The Importance of the Omniscient Point of View in Through the Tunnel

The transition from childhood to adolescence is a difficult process with many obstacles. In Doris Lessing’s short story, “Through the Tunnel”, this idea is expressed when Jerry decides to leave the safe beach and play in the rocky bay. He strives to be like the older boys, but he can only do that when he matures enough. In Doris Lessing’s “Through the Tunnel,” the author demonstrates the many obstacles present in going from childhood to adolescence using symbolism and imagery.

Throughout the story Through the Tunnel, the most important theme that recurs is self determination. The boy in the story, Jerry, has demonstrated this self determination by pushing himself through tough situations. One of these situations was when Jerry saw the French boys playing in the ocean. In the text, it said, “To be with them, of them, was a craving that filled his whole body.” (244) This quote proves his determination because later on in the story, he then swam toward them. Eventually, they started playing, and the boys yelled cheerful greetings at him. That’s when Jerry knew that he was welcomed in. Without his determination in this scene, Jerry wouldn't have been able to play with the boys. Jerry demonstrates self determination in

The author utilizes a narrator with an omniscient point of view. This allows the reader to get an insight into the thoughts and feelings of Tom. The use of this type of narrator also allows the author to control what and how much is revealed to the reader in building suspense. The point of view used influences the effectiveness of suspense as the narrator reveals the various thoughts and feelings of Tom at the correct point in the development of the story to keep the reader absorbed by the developments. The narrator's perspective affects your understanding of the story. The tone in this story is seemingly neutral and factual, but on closer assessment it becomes clear that the author, Jack Finney, portrays a sympathetic view towards the character Tom Benecke.

The author uses characters to reveal the theme through their thoughts, actions, and views. A piece of evidence that uses character to display the theme is from "Angela's Ashes", "I asked if she would like some tea". This quote is from a point in the story when Angela asked her mother, who has fallen terribly ill, if she is in need of anything even though supplies were limited. Furthermore, the reader can infer that Angela has taken the role of her mother, mostly because she is lacking a father figure to step in, introducing an area of struggle. By making the inference of Angela's role in her family the audience is able to put what troubles she has underwent into perspective, this creates a window for the author to use character to introduce the theme. From the short story, "The Street" the character is found within

Tone is stated to be something that is “a general tone or attitude of a place, piece of writing, situation, ect…” Tone helps represent the writer or Narrator’s point or feeling throughout a story. In “Sixteen” by Maureen Daly, the Narrator of the story is a 16 year old girl talking about love and how blind people can be because of it. “Through the Tunnel”, by author Doris Lessing, on the other hand, is about an 11-year-old boy who creates his coming of age story by, literally, swimming through a tunnel. The distinction of plots and settings in these stories couldn’t be more different but similar tones throughout the stories almost bind them in a way. Similar tones in “Sixteen” and “Through the Tunnel” are:

To begin with the theme is about say something before it's too late. In the story in the beginning she said “Today I wish I was 102 instead of 11 because if I was 102 I’d have known what to say when Mrs.Price put the red sweater on my desk” Said the girl in the story. She also wished that she was not just sitting there she wanted

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.

A part of maturing is finally doing things independently without the supervision from parents. In her short story, “Through the Tunnel”, Doris Lessing conveys the concept of maturing through becoming self-sufficient. Lessing uses characterization and symbolism to show that being self-reliant is a part of growing up.

Writing from different viewpoints allows the author, Tim O’Brien, to express himself in a more comfortable manner. Written in this viewpoint, the story is read as a tale instead of an autobiography and the author becomes more distant with the story like he is looking into it rather than writing it.

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

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.

Alice Walker uses point of view incredibly sound in her story "Everyday Use." The character momma presents just enough information about the characters so that

“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.

story. By showing three different perspectives the reader is able to have a better idea of

The short story is a concise form of narrative prose that is usually simpler and more direct compared to longer works of fiction such as novels. Therefore, because of their short length, short stories rely on many forms of literary devices to convey the idea of a uniform theme seen throughout the script. This theme is illustrated by using characteristics that are developed throughout the story such as, plot, setting and characters. The three main components are developed throughout the story in order to guide the reader to the underlying theme, which is necessary as a short story lacking a theme also lacks meaning or purpose.