Fear In S. J. Butler's The Swimmer

Fear is something that affects all people through their lives. Not all fears are equal, but our experiences with fear will differ from one person to another. It can function as a barrier that prevents us from experience certain tings, but sometimes it works as a driving force that helps us overstepping our boundaries. We can choose not to let anxiety and fears control our lives, but instead choose to let courage drive us forward.
S.J Butler’s short story “The Swimmer” is about a young woman whose fear keeps her trapped and hinders her from doing the thing she desire. Not until she overcomes her fear and pursue her urge is she able to set herself free and let the current take her. The story is narrated by a third person narrator who centres around our main character, whose name we are not told. It is an internal focalisation, meaning that the events are restricted to the point of view of the young woman.
Our main character is female and lives, presumably by herself in beautiful surroundings in the near of a river and fields which thick air muzzling the buzzing engines of the cars. Everything around her seems to dwell in the weight of the hot summer air, except the steady olive green water of the river slowly trickling away. She even imagines the fish lying safely in the

There is a contrast between the stillness of the air and the general lack of motion and to the trickling river, which is a dissonant element in the environment. She feels both drawn by the river and “Every day she looks out at the river, and longs to swim in it” Yet there is fear holding her back at the same time when she sees that “Ahead, the second bend tugs the path in an extravagant right-hand swoop, swinging it into the field.” Her thoughts are stirred with anxiety and she fears that she might be swept away by the current like dozen of other things have