Kaitlyn Overstreet
Mrs. Buckley
English III
13 April 2017
The Crazy Radio Why can Irene hear the conversations going on throughout her building, but no one can hear her through the radio? “The Enormous Radio,” by John Cheever was set shortly after World War II. Irene and Jim Westcott love listening to music, and one day their radio got ruined and Jim had to go buy a new one. The radio has something wrong with it, it allows them to hear other conversations. “The Enormous Radio” made it seem that other people could hear the people in the building’s conversations, but it was Irene’s mental instability. When the Westcott’s favorite radio broke, Jim went out and bought another one as a surprised for his wife, Irene. When the new radio arrived,
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Cheever used Irene to expose the American life and comforts of the middle class life, but it cannot protect the Westcott’s against the evil from within themselves, or in the world around them (The Enormous Radio 1-2). The insanity of Irene has caused for her marriage to suffer to where it can’t be fixed. She became dependent on the radio to tell the gossip that was going on in the building that her insanity got the better of her, and when she turned on the radio at the end of the story when she turned on the radio she could no longer hear the conversations. This shows that if someone gets too involved into something, that insanity can be lost if it is taken too far. Works Cited
“The Enormous Radio.” Recommended Reading: 500 Classics Reviewed, June 1995, pp. 1. EBSCOhost, doi: 103331RRR11360089900135. Accessed: 22 March 2017.
Cheever, John. “‘The Enormous Radio.’” “The Enormous Radio,” english307formsofmodernshortstory.web.unc.edu/files/2014/03/enormous_radio-by-John-Cheever.pdf. Accessed 22 Mar. 2017.
Morace, Robert A. “The Enormous Radio.” Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition, September 2006, pp. 1. EBSCOhost, doi: 103331MSA15579830000556. Accessed: 22 March 2017.
Parsell, David B. “The Enormous
George Saunders writes about human behavior with some modern and not so modern examples. He invites the reader to imagine themselves at a party where someone is speaking into a megaphone. Soon the focus of the party becomes the topic the megaphone speaker is flooding into the party atmosphere. Saunders also talks about new broadcast,he mentions a news reporter reporting busy shopping activity at a mall during holiday season . What a surprise!
When Irene finally realizes that this woman is Clare, someone who chooses to “pass” and hide all traces of her black heritage, Irene’s opinion of her changes. She no longer wants to be involved with Clare in any way, and “had no desire or intention of making the slightest effort about Tuesday. Nor any other day for that matter. She was through with Clare Kendry.” (p. 31) Irene is appalled that someone can so easily throw away her background just for the sake of gaining privilege over another race. When Clare asks her if she had ever thought of passing, Irene replies, “No. Why should I? You see, Clare, I’ve everything I want.” (p. 28) She is happy with what she has, not even having to give up anything to get there. Or at least that’s what she convinces herself to believe. Irene is again hypocritical in her beliefs. Even when she opposes Clare’s view of passing, she is still very interested in the idea. “The truth was, she was curious. There were things she wanted to ask Clare Kendry. She wished to find out about this hazardous business of ‘passing’…” (p. 24) She even admitted that she held for her “a fascination, strange and compelling.” (p. 28) Irene doesn’t seem to be able to decide if she accepts passing as reasonable. She forces herself to disagree with passing, allowing her to hate Clare for doing it. This shows us that sexuality and race are two matters that conflict with each other, at least in Irene’s opinion. She uses race to
Passing begins with Irene’s recollection of encountering Clare in Chicago a few months before the current events of the story take place. Their first meeting on the roof of the Drayton offers insight into the nature of both characters. Clare’s seductiveness and ability to influence Irene is established when Clare convinces Irene to spend more time with her, leaving Irene wondering “just what had possessed her to make her promise to find time” (22). The fact that Irene is in the process of passing during their first encounter exposes her hypocritical nature, especially when it is revealed throughout the story how much she looks down upon Clare for passing.
Tom’s infidelity in his marriage clearly expresses his views about his wife, Daisy. In seeking an affair, he conveys that Daisy is deficient and not worthy of devotion. Daisy knows of his affairs, but because of the time period and their social class, she is helpless to do anything. As a woman in the 20th century, it would destroy Daisy to divorce Tom, even though the entirety of New York knows about Tom’s affair.
Irene and Brian’s marriage symbolized the different roles of women and men in their home. Although she told Clare that she had all the things she wanted and that did not need to ‘pass’ as white, Irene still struggled with her marriage and the control
The megaphones in our lives today do a lot more than just influencing. The megaphones in our world can range from the people we look up to, to our political leaders, parents, and mostly mainstream media. He gives us simple, but perfect examples of how they intrude their thoughts with ours. How the way a simple voice change can make us think completely different than the way we thought of it before. It makes us look at the media or our role models to be our idolized figures. Saunders jumps around with different stories about the megaphones we experience in our everyday lives. After reading his thoughts and examples, I have come to realize that there are in fact many different “megaphones” that do intrude on our worlds thoughts and views.
Daisy puts up with her husband’s infidelity because of the benefits he provides, his background, his “old money”, and his reputation. When I talk to Daisy she’s always quite cheerful and peppy, but there are moments when I see how sad and lonely she is, “'All right,' I said, 'I'm glad it's a girl. And I hope she'll be a fool – that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool… you see I think everything’s terrible anyhow… I’ve been everywhere and seen everything.” (17) In a society corrupted by greed and scandal, the best thing that one can hope for is to be too stupid to realize what’s actually going on and therefore not get hurt.
The radio that is presented from the book “All the Light We Cannot See” is a metaphor for the hope and the many untold stories in World War II. The characters Marie-Laure and Werner were trapped in a seemingly hopeless situation during the German occupation in Normandy during World War II. The radio that was found, and restored, by Werner gave them a sense of hope when they would listen to stories and lessons from voices around the world. Although the children could not do anything about the war that was raging outside and their possible inevitable fate, the radio gave them a brief mental break from their troubles. The radio is important in the story because the radio admits soundwaves that we cannot see in the same way we cannot see light.
Irene continued to be a mistress to the German major for many months until the Germans started to lose. They all decided to leave the villa and fled to the forest. Due to the fact of them having a radio, they knew when the front was coming, and once the Russians came they were free. Irene stated that by the time they were free, a baby that was born from a couple she had been hiding, the baby had been born in freedom and to her everything she had went through was worth it.
Irene wants to control her relationship with Clare and seems frustrated as she loses control when Clare is around. One occasion, Irene tries hard not to accept Clare’s invitation to meet her but ends up going. Later, Irene’s anger goes away just by the power of Clare’s smile, "And under her potent smile a part of Irene's annoyance with herself fled”. This constant loose of power makes Irene vulnerable and the possible affair between Clare and Brian gives Irene a motive for hating her instead of admitting her lesbianism and losing the life she has worked so hard to build.
For this week’s post I listened to Orson Welles and The Mercury Theater’s ‘War of the Worlds’ radio broadcast. The broadcast is one hour – long and what seems to be about an alien invasion in New Jersey. My first reaction to this post even before listening to the broadcast or reading articles was a little uneasy. You can say that I was a little anxious about this post due to my personal beliefs of not speaking about the unknown; however I will not be getting an F any time sooner. Anyways, I don’t listen to the radio unless it’s music related so you can surely understand why I would not be interested in a radio adaptation of a novel, especially one related with alien invasions. This broadcast, however left me wanting more even after being scared
John Cheever’s "The Enormous Radio" represents the enormous amount of hidden truths in American society of the 1940s. The problems with society during this time were hidden behind a facade of goodness; however, this false innocence becomes visible through the radio owned by the Westcotts. The radio causes the Westcotts to evolve from an innocent, naive pair who believe that everything they see is real, into individuals who realize that appearances are deceiving.
In a fit of tears, Irene’s obsession with spying leads her to doubt their happiness and question their finances. Right away, Mr. Wescott sends for a repair man to fix the radio, which is done the next day. “I paid four hundred dollars for the radio today, I hope you’ll get some enjoyment out of it” (Cheever 900). While on the subject of finances, Jim becomes very angry with Irene for lying about paying her bills. This leads Jim to scold his wife and list her secrets, such as stealing from her sister, and having an abortion.
Even though in the beginning of the story the Westcotts’ old radio is outdated and constantly malfunctioning, it has the same innocence and simplicity as the couple. The radio, being "an old instrument" (817), and the couple, resembling "statistical reports in college alumni bulletins" (817), are both average and
Another source of information about her dad is her family. Irene is hesitant to talk about her first husband. First she tells Sam, “I was married to him for one month before he left, and I never saw him again…I hardly even remember him” (p. 167). She also displays some bitterness about the war and tells Sam not to make it out like it was a happy time (p. 236). Emmett is also reluctant to