When Adam and Eve ate an apple from the "Tree of Knowledge", they were cast out of paradise. This quest for the consumption of knowledge, whether it is useful or trivial, has possessed mankind since the dawn of time. Knowledge is an addiction for always wanting to know more. This addiction is present with Irene in John Cheever's "The Enormous Radio". There are 4 main stages of addiction: Use, Misuse, Abuse, and Dependency. As the story progresses it is broken up into the four main parts, the only stage that isn't directly exhibited is the total self-destruction. Through the text it can be tested if Irene and Jim self-destruct or make a total recovery of their addiction. .
When relating to the first stage of "use" it is important to remember it is not the radio that is addictive. The addiction is the forbidden information/knowledge that the new one is sending out. The first radio was a symbol of their paradise in ignorance: .
"Their radio was an old instrument, sensitive, unpredictable, and.
beyond repair. Neither of them understood the mechanics of .
radio -or of any of the other appliances that surrounded them"(Cheever 229).
With the new radio, new things are introduced. First, no signal was being received. After a repair the radio started tuning into people's lives. When the radio first started broadcasting into people's private lives Irene tuned in and it drew Jim's attention to the .
situation. This shows the "use" stage, described as" the use of substance/object without the experience of any negative consequences". During the use period, Irene and Jim know it's wrong and try to stop.
As the days progress Irene enters the "misuse" stage. The misuse stage is when a person experiences negative consequences from the use of the substance/object:.
"She (Irene) overheard demonstrations of indigestion,.
carnal love, abysmal vanity, faith, and despair. Irene's.
life was nearly as simple and sheltered as it appeared to.