I believe John Cheever wrote The Enormous Radio, to show how the effect of secrecy affects the person, and a relationship. On how the radio effect Irene being the person and her marriage. And in three paragraphs I’m going to prove my point.
The first sign that shows how Irene was being affected, was when she got up out the bed at night to get her son water. But afterwards, goes into the living room to listen to the radio and hears a conversation from a middle-aged couple discussing something, she wasn’t supposed to hear. To me, this is the beginning of an obsession. In the morning after sending her husband and children off. She goes back into the living room and turns the radio back on. Hearing what I believe are her children and husband …show more content…
They were going out for dinner with friends and while at the dinner party Irene seemed to be in a mood that Jim was not familiar with. She started complimenting their friends and how they’re so much different than their neighbors. “They’re really such nice people, aren’t they?” she said. “They have such nice faces. Actually, they’re so much nicer than a lot of the people we know” (Cheever 44). Jim’s knows something isn’t right with her, and clearly, Irene was talking about her neighbors, when she mentioned the people they know. She has a different perspective on her neighbors now since she knows what they’re hiding and she sees them differently. For the rest of the party, she interrupted the hostess rudely and stared people down intensely from across the table like she would have punished her children. Jim clearly noticed his wife obscured behavior that night. They get back home and when everyone except Irene is sleep. She goes back into the living room and turns on the radio. Jim comes home the next night and Irene runs to him crying “Go up to 16-C, Jim!” She screamed. “Don’t take your coat. Go up to 16-C, Mr. Osborn’s beating his wife. (Cheever 45) She’s basically told him “Hey, I’ve been listening to the radio eavesdropping on our neighbors.” Jim tells her that she shouldn’t listen to the radio because it’s making her feel dreadful and then tells her that in the morning that he’s going to call for it to be fixed but not before Irene asked if they were happy. “Of course, we’re happy” (Cheever 46). But in the end, we find out that Irene has own little secrets nobody knows
The first sign that shows how Irene was being affected, was when she got up out the bed at night to get her son water. But afterwards, goes into the living room to listen to the radio and hears a conversation from a middle-aged couple discussing something, she wasn’t supposed to hear. To me, this is the beginning of an obsession. In the morning after sending her husband and children off. She goes back into the living room and turns the radio back on. Hearing what I believe are her children and husband …show more content…
They were going out for dinner with friends and while at the dinner party Irene seemed to be in a mood that Jim was not familiar with. She started complimenting their friends and how they’re so much different than their neighbors. “They’re really such nice people, aren’t they?” she said. “They have such nice faces. Actually, they’re so much nicer than a lot of the people we know” (Cheever 44). Jim’s knows something isn’t right with her, and clearly, Irene was talking about her neighbors, when she mentioned the people they know. She has a different perspective on her neighbors now since she knows what they’re hiding and she sees them differently. For the rest of the party, she interrupted the hostess rudely and stared people down intensely from across the table like she would have punished her children. Jim clearly noticed his wife obscured behavior that night. They get back home and when everyone except Irene is sleep. She goes back into the living room and turns on the radio. Jim comes home the next night and Irene runs to him crying “Go up to 16-C, Jim!” She screamed. “Don’t take your coat. Go up to 16-C, Mr. Osborn’s beating his wife. (Cheever 45) She’s basically told him “Hey, I’ve been listening to the radio eavesdropping on our neighbors.” Jim tells her that she shouldn’t listen to the radio because it’s making her feel dreadful and then tells her that in the morning that he’s going to call for it to be fixed but not before Irene asked if they were happy. “Of course, we’re happy” (Cheever 46). But in the end, we find out that Irene has own little secrets nobody knows