The Pleasures of Solitude

The Pleasures of Solitude by John Cheever The text under analysis is “The Pleasures of Solitude” by John Cheever. Before getting down to a close reading, the reader should bear in mind the fact that the author is a keen observer and a good psychologist; thus, shaping their understanding of the short story one should take that fact into account so as not to miss the subtleties of the characters’ portrayals and the essence of the story itself. The very first thing that the reader comes across is the title of the story that, as one can presume, performs the function of foreshadowing, at least, of two main points. First of all, the title hints that the story might be about loneliness, the state of complete alienation, and, secondly, due to the case of oxymoron “pleasures of solitude” (how can one be happy when being lonely? or what kinds of entertainment can one find when there is no one to share them with? are the questions that one can ask in order to see the practical incongruity of the expression), there might be a paradoxical situation in the story when it seems better to accept the state of loneliness than to succumb to other people’s pressure and, thus, lose one’s unique identity though solitude itself, as far as we know, possesses destructive power in its nature. Not earlier does one read till the end than all these presuppositions can only be proved or rejected. In the framework of its plot structure the story can be relatively divided into 3 main parts: exposition, climax and denouement – with intermediate parts in-between. Unlike a traditional plot division, there is no exposition in its strict sense with a detailed description of the place, time and characters. All the necessary preliminary information is given within a 2-line sentence that immediately puts the reader in the thick of the events. Developing such a brief exposition, the author underlines its insufficiency and reinforces the importance of the further events which are to depict the