Through The Tunnel

Joss Whedon, a famous director, once said, “Everyone who made it through adolescence is a hero.” Adolescence is a difficult part of life where we learn to become independent and we discover who we are. Many books explore the theme of adolescence, and it is expressed in many different ways. In this story, Jerry, a eleven year-old boy, goes to the beach with his mother and he sees some boys swimming through a tunnel. Inspired by them, Jerry trains hard until he can also swim through the tunnel. In the short story “Through the Tunnel” the author, Doris Lessing, uses symbolism of setting and comparison to express the difficulty of the transition from childhood to adulthood.

Through the precarious attempts of Jerry, "Through the Tunnel" demonstrates numerous internal conflicts that prompted him to take such questionable risks. At the beginning of the story, Jerry’s mother says, “Why, darling, would you rather not come with me” (Lessing 242)? As for Jerry, “Contrition sent

The next day Jerry goes to the wild bay, where he meets some natives. “To be with them, of them, was a craving that filled his whole body.” (Pg. 30) When Jerry sees those in adulthood, he becomes filled with a desire to join them, but when he does they unconsciously exclude him. “. . . and they proceeded to forget him. But he was happy. He was with them.” (Pg.31) Jerry appears not to mind. Slowly, Jerry begins to realize he is very different from the adults. “ They were big boys-men, to Jerry.” (Pg.31) After some time the adult portion of the group easily does something that

In the short story "Through the Tunnel", Doris Lessing describes the adventure of Jerry, a young English boy trying to swim through an underwater tunnel.  Throughout the story, the author uses the third person omniscient point of view to describe the boy's surroundings and to show us both what he and the other characters are thinking and what is happening around them.  By using this point of view, the author is able to describe the setting of the story, give a detailed description of the characters, and make the theme visible.

In life, one must overcome their fears in order to achieve or successfully attain a certain goal in their mind. The short story “Through the Tunnel”, by Doris Lessing tells us about how Jerry builds confidence and maturity throughout the story, by overcoming his fear of going through the dark and scary tunnel underneath the water. The author portrays the idea of overcoming one’s fear to achieve a goal through Jerry, who was once a childish and isolated character, had begun his risky adventure of going through the tunnel to prove his worth to a group of boys and along the way discovers what he truly wants. Over time he becomes more mature and in the end, gain self-acceptance.

He works on his goal none stop doing everything he can to improve his chances of going through the tunnel. He asks his mother to buy him goggles to see the tunnel. He holds his breath under the water for long periods of time strengthening his lungs to get ready for the real thing. Jerry also starts working out so he can be stronger and faster in the water increasing his odds of making it through because it will be shorter time and it will be less time on his lungs. Jerry is now ready not only mentally but physically to swim through the

Growing up, many young boys idolized the war heroes in movies such as Saving Private Ryan and American Sniper. However, in the poem "Tunnels," Yusef Komunyakaa portrays the theme of the true fear and lack of purpose experienced by the American soldiers who fought in the Vietnam War. This was done by showing the reader that any mistake could easily result in the death of a soldier. Through his use of poetic form and structure, figurative language, and diction Komunyakaa is able to effectively convey his theme.

Now comparing these stories, Jerry and the narrator of “Sixteen” are very much alike, just as they are apart. Maureen Daly and Doris Lessing really give the reader a good feel for the characters and mood, making the tone easy to comprehend. In “Sixteen”, the narrator is very serious when talking about how she is, in fact, quite smart, and knows what she’s doing when it comes to life. Along with this, Jerry is very serious about practicing his breath golding and swimming because he wants to be able to get to and go through the tunnel. It’s a goal, not a dream. Both of these characters take the reader on a very personal journey; one into the mind and heart, and one into the process of him becoming a “man”. Two very difficult things to normally talk about. The authors create anxiety for the readers when Jerry is actually in the tunnel. He begins counting, higher and higher, the longer he’s in the tunnel, making the reader think, “There’s no way he’s going to make it out.” There is also a sense of anxiety in

“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.

I had two goals in writing this paper. The first goal being to get a good grade. The second was to thoroughly bring out the theme of symbolism in “Through the Tunnel”. I achieved my second goal, and hopefully my first, by carefully analyzing the story and taking notes in preparation for writing my paper. I then took my notes and translated them into something readable, which is much harder than it sounds. During the editing process, I had a peer review sheet that was to help me strengthen the weak points in my paper. Unfortunately, the review sheet helped me very little. On the subject of strong and weak points, I feel the strongest point of my paper is that I always have a quote to back up my point, but on the other hand I feel my weakest

Growing up is one of the most interesting things to learn as a child. This is represented in Through the Tunnel by the protagonist in the story discovering how to grow up and how to overcome your fears. This short story is about a boy who is trying to detach himself from his mother and tries to grow up. In this short story, the author creates an environment that describes the way that the main character matured and grew up over time.

Adolescence and the transformation to adulthood can be symbolized in countless ways. For example, Doris Lessing shows this process constantly throughout “Through the Tunnel” by including a variety of metaphors. The first time Jerry and his mother arrived at the beach that they had been to on other vacations, he looked at the rocky bay before looking at the beach. Lessing wrote, “...the young English boy stopped at a turning of the path and looked down at a wild and rocky bay, and then over the crowded beach he knew so well…” This symbolized the beginning of his journey because he was taking a greater interest in the bay than he had in years passed. After the first day on the beach with his mother, Jerry decided that he wanted to go down by

African American activist Frederick Douglass once said , “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” This quote is exhibited in the short story “Through the Tunnel” when Jerry, an 11 year old boy, who decides to transition into adulthood by going through a tunnel that the older boys can cross during vacation. On the first day, he remains close to his mother who represents childhood and safety. After discovering the tunnel, he strays from her and faces the challenges of adulthood as represented by the rocks and bay. In the short story "Through the Tunnel," the author, Doris Lessing portrays the theme the difficulty of the transition from childhood to adolescence using symbolism and imagery.

“Through the Tunnel” by Doris Lessing Bio: Doris Lessing was born in Kermanshah Iran, on October 22, 1919. After growing up in now Zimbabwe, she moved to England and embarked upon a writing career. Her first novel was published in 1950 and her 1962 novel The Golden Notebook turned her into a feminist role model.

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