In the short story “Through the Tunnel”, by Doris Lessing, a young boy named Jerry and his mother visit a beach. Jerry sees a few of the local boys diving from rocks into the ocean, and after watching them, he realizes they are all swimming through a tunnel of rocks on the ocean floor. Jerry is determined to prove himself, and after days of training and analyzing the tunnel, he is prepared to swim through the tunnel. Jerry is successful with his attempt, but it took all the energy he had. The author suggests that proving oneself is a challenging endeavor, both physically and mentally.
One way the author suggests proving oneself is physically challenging is through imagery. Before he attempted to swim through the tunnel, Jerry trained himself to hold his breath for a little over two minutes. He spent days pushing his body to its physical limit, and this intense training had damaging effects. When Jerry makes it out of the tunnel, he is near unconsciousness. Jerry says, “He could see nothing but a red-veined, clotted dark. His eyes must
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If the setting had been a safe environment, it would not have been as mentally challenging for Jerry to prove himself. The high risk environment forces Jerry to overcome mental challenges, and he does so through patience and determination. Jerry is patient during his training. If Jerry had attempted the swim before he could hold his breath long enough, he’d have likely drowned. Jerry shows determination while in the tunnel. After reaching a hundred and fifteen seconds under water, Jerry loses hope of ever making it out, but he is determined to live, so he forces himself to keep swimming. Patience and determination are both qualities that take a great deal of mental strength. The dangerous setting brings out these qualities in Jerry which helps show the audience that proving oneself is mentally