Exposing the Pain in the Enormous RadioIn John Cheever's short story, "The Enormous Radio", Jim and Irene Westcott are presented as average, middle-class Americans with hopes and dreams like everyone else. other. They are described as “the kind of people who seem to achieve a satisfactory average in income, effort, and respectability” (Cheever 817). Jim and Irene thought they were the epitome of the perfect American family, with no problems or worries. The only thing that differentiated them from their friends and neighbors was a deep passion for serious music. This passion, through the enormous radio, made them understand that they had as many problems as the next family. Their reaction on the radio shows that they were not perfect and that they did not have a worry-free life. The first sign that the radio was going to cause a problem was its physical appearance. Irene hated the radio: “She was immediately struck by the physical ugliness of the large gumwood cabinet” (Cheever 817). The radio stuck out like a sore thumb in Irene's perfectly appointed living room. The radio's appearance resembled what it would ultimately do, "bring a new ugliness into the Westcotts' perfectly organized lives" (Giordano 56). When the Westcotts first realize that they have an eavesdropping machine, Irene becomes extremely paranoid about whether or not they are being overheard either, as if they have something to hide. Irene quickly becomes obsessed with listening to other people's conversations, as Nathan Giordano points out, "it was like listening to a soap opera on television" (56). The Westcotts stayed up late at night listening to each other's conversations; some nights they went to bed "feeble minded... middle of paper... they do have problems and turning a blind eye to their problems doesn't help solve them" (Smith 59). The enormous radio was a wake-up call for Irene. It was a lesson that all she can do is be the best person she can be and that denial only represses guilt for a short time. It is uncertain whether Irene understands this, but the reader eventually realizes that even the "average American family" can have problems that need to be solved, not forgotten. Works Cited Cheever, John. “The huge radio.” The Harper Anthology of Fiction. Sylvain Barnett. New York: HarperCollins, 1991. 817-824. Giordano, Nathan. “Illusions, illusions.” Ode to Friendship and Other Essays. Ed. Connie Bellamy Virginia Beach, Virginia, 1996. 55-58. Smith, TaVeta. “The perfect facade.” Ode to Friendship and Other Essays. Ed. Connie Bellamy Virginia Beach, Virginia, 1996. 58-59.