The Enormous Radio

Cheever uses figurative language to describe the new radio and its dynamic within the Westcott home. Once the new radio is installed in the Westcott living room, Irene is “struck with the physical ugliness” (33) of the appliance. She finds it so much of a mismatch with her decor that it “stood among her intimate possessions like an aggressive intruder” (34). Cheever describes the story’s central object using characterization techniques often employed in the description of antagonists. The radio’s tangible physicality is vividly described as it stands there, almost lurking, in the room. It is more than just a radio, it is an intruder, one interloping in the space that Irene has so carefully decorated.

In another similar example, there is a different household appliance that is described with human characteristics. Once the radio starts to reveal its capabilities, it starts by amplifying electrical sounds from all around the apartment complex. One of those sounds is described as “the lamentation of a vacuum cleaner” (34). With this personified expression of sorrow, readers witness Irene’s dismal perspective on domesticity. This particular use of personification is also coupled with metonymy, another literary device in which a part of something can be seen to represent a whole. In this case, the vacuum cleaner represents various characters who are locked into the culture of domesticity, either as domestic servants or as the women who employ them.

The story employs two literary allusions that speak to the relationship between love and wealth. These allusions make it clear that marriage is never solely about romance or love; financial considerations must be considered when deciding to marry. In Edward Lear’s “The Courtship of Yonghy-Bonghy-Bò,” the titular character of the poem is a poor man who cannot secure the wealth needed for a successful engagement. When his love, Lady Jingly, announces that she must marry someone, Yonghy-Bonghy-Bò rides off into the ocean atop a green turtle, leaving his beloved in a state of despair. In Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, a nobleman asks to borrow money from a wealthy friend to pay the bride price for the woman he wishes to marry. The wealthy friend must put up collateral to secure the necessary funds for his friend, and to accomplish this, he turns to the moneylender, Shylock, who will infamously demand a pound of flesh from the wealthy man as his repayment. 

Cheever frequently uses foreshadowing. When the older radio is on the fritz, Jim slaps it along “the side of the cabinet with his hand” (33), in a violent manner that foreshadows what will be heard over the new radio when Mr. Osborn physically assaults his wife. The story ends with Jim and Irene having an extended conversation that focuses on their financial concerns. This money talk is foreshadowed from the very first line of the story, when the family is described as achieving “that satisfactory average of income” (33). Those financial concerns are further foreshadowed by Jim’s choice to surprise Irene with such a distinct radio. Though it isn’t mentioned directly, the story implies that Jim has chosen an uglier model that is much more affordable. This choice also foreshadows those ugly truths that Jim will ultimately reveal about his family’s finances. Throughout the story, the marital secrets that Irene learns foreshadow the troubles in her own marriage. In her greatest moment of despair, Irene is horrified by the fact that everyone is “worried about money” (39). When she asks her husband if they suffer from the same issues, he dismissively mentions how much money he paid for the radio. However, the next day, he lashes out at Irene and reveals the full extent of their problems.