The work was included in the short fiction collection Some People, Places, and Things That Will Not Appear in My Next Novel (1961), published by Harper and Brothers.
Charlie and Martha Folkestone reside in the upscale and socially exclusive suburb of "B___", a small, well-appointed and contented community.
A delightful person when sober, Gee-Gee's demeanor suddenly undergoes a radical change: he begins to berate the Folkestones in a drunken tirade, and proceeds to strip naked in their living room.
In the midst of the banquet, Gee-Gee leaps up on the table and yells "You're all a bunch of stuffed shirts" and proceeds to dance a jig, singing lewd songs.
During the next six weeks Gee-Gee, is forgiven for his offensiveness, securing an invitation to another household and then predictably insulting another host, breaking dishes and hanging from their chandelier naked.
After sharing a drink, Charlie prepares to depart as evening falls and it begins to snow heavily, aware that he is abandoning his friend.
[6] Critic Lynne Waldeland offers this passage: Life was unprecedentedly comfortable and tranquil…In nearly every house there was love, graciousness, and high hopes.
The schools were excellent, the roads were smooth, the drains and other services were ideal…[7]Into this Arcadia Cheever introduces the disruptive and disturbing Gee-Gee, a god-like figure.
Literary critic Patrick Meanor notes that "Mythic elements abound in "The Scarlet Moving Van" and Cheever invites readers to notice and interpret them."
Meanor adds: "It is obvious that Gee-Gee is a combination of Dionysus, Pan...and Silenus, who was never sober and wreaked havoc wherever he appeared.
[8] Critic Samuel Coales notes the biblical prophecies that resonate with Gee-Gee's declaration: "I have to teach them…they've got to learn.
The fall from grace that Charlie suffers, from a thoroughly establishment figure into a social outcast begins with his shared alcoholism with Gee-Gee.
[12] Meanor writes: "The gilt and scarlet moving van, that shiny conveyance that 'was an inspired attempt to disguise the sorrowfulness and wandering', suggests both the good and the bad aspects of the suburban mentality.
The van itself is beautiful and accommodating, though the color may suggest some demonic aspect of man's fruitless but inevitable quest.