How does the author's use of magic and realism affect the reader's interpretation of Irene Westcott's behavior?

Cheever combines realistic and magical elements in his short story "The Enormous Radio." While the radio itself functions in a magical way, Irene Westcott's response to it is entirely realistic. The human interactions the radio broadcasts are also realistic in nature. 
The radio the Westcotts purchase starts to mysteriously broadcast the voices of their neighbors, allowing the Westcotts to overhear the intimate details of their neighbors' lives. While this element of the story is magical, the scenes that Irene Westcott overhears are all too realistic. She and her husband, Jim, hear mundane details of family life, such as a man asking where his garters are and family arguments over overdrafts at the bank. Irene also overhears a quarrel between a husband and wife, as well as the man's beating of his wife. In addition, the argument that Irene and her husband are involved in, in which her faults are exposed, is also realistic. 
This combination of realistic and magical elements helps us understand that Irene's behavior is hypocritical. While she criticizes and reacts with horror to the intimate details of the lives around her that she hears over her magical radio, she also struggles with petty and selfish behavior, such as stealing her mother's jewelry from her sister. She criticizes others for the same faults that she herself possesses.