The Wapshot Scandal by John Cheever
"The Wapshot Scandal" by John Cheever explores the lives of the Wapshot family across four primary locations: St. Botolphs, Talifer, Proxmire Manor, and Italy. The novel presents a critical view of European American society during the mid-twentieth century, highlighting a pervasive sense of spiritual emptiness amid the mechanization and moral decay of modern life. Central characters, including Coverly and Moses Wapshot, along with various auxiliary figures, grapple with personal struggles that reflect broader themes of disillusionment and despair.
The seemingly orderly environment of St. Botolphs contrasts sharply with the underlying tensions, as characters like Mr. Applegate navigate conflicting feelings of hope and pessimism. In Talifer, where nuclear technology looms large, themes of isolation and social rejection emerge, exemplified by Betsey Wapshot's thwarted attempts at connection. Proxmire Manor serves as a backdrop for personal crises, with Melissa's health fears and Moses's descent into alcoholism illuminating the fragility of human existence. Even Italy, a symbol of cultural richness, fails to provide solace as characters confront their disillusionment. Overall, Cheever’s narrative combines satire with a profound sense of loss, illustrating the futile resistance against societal challenges and the tragic consequences of escapism.
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Subject Terms
The Wapshot Scandal by John Cheever
First published: 1964
The Work
The Wapshot Scandal reveals the Wapshot family in four principal settings: St. Botolphs, Talifer, Proxmire Manor, and Italy. In all of these locations the atmosphere of spiritual emptiness prevails, and European American characters struggle against the oppressive and morally destructive forces of a mechanized and technological world.
The title might suggest that the Wapshot family is the central focus of the novel, and that Coverly and Moses Wapshot and their wives are major figures, but many auxiliary characters are introduced, and their problems and struggles are important to the themes of the novel.
“How orderly, clean, and sensible the world seems,” the narrator says, describing St. Botolphs; nevertheless, an ominous warning is issued: “It is late in the day, late in this history of this part of the world.” Despite “brutes,” “shrews,” “thieves,” and “perverts,” St. Botolphs preserves appearances and maintains its hope. Cheever dampens that hope, however, as he relates the feelings of Mr. Applegate, who optimistically senses “his faith renewed” and feels “that an infinity of unrealized possibilities” lies ahead, yet pessimistically halts his reverie with an alarming turnabout, asking himself if his good feeling comes from his gin.
In Talifer, a place where nuclear missiles are developed and deployed, Betsey and Coverly Wapshot take up residence because of a computer error. Betsey struggles to be social, but all the neighbors are cold, scorning her invitation to a party. Dr. Cameron, the director of the site, is in charge of an operation built six stories underground, and at a Senate hearing he declares that the destruction of the world by nuclear force seems appropriate to him.
In Proxmire Manor, where Moses and Melissa Wapshot reside, Melissa fears she has cancer and seeks to affirm her life by developing a relationship with a boy who delivers groceries. She escapes with the boy to Italy, and Moses escapes into alcoholism. Gertrude Lockhart, a neighbor in Proxmire Manor, witnesses the failure of her septic tank, heating system, and washing machine, and after descending into alcoholism and promiscuity, she hangs herself.
Even Italy, which seems to offer an older and richer world to Honora Wapshot, proves unsatisfactory, and this elderly source of Wapshot wealth returns home to die. Melissa’s journey to Italy becomes pathetic when she wanders through an Italian supermarket, chanting jingles for American cleaning products.
In all, The Wapshot Scandal presents a disturbing view of European Americans in the middle of the twentieth century. While many scenes are comically satiric, in the end the challenges of society are met only with futile resistance or with catastrophic descent into sex and alcohol.
Bibliography
Bosha, Francis J., ed. The Critical Response to John Cheever. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1994. Sampler of reviews and critical essays on all Cheever publications. Reprints five reviews of The Wapshot Chronicle and includes a new essay by Kenneth C. Mason on “Tradition and Desecration” in the two Wapshot books.
Bosha, Francis J., comp. John Cheever: A Reference Guide. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1981. Excellent discussion of the inconsistent critical response to Cheever’s fiction. Provides a comprehensive, fully annotated listing of works about Cheever, including reviews, articles, and interviews.
Collins, R. G., ed. Critical Essays on John Cheever. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1982. Good overview of the critical reception of Cheever’s fiction. Reprints many of the most important and influential reviews and essays (some in revised form), including Frederick Karl on pastoral, Beatrice Greene on Cheever’s vision as an effect of style, and Frederick Bracher on comedy. A new essay by Samuel Coale on Cheever’s “Romancer’s Art” is especially noteworthy.
Donaldson, Scott. John Cheever: A Biography. New York: Random House, 1988. Fair-minded and richly detailed, this biography offers the fullest and most objective, but nevertheless sympathetic, account of Cheever’s life and work, including the publication and reception of The Wapshot Scandal.
Hunt, George W. John Cheever: The Hobgoblin Company of Love. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1983. Longer, more detailed, but more tendentious than the earlier book-length studies by Samuel Coale (1977) and Lynn Waldeland (1979). Hunt offers useful summaries of plot and criticism before offering his own critical reading in terms of Cheever’s Christian perspective.