Water In The Swimmer

Water. The source of life and great mystery. This flowing and unpredictable, yet somewhat constant, body of mass has filled us with wonder and left us marvelling, for as long as we know, at which secrets and mysteries that might be lying beneath the surface. Inspiring poets and artists everywhere, our world’s most dominating ingredient has, with its many states and forms, become not only a picture of beauty in nature but also one of the ultimate symbols of the unknown, and thus a cause of fear for many. ‘The Swimmer’ is a short story by S.J. Butler that depicts a working woman dealing with her fear of the unknown.
The story begins in-media-res with a thorough description of the setting in which the story takes place. We, the readers, are given the idea that the story takes place at an idyllic, quaint location, as the introductory lines of the story depict the bank of a river with the surrounding fields and their belonging cattle on a warm summer day, and the next few describe the movements of the river and the sun that is being reflected in the surface of the water. Although the surroundings are described as being peaceful and attractive, we are,
We go from the extremely chaotic walk to the river, to the cooling and calming sensation of actually being in the water, and with this, back to the idyllic impression we were introduced to in the first part of the story. Her actions also reflect this as they, too, are being described calmly. The calmness is dominating the overall telling of the story for a long time, until she encounters a swan while being in the water. She observes it insecurely from afar, at first being uncomfortable with the situation, but then gradually gaining enough courage and curiosity to swim closer to the swan, and eventually she decides to swim up close, where she notices it is bound by a rope, and frees