Through The Tunnel

After Jerry had watched the older boys go through the tunnel and leave the bay, he was left alone again. He then dived back in among the “fanged and angry boulders,” (3). This personification emphasizes a negative connotation that shows how frustrated Jerry is at this point in his adventure. He felt like he boys were “leaving to get away from him,” (3), which only further supports the notion that he feels alone and has no clue what to do. However, after he decides to get goggles, he ran right back and dived into the bay once more.

She was a widow. She was determined to be neither possessive nor lacking in devotion.", we are able to understand why the boy is so emotionally attached to his mother and, at the beginning, unwilling to ask her for permission to go to his beach and, later in the story, unwilling to let her know about his adventure through the tunnel.  This also explains why the mother let him go without questions, even if she was very worried about him.  Also, when the narrator describes the native boys as "big boys - men to Jerry", we realize that although the boys might be only a little older than Jerry, he considers them as men and he tries everything to become like one of them, even going through the long, dark and dangerous underwater tunnel.  I believe that if the writer would have used first person point of view, we would only perceive what that single character is experiencing, thus giving us a limited and one-sided view of the world.

Initially, our first thoughts of Jerry at the beginning of the story, is that he acts immature and is burdened within a circle of maternal protection. During the opening of the story, the author conveys Jerry’s relative childishness by labeling him as “the boy”. The author also uses the mother to demonstrate his youth and how he is trapped in a circle of maternal protection which leads us to think that he is lonely due to that reason. In this part, “His mother walks in front of him, carrying a bright white strap in one hand” tells us that because the mother was walking in front of him, it gives us the impression that the mother still thinks of him as a boy that needs to be protected from any potential harm. We see more of Jerry’s immaturity and how the burden of protection leads his actions as we go through the story. During the part where Jerry sees the group of boys acting free-spirited, we see that he is overcome with desire to be with them, probably because he feels that because he is always in the circle of protection making him feel lonely and isolated from everyone. At first, he is added into the group and begins to have fun jumping from the cliff into the water with the other boys. Later on however, he starts to act immature when he realizes he could not do the same thing the other boys were doing. That was, underwater for a long time and going through the dark tunnel and he becomes scared. In this passage,“... In a panic of failure, he yelled up, in English, “Look at me! Look!” and he began splashing and kicking the water like a

Jerry’s new identity does not last long. He cannot challenge the authority of the Vigils without facing any consequences. Jerry is to be made an outcast rather than a hero.

In the story “Through the Tunnel” by Doris Lessing the main character Jerry is young and sees a group boys do something that he finds interesting, Going through the tunnel. The problem is he is too young and too weak to do it. The boys were Judging and excluding him and it made him sad. Jerry used the negative actions of the french boys as motivation to set a goal of swimming through the tunnel before he leaves. Although Jerry is not physically strong or mature he has a large amount of mental strength and uses what should be his weakness be his strength.

The story Through the Tunnel is about a young boy named Jerry and his mother going on vacation to a beach resort that they have previously visited. The villa they are staying at consist of two beaches. The safe, crowded beach is where Jerry’s mother goes and the wild Rocky Bay is where Jerry ends up spending most of his time. While Jerry swims in the water at the wild bay, he sees a group of boys diving into the water. Jerry knew right when he saw them, he wanted to be just like them. In his eyes, “They were big boys—men to Jerry” (Lessing 148). To show that he was brave, he found the courage to dive off the

The characterization of Jerry illustrates the stages of maturing and becoming independent. In the beginning of the story, Jerry is depicted as young and immature. The immaturity of Jerry is shown when he is trying to capture the older boys’ attention. In order to capture their attention, “he began splashing and kicking in the water like a foolish dog.” This action conveys that Jerry is still immature, and wants to join the older kids. After seeing the boys pass through the tunnel, Jerry also wants to pass through in order to be a part of their group. In order

Jerry is pushed beyond his limit when swimming through the tunnel and he struggled but persevered and kept swimming. After swimming for an unbearable amount of time, Jerry addresses that, “He was at the end of what he could do… [but] he must go on into the blackness ahead.” (Lessing 5). He acknowledged that he was being pushed out of his comfort zone but instead of giving up, he was determined to make it through. Dissimilarly, when Elizabeth was faced with the challenge of taking responsibility and owning up to her actions after striking out at Celia, she runs away, fearing retribution. After attacking Celia, Elizabeth experiences the feelings of guilt and fear, “…I ran as fast as I could…I was able to creep down to the girls’ washroom and quickly hide…I was so filled with horror…” (Huggan 80, 81). Elizabeth realized that she was going to face punishment for her actions but instead of accepting it she decided to run away from her problems. Jerry, displaying a growth mindset through his ability to conquer challenges, was able to successfully complete his goal. Elizabeth, demonstrating a fixed mindset, runs away from her challenges and faces consequences afterwards. Hence, having a growth mindset that is not afraid of challenges will accomplish more than having a fixed mindset that runs away from

Some people believe that lies will always be bitter in the end, no matter how sweet you make them in the beginning. In William Gass’ The Tunnel, he expounds the validity of this belief by taking the reader on an emotionally evolving journey, as he recounts the self-realization of a young boy, who’s frightening lie unravels in front of not only his own eyes, but also the readers. Gass successfully enriches this story with striking imagery, symbolism, and comparisons; exposing how no matter how sweet you make a lie in the beginning, it will always turn bitter in the end.

He tries out to be the quarterback, but he is knocked down again and again. He questions whether or not he should even come back to practice the second day because he was hit so hard. While he hated being beaten up so bad, he was determined to make the football team. This attitude shows throughout the entire story. Jerry is not a quitter, and he is determined to achieve his goals.

He has been through alot in his life like his mother died of cancer which has him isolated. He is always engaged in a battle with himself and with the outside world. He looks up to his father who is a pharmacist thinks his father has a dull and boring life but admires him. A strength jerry has is he does not complain about the crap he has gone through in his life and at school and it pays off at the end, his biggest weakness is he can’t win the battle with himself and the outside world.

In the following story Through the Tunnel, the author symbolizes the underwater tunnel as the struggle of going into adulthood. There's two quotes in the book that can prove this thesis correct, “He was trembling with fear that he would not go; and he was trembling with horror at that long, long tunnel under the rock, under the sea.” This proves

Even though, jerry wants to be accepted and in control of his life, the harsh reality is Jerry’s identity wants to be with his mother. Further throughout the story the tunnel is shown as the symbol of the story; letting the reader know that Jerry senses that it is the door to his identity. Additionally, the chronological structure is effective throughout the story in showing the process of growing up and an insight into Jerry’s transformation. Moreover, the 3rd person omniscient narrator and formal register presents the character of Jerry and his mother in a distanced way and without a biased perspective. This suggests the sense of detachment and alienation that Jerry is starting to feel from his mother as he is growing up and wanting to make his own choices. The story is firstly introduced with a description of the mother carrying a bright striped purse. It was this and other uses of describing Jerry’s surroundings with the use of bright colours symbolising jerry’s childish world and thoughts. In addition, the thought of jerry’s childish thoughts shows his struggle to establish his own identity. The author writes that Jerry goes swimming “over a region where rocks lay like discoloured monsters under the surface”. The simile shows that even though Jerry wants to be independent and swim alone in the bay, he’s terrified of being alone in the water and not seeing his mother again. Briefly, Jerry learns that you cannot

“Yet, walking down the path with her, he blurted out, ‘I’d like to go and have a look at those rocks down there,’’ (Lessing 1). During the short story, “Through the Tunnel,” Lessing shows that Jerry has an interest in breaking away from his mother early on in the story. He shows a passion for wanting to go to the wild bay, instead of staying with his mother at the safe beach for their vacation. Jerry’s transformation from boy to a young man is revealed in the settings of the safe beach, wild bay, and the journey through the tunnel.

Jerry tries to act older so that he can fit in with the boys. When