John Cheever was an American writer who grew up in Massachusetts and lived from 1912-1982. He won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, despite having never graduated from college. Cheever was an alcoholic and closeted homosexual. Commonly known as the "Chekhov of the Suburbs," his stories often reflected on people's spiritual and emotional emptiness.

This short story was written in the third-person limited omniscient point of view. In other words, it was written in the third person, but the narrator had knowledge of all of Neddy's thoughts, impression, and sensations.

Setting played an important role in this short story. Cheever used the seemingly idyllic suburban setting as a contrast to Neddy's inner turmoil. Neddy himself derives his identity from his place in suburban society, and the niceties and advantages that go along with it. He tries to delude himself that suburbia is...