The Swimmer
Nature. “The phenomena of the physical world collectively, including plants, animals, the landscape, and other features and products of the earth, as opposed to humans or human creations.” That defi-nition sets up two contrasts that are central in The Swimmer by S.J. Butler: man vs. nature. In order to explain how the two perform side by side in this short story, I will analyze setting and the devel-opment in the protagonist of the story as well as symbolism of a few somethings.
The author of the story creates a hot and summery location, where the main character, a girl, works in her office. It is beautiful and almost idyllic. The girl is very tempted to go swimming in the near-by river.
“If she goes now, she’ll have the river …show more content…
She gets closer and closer to the swan. “The evenings are reserved for the swan. She finds that if she never fully enters its stretch of water, it simply turns its head slightly to watch her. […] It doesn’t hiss, nor arch its wings.” Their contact is based on an equal amount of respect from both parts. She knows that she shouldn’t get too close; the swan knows to leave her alone as long as she leaves it alone.
After adjusting to nature, all she does is swim in that river. “The days become fluid and she spends more time in the river. She is no longer afraid of anyone coming. Fishermen go upriver in the early morning but she doesn’t care. Her skin and hair exude a smell of soil, weed and raw water.”
Her fear of seeming odd by the fishermen has disappeared, because she has accepted how she be-longs in nature, and how she almost has become part of it (she even smells like it). Sadly, on the last documented trip, the girl comes eye to eye with how her race affects …show more content…
And finally she sees that it is trapped, bound in a web of glistening nylon fishing lines. They have slung it up by the neck and caught its great wings half outstretched. […] Gently she starts to unravel the line, […] pulling the thread from its wings. […] Finally at the base of its neck, […] seeking out the buried nylon. It is embedded in the soft flesh and she pulls it free. Warm blood mingles with the river water and washes over her.”
The glistening nylon fishing lines are a symbol of man, as nylon is a material made out of synthetic atomic bonds and not to be found naturally in nature. The trapped swan in the nylon is a metaphor for how humankind disrupts the peace of nature. The blood that flows over the girl is a metaphor of the guilt she feels, as blood is a symbol of life.
In conclusion, the author illustrates 2 points. First, that we are far away from nature as humans, and that it isn’t unnatural for us to enjoy our time in it. Second, that we have a responsibility not to ruin the nature and climate, because nature is the reason why humans are alive. In some cultures, the swan is a symbol of Indians. The Westerners have trapped and hunted Indians quite a lot in the past, and so it could be a referral to their interference with them in the past as
Nature. “The phenomena of the physical world collectively, including plants, animals, the landscape, and other features and products of the earth, as opposed to humans or human creations.” That defi-nition sets up two contrasts that are central in The Swimmer by S.J. Butler: man vs. nature. In order to explain how the two perform side by side in this short story, I will analyze setting and the devel-opment in the protagonist of the story as well as symbolism of a few somethings.
The author of the story creates a hot and summery location, where the main character, a girl, works in her office. It is beautiful and almost idyllic. The girl is very tempted to go swimming in the near-by river.
“If she goes now, she’ll have the river …show more content…
She gets closer and closer to the swan. “The evenings are reserved for the swan. She finds that if she never fully enters its stretch of water, it simply turns its head slightly to watch her. […] It doesn’t hiss, nor arch its wings.” Their contact is based on an equal amount of respect from both parts. She knows that she shouldn’t get too close; the swan knows to leave her alone as long as she leaves it alone.
After adjusting to nature, all she does is swim in that river. “The days become fluid and she spends more time in the river. She is no longer afraid of anyone coming. Fishermen go upriver in the early morning but she doesn’t care. Her skin and hair exude a smell of soil, weed and raw water.”
Her fear of seeming odd by the fishermen has disappeared, because she has accepted how she be-longs in nature, and how she almost has become part of it (she even smells like it). Sadly, on the last documented trip, the girl comes eye to eye with how her race affects …show more content…
And finally she sees that it is trapped, bound in a web of glistening nylon fishing lines. They have slung it up by the neck and caught its great wings half outstretched. […] Gently she starts to unravel the line, […] pulling the thread from its wings. […] Finally at the base of its neck, […] seeking out the buried nylon. It is embedded in the soft flesh and she pulls it free. Warm blood mingles with the river water and washes over her.”
The glistening nylon fishing lines are a symbol of man, as nylon is a material made out of synthetic atomic bonds and not to be found naturally in nature. The trapped swan in the nylon is a metaphor for how humankind disrupts the peace of nature. The blood that flows over the girl is a metaphor of the guilt she feels, as blood is a symbol of life.
In conclusion, the author illustrates 2 points. First, that we are far away from nature as humans, and that it isn’t unnatural for us to enjoy our time in it. Second, that we have a responsibility not to ruin the nature and climate, because nature is the reason why humans are alive. In some cultures, the swan is a symbol of Indians. The Westerners have trapped and hunted Indians quite a lot in the past, and so it could be a referral to their interference with them in the past as