The Symbolic Meaning of the Radio in The Enormous Radio Many authors use the personification of inanimate objects to symbolize their characters' feelings and expressions. An example of this is in John Cheever's short story, "The Enormous Radio". Although critics argue that the radio's characteristics are opposite to those of Jim and Irene Westcott, the radio actually reflects the couple's life. Even though at the beginning of the story the Westcotts' old radio is obsolete and constantly malfunctioning, it has the same innocence and simplicity as the couple. The radio, being "an old instrument" (817), and the pair, which resemble "statistical reports in college alumni bulletins" (817), are both average and simple. Neither Jim nor Irene “understood the mechanics of the radio” (817), just as the radio, a machine, did not understand human music and the language it transmitted. Eventually the couple's life begins to fall apart. This happens when the old radio gets worse and eventually "the music [from the radio] fades away altogether" (817). ...