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Through The Tunnel Analysis

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Nearly 3,000 people drowned in the Mediterranean Sea last year. Anytime someone swims in a large body of water, they have a risk of drowning. In the story, Through the Tunnel written by Doris Lessing there are many challenges and breakthroughs that the main character Jerry has to go through as he swims in the Mediterranean Sea. Jerry had the greatest breakthrough because he faced physical limitations, and he had to overcome peer pressure. To begin with, Jerry’s first breakthrough was his physical limitations. After training and trying to make it through the tunnel, inside of a rock, for nine days, Jerry finally swims past his comfort zone and makes it through. “Again and again he groped over the surface of the rock, feeling it, almost hugging it in desparate need to hug the rock.” (280) This quote demonstrates how Jerry struggled to make it through the tunnel and how he pushed his physical limitations before he finally made it. Furthermore Jerry received a bloody nose from the water pressure as he is trying to achieve his goal of swimming through the tunnel. Because he did not give up on this obstacle, Jerry overcame his physical limitation along with pain. In addition to overcoming his physical limitations, Jerry’s second breakthrough is …show more content…

They support that the unnamed narrator had the greatest breakthrough because he was being tortured to death, and was very close to dying. However, this is not true because the unnamed narrator from The Pit and the Pendulum did not save himself. When he finally escaped from the dark, black room, he was rescued by General Lasalle. “An outstretched arm caught my own as I fell, fainting, into the abyss. It was that of General Lasalle… The Inquisition was in the hands of its enemies.” (301) This quote shows the reader that the unnamed narrator did not save himself, but was

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