96 / 365 of reading one short story every day.
The Enormous Radio - John Cheever
American writer John Cheever's short story was first published in the New Yorker in 1947 and then in The Enormous Radio and Other Stories in 1953. A fantasy story, it shows the urban lifestyle of a couple and how on edge one can be when confronted with their own faults.
Jim and Irene Westcott are a modern married couple living in New York City. Comfortably well off, they are aspirational but not greedy for wealth. Living in an apartment building, they are friendly with their neighbours. One day their old radio breaks down. Having a common interest in classical music, they arranged to get a new one soon.
When Irene starts listening to it, she finds interference which keeps disrupting the music she’s listening to, and discovers that the radio is somehow picking up the sounds of the apartment block. Eventually they end up listening to their neighbours and laughing at the things they overhear. Money issues, marriage fights and sickness - just a few things Irene hears while she is at home. And then she gets obsessed and affected by the stories. Jim tells her to stop the whole activity and they end up fighting.
Jim shouts at her, bringing up Irene’s past life and throwing her faults on her face – which includes stealing her mother’s jewellery and having an abortion – in order to show how she is just the same as their neighbours.
The story is a portrayal of the life we live today where we would love to hear and gossip about others and yet love to keep our secrets and shortcomings behind well toned masks. We all have varying amounts of hypocrisy within ourselves which come out at moments in life, ending up teaching us a lesson if we are willing to learn - not to judge others and to improve ourselves.
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