Through The Tunnel Essay

Through The Tunnel Theme

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 hismother 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.

In the story, Lessing uses symbolism of setting...show more content...

Lessing wrote, "And now, in a panic of failure, he yelled, in English "Look at me! Look!" and he began splashing and kicking in the water like a foolish dog (Lessing 359)." By comparing Jerry to a foolish dog, the author emphasizes both how difficult Jerry's task was for him and how badly he failed it. This excerpt also shows that if Jerry wanted to be like the other boys by swimming through the tunnel, he would have a long and perilous road ahead. Later in the story, right before he was about to go through the tunnel, Lessing wrote, " But two days before they were to leave – a day of triumph where he had increased his count by fifteen – his nose bled so badly that he turned dizzy and had to lie over the big rock like a bit of seaweed, watching the thick red blood flow onto the rock and trickle slowly down to sea (Lessing 363)." This excerpt shows that the tunnel is dangerous as well as nearly impassable. Even if Jerry gets through the tunnel safely, he'll have to worry about the danger that follows – adulthood metaphorically, and physical harm literally. Adolescence is not only a mental challenge, but a physical challenge as well.

All in all, the short story "Through the Tunnel" by Doris Lessing conveys the theme of adolescence through symbolism of setting and comparison. By setting the tunnel as a symbol of adolescence, the author helps readers understand the mental and physical struggles of adolescence. Adolescence is a difficult and crazy period in life, but somehow once most people get through it, they become mature, strong and kind. In other words, they're

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Character Analysis: Through The Tunnel

Doris Lessing develops a theme ВЁGrowth Requires RiskВЁ in her short story, ВЁThrough the TunnelВЁ, Lessing uses the main characters, Jerry and his mom, along with the setting to develop the theme. Jerry, the protagonist, has spent his summer on the beach with his mother. He has noticed other kids swimming through an underwater tunnel in the bay, he becomes determined to do the same. Throughout his struggling process of going through the tunnel, Jerry realizes that it wasn't all as great as he thought it would be. Lessing developed her theme through Jerry's mental and physical struggles. Jerry is a young English boy who is used to a day to day routine. When he first arrived at the bay, he was skeptical about swimming there. At the bay there was...show more content...

Though Jerry's mom didn't have many physical struggles or risks, she did undergo the process of mental growth throughout the story. Jerry's mother is very overprotective and is in denial that her only son is growing up. With being a widow he shows a lot of authority towards Jerry. Throughout the story Jerry's mother is very anxious about Jerry and his desire to adventure out to do new things. "She was thinking. Of course, he's old enough to be safe without me. Have I been keeping him too close? He mustn't feel he ought to be with me. I must be careful" (Lessing 1). During the story, Jerry becomes less dependent and doesn't run things by his mother. His mother then realizes that he is maturing, yet she still keeps an eye on him through the process, but she doesn't overdo it though. When Jerry returns from finally swimming through the tunnel. His mother sees that his nose is bleeding vigorously, yet she doesn't panic, she doesn't yell. "She looked at him closely. His eyes were glazed–looking. She was worried. And she said to herself, "Oh, don't fuss! Nothing can happen. He can swim like a fish." (Lessing 4). Jerry's mother didn't change dramatically in the story, but she did learn not to when and when not to overdo her parenting towards

In the story Through the Tunnel, Jerry, the main character, has a very strong bond with his mother. He is at the point in his life where he wants to go be by himself instead of staying with his mother. Jerry's mother is worried that he will get hurt and does not want him to go. She also does not want to be overprotective of him.

Jerry's bond with his mother is actually complicated. His mother does not want to obsess over him. On the other hand, she also does not want him to feel unappreciated, so she lets him get–up–and–go to the bay by himself. She suddenly feels that he will grow up in a jiffy. And not have the hankering to spend time with her.

Jerry and his mother have a very close bond. They both love each other very much. On the other

Through The Tunnel

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. Jerry is a young boy who has not yet fully matured yet. His mother finally lets him go off on his own when he see the french boys. They are much stronger and older than him but he still hangs out with them and they don't seem to mind at first. The french boys all swim under the big pile of rocks in long periods of time without air. Jerry is amazed and wants to find out how they did it. The boys laugh and judge him as he sits on the rock, alone without the ability to swim with the boys. This is when Jerry sees the tunnel for himself and sets the goal to swim through it before the end of vacation...show more content... 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 Get more content

Through The Tunnel

The transition from childhood to adulthood, also known as adolescence, is a difficult, challenging journey that changes people in many ways. Psychoanalyst and author Louise J. Kaplan once said, ""Adolescence represents an inner emotional upheaval, a struggle between the eternal human wish to cling to the past and the equally powerful wish to get on with the future." This is shown in the short story "Through the Tunnel" by Doris Lessing. "Through the Tunnel" starts with a young English boy named Jerry who decides to go to the bay instead of "his" beach. At the bay, Jerry meets some native boys who swim through a tunnel for fun. He then decides to train himself to swim through the tunnel. After a few days of training, Jerry successfully goes through the tunnel, despite almost dying. This...show more content...

In the story, the tunnel changes Jerry both physically and mentally. For example, Jerry describes the native boys, he portrays them as having "burned smooth dark brown" skin. Later on, after Jerry swims through the tunnel, he returns to his mother. However, the author describes his skin tone as a "warm brown". This shows that Jerry gained his independence after he went through the tunnel. The natives are symbols of adulthood and maturity in this story. After Jerry leaves the tunnel, he had the same skin tone as the natives, showing he gained his independence. The author also includes how tiring adolescence really is. "After a time, his heart quieted, his eyes cleared, and he sat up. He could see the local boys diving and playing half a mile away. He did not want them. He wanted nothing but to get back home and lie down." This shows the transition to maturity is a tiring, difficult transition. It also shows that adolescence is not as rewarding as one would think it to be. This use of symbolism shows that adolescence is a time to gain one's independence and

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Through The Tunnel

Spiritual teacher and author Marianne Williamson once wrote "maturity includes the recognition that no one is going to see anything in us that we don't see in ourselves. Stop waiting for a producer. Produce yourself." In the Doris Lessing short story "Through the Tunnel", the theme follows a similar idea. When a young English boy Jerry is vacationing with his mother, he spies a wild cove from the familiar beach where they are. With his mother's permission, he goes and explores the cove, meeting some older native boys. When he sees the boys swim through an underwater tunnel, and subsequently embarrasses himself, he decides to train himself in order to get through it. After days of grueling work, he finally enters the tunnel and conquers it....show more content...

Lessing describes: "He went out fast over the gleaming sand, over a middle region where rocks lay like discolored monsters under the surface." This creates a scene inside the mind of the reader. Lessing describes how different this area is to the calm, quiet beach of his youth. With the discolored monsters image, there is a feeling that this is exciting, almost a little frightening for Jerry. This signals that he must overcome his fears and go forward, suggesting that it often takes courage to transition onwards from child to adult, unifying the theme that transitioning from child to adolescent is dependent upon one's resilience to survive and

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Through The Tunnel

Imagine being constantly ignored when all you want is to be noticed. Most have experienced this feeling at some point in their lives. In "Through the Tunnel," Doris Lessing tells the commonly known story of a young boy as he attempts to fit in. Incidents like these prevail as someone is growing up, and Karen Holleran, a literary critic, shares her views on the short story in her article "An overview of 'Through the Tunnel: The Search for Identity and Acceptance.'" Conclusively,Doris Lessing incorporates Jerry's characterization to express that one must get through hard times successfully in order to become an adult.

Initially, the reader meets a young man who is quite lonely and eager to fit in, which makes him vulnerable to being overlooked....show more content...

The group of older guys can swim through an underwater tunnel, therefore Jerry feels he will be denied again if he does not learn how to swim through it as well. After he becomes sick and tired of constantly being overlooked, "he [begins] practicing the dives the older boys / [do] and his determination [is] greater than ever" (Holleran). Jerry wants to prove he can do something the older boys can do. He decides to perfect the dives they can do, and becomes deeply persistent about doing so.With hours and hours of practice under his belt, he finally makes the decision he is ready to swim through the cave and everyone knows "this [is] the moment when he [will] try" (Lessing 406). As Jerry learns to put more time and effort into more important tasks such as this, he wants to go all out. He knows that he must try his hardest to achieve this goal or he will not. He learns to try his hardest to accomplish what he wants. After his near–death experience in the cave, Jerry "not only learn[s] how to hold his breath, but / also how to hold his temper and how to understand what is truly important" (Holleran). Even though it took a long time to realize, this adolescent figures out that there are more important things in life than impressing others and trying to fit in. The reader sees this young man mature when he realizes that being accepted and trying to fit in are insignificant ideas, and he must remember to focus on himself and his own happiness before anything else. Once more, Lessing radiantly incorporates Jerry's characterization to express that getting through hard times is the first step to becoming an

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