John Cheever’s “The Enormous Radio” is Gothic because it has the element of emotional distress and supernatural due to the radio having the ability to play out their neighbor’s private life. In the story, Irene’s husband Jim had bought a new radio for her to listen to as she enjoys listening to music from it but the old one was broken. When Jim got her the new radio, the radio didn’t play the music she wanted but instead, she overheard her neighbors’ lives. She realizes that their carefree facade in public was all fake and that behind the closed door were all living terribly. She was then depressed about life after hearing all about their neighbor’s darks’ secrets and pleads to her husband in hopes that their relationship wasn’t like their neighbors. Jim then tells her that she didn’t need to listen to any of this because he bought the radio for her to enjoy but instead it caused the opposite effect and made her feel gothic emotions such as anxiety and depression.  When Jim finds out that Irene didn’t pay her clothing bill, Jim raised his voice and got mad at Irene and scold her for being irresponsible thus causing Jim to express all the bad things she has done causing a ripple to their relationship and making Irene realized that she was in denial and that she has been listening to her own life as well.

John Cheever’s “The Enormous Radio” is not Gothic because although the story had emotional distress, it didn’t feel like Irene had an insane mental breakdown at the end of the story and she just realized she was just equally as bad as their neighbor and that she shouldn’t be the one to judge their lives because their neighborhood lives were supposed to be private. The story also didn’t have a gothic setting, most of the story took place in their home which was a regular home.