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But the most important point that Cheever extends to the audience through this story was that Irene herself is the hypocrite, an individual not unlike her neighbors. This truth was only addressed at the end of the story through the character of Jim, Irene's husband. While the radio acted as the "mirror" to other people's souls, it was only until Jim's burst of anger ("Why are you so Christly all of a sudden?") that readers were given a glimpse of the true character of Irene even before the enormous radio had influenced her life. Irene as a 'cold-hearted, selfish' individual was never reflected in the story until towards its end. The radio also acted as a "mirror" for Irene, making her realize that she's just like some of her hypocrite members. Through the issue of invasion of privacy, Cheever successfully criticized society for its evident hypocrisy during his time, wherein immorality and cruelty abound in the privacy of people's homes despite their seemingly good disposition and character in the public eye.
Schickler in "Smoker," meanwhile, embodied invasion of privacy as an issue between Nicole and Douglas, the protagonists of the story. In Nicole's character, readers saw an individual who consciously violated Douglas' right to his privacy....
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