The Enormous Radio.

Essay by ihackwinA-, January 2004

download word file, 5 pages 4.0

Downloaded 36 times

Jim and Irene Westcott are part of the upper-middle class community in the fashionable area on New York City\rquote s east side. They live on the 12th floor of an apartment building near Sutton Place, which is a suburban community outside New York. The Westcott\rquote s have a very passionate love for the theatre and music this is why when there radio goes out they almost immediately purchased a new one. The Westcott\rquote s purchase of the new radio is supposed to bring \ldblquote enjoyment\rdblquote (Cheever 235), but in actually it brings out things they didn\rquote t want to face. The building in which the Westcott\rquote s live is a culture in itself and the radio in the voice of that culture, serving as a link between the image and reality. The radio brings into conflict the fa\'e7ade and the truth.\par

On the surface, the Westcott\rquote s are an affluent family that is living the American dream.

They attend the theatre 10.3 times a year and they differ from there friends and neighbors in that they shared an interest in music. They loved to go to concerts and sit and listen to classical music on the radio. There style of dress demonstrated there status in society. When it is cold Irene wears a fur coat that is dyed to resemble mink. Jim dresses equally dazzling, as if he attends an elite boarding school of some kind. When there old radio breaks, Jim didn\rquote t think twice about ordering one for the house right away, \ldblquote the radio was delivered to the kitchen door the following afternoon, and with the assistance of her maid and the handy man Irene uncrated it and brought it into the living room\rdblquote (229) . The Westcott\rquote s also had a maid that lived in...