Jaii Pappu
Mr.Patterson - 3B
A Journey of Self Reliance: The Usage of Symbolism in “Through the Tunnel”
Dori Lessing’s realistic fiction short story, “Through the Tunnel,” examines a young boy’s complex relationship of his discovery of adulthood. Like a bird preparing to leave its nest in order establish its own place in the world, Jerry aims to accomplish something to prove to himself that he is no longer that cowardly child he once was. Lessing utilizes several objects in the story in order to portray a journey from familiarity to an individual’s discovery of self-reliance. From the comforting and healing mother to the underwater tunnel engulfed by darkness and the unknown, to the wild repetitions of stringed numbers, Doris Lessing effectively employs the usage of symbolism to illustrate a metaphor for Jerry’s voyage to manhood.
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Lessing states, “ Supposing he turned dizzy in the tunnel? Supposing he died there, trapped?” Jerry was unsure about his fate after his encounter with this hurdle. Jerry also portrays his emotions of fear and overwhelming sense of doom by articulating, “He was trembling with fear that he would not go; and he was trembling with horror at that long, long tunnel under the rock, under the sea.” Jerry also has to learn to let go of his reliance on other people and other things in the face of adversity, as shown during Jerry’s feat of passing through the tunnel, “...pulling himself forward, leaving the brief space of sunlit water behind.” By introducing the tunnel as an obstacle Jerry has to overcome, the author declares his ever-growing maturity within the child as he transforms himself into an