Neddy hatches his plan to swim across the county, which drives the entire story, by drawing an equivalence between swimming pools and rivers. Swimming pools are bounded, owned, and sterile, but Neddy transforms them into a “stream” in his imagination. He interprets this “discovery” in grandiose terms, to the extent that the “vague and modest idea of himself as a legendary figure” reads as satire. His legendary self-image strains against the trivial nature of the quest, and Neddy’s protestations that he isn’t a “fool” only make him seem more foolish. The fact that Neddy’s idea of himself is “vague” further…