Fear Of Water Theme

The short story opens with one of the narrator’s early childhood memories of learning to open her eyes under water in her family’s bathroom. Under her father’s supervision, she daringly dunks herself under the water of the bathtub, despite her lingering apprehension. This is the protagonist's first experience with conquering her fear of the water in order to discover a something new about herself that may have otherwise gone unnoticed, and thus her swimming career begins. These opening lines, though rather innocent, introduce Strutt’s developing theme of the significant role that emotions play concerning one’s perception of a situation. One of humanity’s more vulnerable aspects, foresight is easily influenced by how one feels in a given situation. Moreover, fear is one of the most impactful emotions

However, a traumatizing incident involving a murky lake and a leech leaves the protagonist with a chronic fear of any water that wasn’t a public pool. “For the rest of the summer, I refused to go in the water.” Once again, she is afraid of the water, however, she is unable to overcome these obstacles as she once had. It is assumed that her early childhood fears of the water were not completely extinguished, even with her natural talent as a swimmer. Due to the pressure from her father, it is likely that the protagonist felt compelled to ignore any feelings of foreboding of the water and seek his approval and praise of her skill. Nonetheless, her initial feelings of fear had made their mark. Nonetheless, the incident with the leech at the summer camp had given the protagonist a genuine defense of her anxiety of the water. She chooses not to deal with this fear, but instead repress it due to the shame that comes with admission and the dread of disappointing a