*Cheever and O'Connor*

Contrast the difference in styles between these two stories.

The first thing I really noticed reader John Cheever's, "The Swimmer", was his lack of structured dialogue (when people spoke at all). Within a paragraph someone might say a sentence or two, but it's not until when Ned talks to Mrs. Halloran (on page 2048) that an exchange between two characters is indented. It's also at this point that the reader learns a little more about Ned than just his thoughts and actions which is all we've had to go on until now. In Ned's conversation with Mrs. Halloran the reader gets a sense that something's wrong (she mentions being sorry about his misfortune and he can't remember it). The next two conversations he has, both of which are in a traditional dialogue form different from the beginning, also reveals things about him; Grace Biswanger who unexpectedly greets him very rudely and reveals he asked her to borrow $5000.

In contrast, Flannery O'Connor's, "Good Country People", has a lot of dialogue and followed different people throughout (as opposed to "The Swimmer" where the action was solely dependent on Ned). By showing all the action which lead to the big ending event of Joy/Hulga having her artificial leg stolen, O'Connor kept the tale as her bio says, "moving inevitably toward completion. It seemed to me that to get to the climax of the story, O'Connor followed all relevant action whereas Cheever started his story after something took place. Personally I liked O'Connor's better because I felt like I had a clearer picture.