course, we studied two stories, one by John Cheever, and one by Gish Jen. Both can be read as critiques of American suburban life. The Cheever story, "The Swimmer," is well-known. There was even a movie made from it, starring Burt Lancaster. The protagonist, Ned, is an arrogant, seemingly prosperous, optimistic adventurer, who decides one summer's day to go home from a party not by driving or walking, but by swimming every swimming pool between his current location (by a pool) and his house. By making a dog-leg, he can count about 15 pools he'll have to swim. It seems like a cool thing to do, and it starts out well. The trip is fueled by alcohol, because there are friends and parties at several of the pools along the way and he has a drink at every one. But things get stranger and stranger as he goes along. One pool is empty and the house is for sale, which comes as a surprise. Places he expects to be met with friendliness, he is greeted with bewilderment or hostility. Some people express sympathy for his terrible problems, which surprises him. He doesn't know what they're talking about. He himself begins to grow weak and tired. The day turns cold. He becomes exhausted and can hardly climb out of the pool. When he finally reaches his home, half dead, he finds it locked and abandoned. His wife and four daughters are nowhere to be seen and the house is empty of furniture. End of story. Is this a metaphor for alcoholism? Superficial suburban life? Corrupt capitalism? You decide.

John Cheever ***************************************** "In the American Society," by Gish Jen, is about a Chinese immigrant family. The father, Ralph, has bought a pancake house and is doing well. He wants to be able to send his two daughters Mona and Callie, to college. For a time the family prospers. But Ralph wants to run his business like his grandfather ran his village back in China. He treats his employees as servants. He takes care of their personal needs, but he also asks them to do things for him personally outside the business. This paternalistic attitude begins to grate on his employees. They begin to quit. He is forced to hire undocumented Chinese immigrants. Things are not going well, he grows depressed, and retreats to the basement of his house. Meanwhile, their at-least-temporary wealth has raised their social status. His wife tries to join the local country club but encounters prejudice. A well-meaning neighbor invites them to a party. Ralph has to buy a suit he doesn't want to wear which is ill-fitting, attracting ridicule. He is accosted by a drunk at the party who mocks him in a racist manner. The hostess intervenes and the guest tries to apologize by offering Ralph a shirt, but Ralph is angry. He violently throws both the shirt and his own suit jacket into the swimming pool and storms off. Ralph's wife and daughters express admiration for his standing up to the white racist offender. As the story ends, one senses they are reevaluating their efforts to "fit in." This story resonated with a lot of current issues.

Gish Jen***************************** Next Thursday, the authors we will be reading are Lucia Berlin and Jennifer Eagan - not familiar authors to me. Ellen may have read something by Eagan. ***************************************** Yesterday, we had our last outdoor service at Guilford. We will be doing a "Trial" indoor service next Sunday, but Ellen and I will not be there. We will be going with Julie and Jerry down to Connecticut to an event where Ray Feinland, Jerry's father, is giving a talk. That should be interesting. After church yesterday, we met Nancy at the Dosa cart at the Retreat Farm and had our Sunday lunch there. The Falafel dosa is yummy! Dosa is South Indian cuisine.

The Dosa Cart