The Symbolic Meaning of Radio in The Enormous Radio Many authors use the personification of inanimate objects to symbolize the feelings and expressions of their characters. An example of this is in John Cheever's short story, "The Enormous Radio." Although critics claim that the radio's characteristics are the opposite of those of Jim and Irene Westcott, the radio actually reflects the couple's lives. Although at the beginning of the story the Westcotts' old radio is outdated and constantly malfunctions, it has the same innocence and simplicity as the couple. The radio, being “an old instrument” (817), and the couple, resembling “statistical reports in alumni bulletins” (817), are both average and simple. Neither Jim nor Irene “understood the mechanics of radio” (817), just as radio, a machine, did not understand human music and the language it transmitted. Eventually, the couple's life begins to fall apart. This occurs as the old radio deteriorates and eventually "the music [from the radio] faded completely » (817). ...