Users' questions

What is the message of The Enormous Radio?

What is the message of The Enormous Radio?

In The Enormous Radio by John Cheever we have the theme of privacy, secrecy, obsession, doubt, change and control. Set in an apartment building in 1940s New York the story is narrated in the third person by an unnamed, omniscient narrator and has a suspenseful mood.

What happens at the end of The Enormous Radio?

They’ll hear us.” Irene has stepped over to the other side of expectation. She has departed from the accepted rules of perception and behavior: She believes that now their lives are broadcast over the radio to other homes. This is how the ending subscribes to the style of fantasy fiction.

What is the tone of The Enormous Radio?

To do so, Cheever adopts a style of writing in “The Enormous Radio” that builds an ironic tone and suspenseful mood so that readers participate in that darker side that lurks beneath the facade of statistical correctness.

How does the narrator describe the new radio what might be the reason s for such a description Why does Irene want to conceal it behind a sofa?

How does the narrator describe the new radio? What might be the reason(s) for such a description? Why does Irene want to conceal it behind a sofa? The reason for the description of the radio were to convey Irene’s displeasure with the appearance of the new appliance.

Why was the enormous radio by John Cheever written?

There is also a sense of irony in the story. The radio was bought by Jim to bring happiness into the family home, instead it brings, conflict (internal), doubt and obsession. Cheever explores the theme of privacy several times in the story. There is the obvious eavesdropping by Irene on her neighbours.

Who is the narrator of the enormous radio?

The Enormous Radio by John Cheever. In The Enormous Radio by John Cheever we have the theme of privacy, secrecy, obsession, doubt, change and control. Set in an apartment building in 1940s New York the story is narrated in the third person by an unnamed, omniscient narrator and has a suspenseful mood.

What is the thesis of the enormous radio?

What is a thesis/argument that John Cheever makes in his short story “The Enormous Radio”? Written by John Cheever in 1947, “The Enormous Radio” focuses on Jim and Irene Westcott. Combining elements of magical realism and the domestic gothic, the story’s thesis focuses on buried secrets….

When did the enormous radio first appear in The New Yorker?

It first appeared in the May 17, 1947 issue of The New Yorker, and was later collected in The Enormous Radio and Other Stories, 55 Short Stories from the New Yorker, and The Stories of John Cheever. The story describes a strange new radio that allows its owners to listen in on conversations of other tenants in their apartment building.