Cheever’s narratives rarely end ‘happily ever after’. Why might a writer choose to make their characters suffer?

I believe that Cheever’s narratives seldom had joyful endings, because Cheever didn’t see one on the horizon for himself. And as for him making his characters suffer; well, suffering forges character and characters in conflict make for a solid tale. Plus the man did once say:  

The need to write comes from the need to make sense of one's life and discover one's usefulness.

-- John Cheever

Writing for Cheever was to exercise one’s demons. Writing was a way to discover one’s worth. While Cheever created these rich, involving worlds and dropped the reader into his characters’ lives at sporadic moments; he was fully aware that his characters were just that – characters. He invented them. They may well be

adapted from fragments of his own psyche or the remembrance of a stranger, but Cheever knew full well that they were at his disposal.

So, I guess you could say that writing is a form of counselling.

After all, what is art if not an aid to better understand? We all suffer in life; some of different magnitudes to others, yes – but that doesn’t mean certain suffering is superfluous. So I think along with the writer trying to gain their own understanding of their own problems, they’re also putting it out there so that other people can do the same.   

Creating something is all about problem-solving.

-- Philip Seymour Hoffman