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#8 The Enormous Radio (John Cheever, 1947)

 Rating: 8.9/10

    To some extent, becoming a hypocrite is inevitable in the era of social media. Everyone seems to have a hot girl's summer body in summer and kisses from her perfect boyfriend on Christmas. However, under these immaculate masks, there exist unspoken rules of social confidentiality. As George Orwell quoted, most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome. It is a universal fact that extremely few people can indulge in Gucci bags and drive Lamborghini, but people do not hesitate to like nor become dubious of daily Instagram posts of a fake extravagant life. 

The short story 'The Enormous Radio' portrays a small society obsessed with schmancy outward behaviors often at odds with reality. Irene was at the extreme at looking oblivious and naive. However, those self-deceptive attitudes were merely acts cultivated to hide their past behaviors those could be accused of serious sins. Witnessing the parallel structure between people around 'SNS' nowadays and the 'Radio' in Cheever's story, I realized deception is inevitable in a community with various people.

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