约翰·契弗的短篇小说《游泳者》借用了古典文学以旅程为结构的叙事传统,刻画了主人公奈迪.麦瑞尔在8英里归家路上的所见、所闻、所感。主人公的旅程不仅是肉体之旅,更是以他人为镜映照出的悲剧性的自我认识之旅。而其之所以为悲剧,不只在于中产阶级的生活方式和生存法则,同时也与甚嚣尘上的现代主义文化及个人主义休戚相关。 John Cheever’s short story “The Swimmer” borrows the narrative tradition of classical literature as a structure of journey, portraying what the host person NidiMariel saw, heard and felt during his eight-mile journey home. The journey of the hero is not only a journey of physicality, but also a tragic self-realization trip based on the reflection of others. And its tragedy lies not only in the middle class’s life style and the law of survival, but also in the raging modernist culture and individualism.