Cheever
Cleveland Tubbs
ENG 102
8 June 2010
John Cheever Author Kathryn Riley’s article, “John Cheever and the Limitations of Fantasy,” is an assessment made by six commentators on the works of John Cheever. The commentators conclude that a visionary quality is one of the central features of the work of Cheever. Samuel Coale is the first commentator that attempts to prove his argument by stating that Cheever’s darker tales store up strange visionary thoughts over unenlightened minds. The next commentator, Lynne Wadeland; depicts Cheever as a romantic and moralists. With this generalization, Wadeland feels that Cheever’s awareness of life-enhancing and life-diminishing qualities both in people and in the world can confuse the full humanity of his characters. Furthermore, critics thought of another quality of Cheever’s work suggested by Coale and Wadeland; the darker more negative side of his vision. Assessments of the darker vision’s by Cheever were thought of by Wadeland, Bracher and Clinton S. Burhans, Jr. The arguments of these reader can be summarized by stating that Cheever’s characters live in a world that is confusing, unreasonable, and potentially threatening. The commentary goes on to state that the sources of dramatic conflict in Cheever’s work is unexpected and unexplainable by the laws of logic. As a result, making the central message involved in Cheever’s work to require a personal vision in the face of contradictory evidence. The commentators used three stories to prove their point: “The Swimmer, “O Youth and Beauty, and “The Geometry of Love.” In summary, critics have pointed out it is true that character’s in Cheever’s stories live in an unreasonable and menacing world. Therefore, we can infer that Cheever’s main message includes a need to maintain a personal vision in the face of contradictory evidence, and character’s whose vision results in defeat serve to illustrate the operation of chance or negativity. As a result, making visionary quality a
ENG 102
8 June 2010
John Cheever Author Kathryn Riley’s article, “John Cheever and the Limitations of Fantasy,” is an assessment made by six commentators on the works of John Cheever. The commentators conclude that a visionary quality is one of the central features of the work of Cheever. Samuel Coale is the first commentator that attempts to prove his argument by stating that Cheever’s darker tales store up strange visionary thoughts over unenlightened minds. The next commentator, Lynne Wadeland; depicts Cheever as a romantic and moralists. With this generalization, Wadeland feels that Cheever’s awareness of life-enhancing and life-diminishing qualities both in people and in the world can confuse the full humanity of his characters. Furthermore, critics thought of another quality of Cheever’s work suggested by Coale and Wadeland; the darker more negative side of his vision. Assessments of the darker vision’s by Cheever were thought of by Wadeland, Bracher and Clinton S. Burhans, Jr. The arguments of these reader can be summarized by stating that Cheever’s characters live in a world that is confusing, unreasonable, and potentially threatening. The commentary goes on to state that the sources of dramatic conflict in Cheever’s work is unexpected and unexplainable by the laws of logic. As a result, making the central message involved in Cheever’s work to require a personal vision in the face of contradictory evidence. The commentators used three stories to prove their point: “The Swimmer, “O Youth and Beauty, and “The Geometry of Love.” In summary, critics have pointed out it is true that character’s in Cheever’s stories live in an unreasonable and menacing world. Therefore, we can infer that Cheever’s main message includes a need to maintain a personal vision in the face of contradictory evidence, and character’s whose vision results in defeat serve to illustrate the operation of chance or negativity. As a result, making visionary quality a