S. J Butler The Swimmer Summary

The short story “The swimmer” is written by S.J Butler in 2011. The story is about a girl, who desires to swim her days off in the river. But something is preventing her from pursuing her wish. She has a fear of being seen by other people, and the fishermen could see her, if she decided to take a swim. On a hot day, she decides to conquer her fear of being seen, therefore she got ready and went for a swim in the river. Many days went by, and she got used to spending her days in the water, she got to unravel a curiosity for a “lokal” swan in the river. Both day and night she observed the swan and its movement, until she at last swam close enough to touch it. The theme of the story is concurring your fears, the main character in the story, takes

There are many hidden symbols and you have to read deep between the lines to catch the meaning. taking an example from the tekst, the author describes how she now on a daily basis swims in the river, where the river in this case could be referred to as a symbol of the main characters obstacles in life, and how finally going into the river she wins over her fear. She gets the freedom that she has longed for. She pulled her selv together and went swimming in the river, using that as a symbol for her pulling her life together. The swan is used as a symbol of light, “She’s quit unready for the swan. Its floating midstream, in profile…. she had never before realised the sheer size of a swan” (P.3 L.72-75) could be the same as using the phrase, “the light at the end of the tunnel”. As the days went by, she always managed to pull herself one step closer to the swan, even though she new it could be dangerous. You have to take risks in life. She took a risk, until she finally reached it. She reached her goal. In the end letting go of the swan, did not mean giving up, it meant that she let her fears go and conquered the things she was rejecting and running away from in

Comparing the swan as her goal in life, was simply because of the way the author described it, the white colour, the elegant movements, it 's a comparison for those beautiful things in life, which everyone desire. Especially choosing to include the colour of the swan, colours are defined in so many ways, but white is always positive. It is the colour of life, and angels and beauty. The river is cleverly chosen because of its strong current, which is known for dragging people with it. As well are the difficulties in life. Choosing the river as a symbol of life, and the main character spending most of her time in the river, was cleverly chosen, because of the