How Ned Merrill In "The Swimmer" Is a Hero

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Ned Merrill is somewhat unlike any other hero we have read about this semester. Ned lives the “big life” in a suburban neighborhood where everyone “…[drinks] too much…” (Cheever 23). He was in his own little world all the time, mostly because of all the liquor he drinks. His life was “not confining and the delight he took in this observation could not be explained by its suggestion of escape” (24). Many may not see Ned as a hero at all but on the contrary, he actually is, in a way. He is most like Gilgamesh because of the fact that at the end of both of their journeys they learn a valuable life lesson. Gilgamesh searched for immortality his entire journey. Ned always thought he was immortal. He always saw himself as strong even though he was getting weaker over his journey home. Gilgamesh learned in the end that immortality was only for the God’s and that he had to live his life to the fullest in order to get the best life experience. Ned also leaned the same lesson after he found that he was in his own world for so long that he had somehow lost all of his money, his house, and his wife. When he got to his home and saw that it was empty, he cried. It was the “first time in his adult life that he had ever cried, certainly the first time in his life that he had ever felt so miserable, cold, tired, and bewildered” (30). There was no family, no cars, no maids or cooks, the place “was empty” (30). It was at that moment that he realized what had happened with his life; that he had drank himself into oblivion, and that everything he once thought he was blessed with was now gone. He, at that moment, knew that he had to change. Ned, however, is much different than Beowulf in the ways of a hero. Beowulf from the beginning always was a part of his community. He loved his fellow warriors, and he would always fight for them if needed. Ned was the complete opposite in this. He

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