Through the Tunnel

In literature, external conflict refers to the struggle a character has with nature or another character. The opposition that the character experiences, adds to the drama. Internal conflict refers...

The first thing we need to know in order to answer this question is a little background on who Doris Lessing was and what her background and childhood were like. Having been born in Persia...

One theme of Doris Lessing's short story, "Through the Tunnel," is that growing up is a difficult and sometimes painful process. We see Jerry mature throughout the story, at first nagging and...

The usual interpretation is that the "safe beach" represents the comfort and security of Jerry's childhood and his mother and the rocky, "wild beach" represents the unknown adolescent future...

After his rejection by the older native boys, who have perceived him as immature as he splashes foolishly in the water, Jerry sits on the rough rock and cries "openly" because he envies their...

"Through the Tunnel" is a coming-of-age story of sorts, and as such, one of its primary themes is the innocent child coming to terms with his own mortality. Therefore, there could hardly be a...

Jerry's mother does not want to be the smothering type; she is worried that because she is the sole parent she has been "keeping him too close" to her. So, she tries to be loving, but provide him...

I think you would benefit from looking at the story in much wider terms - certainly the Jerry at the end of the story is very different from the Jerry at the beginning, and you are right to...

The diction, or word choice, of Doris Lessing's description of Jerry's swim through the tunnel is suspenseful as it creates anticipation of Jerry's successful passage, and the sense of danger is...

In the beginning of the narrative of "Through the Tunnel," Jerry stays close to his mother, asking permission to part from her, then returning to her after going to the rocky bay; later, he demands...

Jerry's swim through the tunnel symbolizes a rite of passage from boyhood to young manhood. A coming-of-age story, Doris Lessing's "Through the Tunnel" uses symbols to represent Jerry's state of...

The story begins on the first day of the holiday of a young English boy and his mother in an undisclosed location, but probably either in France or North Africa. As they walk down to the "safe"...

Two grayish shapes steered there, like long, rounded pieces of wood or slate. They were fish. He saw them nose toward each other, poise motionless, make a dart forward, swerve off, and come around...

The foreign, wild, and rugged setting advances the themes of alienation and maturation. This setting helps to advance the plot since the main character's actions and maturation are connected to the...

"Through the Tunnel" opens with a boy and his widowed mother vacationing at a beach resort to which they have come frequently. Because he has no father, Jerry's mother, perhaps, feels more...

Word choice is an instrumental technique that Lessing employs in "Through the Tunnel" to heighten the suspenseful mood of the story. Although the action is set on a beach, the area where Jerry...

Jerry does change significantly from the beginning to the end of the story, but I would not say that he ends up "a confident young man" just yet. Initially, he is anxious to fit in with the big...

One of the themes in "Through the Tunnel" highlights the developing individualism of a young boy. To that end, the setting in Lessing's story contributes to the development of this theme. Setting...

Jerry practices for his rite of passage through the tunnel by conditioning himself to be able to hold his breath. He obtains swims goggles and practices going underwater and finding the tunnel so...

The beach Jerry has always visited with his mother is very much associated with childhood innocence; even the narrator refers to it as "the safe beach." It is a place without danger where he is...

Jerry is described early on as a "young English boy," and we learn that he and his mother have traveled to their typical vacation spot, as they are described as heading to the beach "on the first...

This story is written from a third-person omniscient point of view. The narrator knows Jerry's mother's thoughts and feelings. For example, the narrator says, early on, that "She frowned,...

Doris Lessing's story "Through the Tunnel" can be understood as a coming-of-age story. Jerry and his mother are on vacation together, and Jerry is a typical, young boy. He loves his mother, but...

The relationship between Jerry and his mother at the beginning of the story is pretty typical of children at Jerry's age (eleven) and their parents. His mother is conflicted about how much freedom...

There are two major conflicts in this story, one interior and one exterior. Both have to do with the growing maturity of Jerry. Jerry is a young boy when the story opens who has evidently lost his...

Tone is defined as a writer's attitude, or feelings, toward the subject matter or even toward the writer's audience. Tone can be conveyed through a writer's diction and other literary devices...

The protagonist of Doris Lessing's story, Jerry, is an eleven-year-old English boy at the threshold of puberty whose father has died, leaving him as the only child of his widowed mother. On holiday...

The dramatic climax of the story occurs when Jerry reaches the end of the tunnel and makes his way to the surface. Doris Lessing creates tremendous suspense prior to the story's climax. After Jerry...

At the beginning of the story, it is evident that Jerry and his mother have been everything to each other. As a widow and a child who has lost his father, the two are extremely close, and both go...

After Jerry successfully swims through the tunnel, he feels he has accomplished what he set out to accomplish. He has proven his ability - he has demonstrated his "manhood," so the bay is no...

While Jerry is on vacation with his mother, he swims out into the warm sea until his mother is but a yellow speck on the beach. After swimming back to her, Jerry sees some native boys whom he would...

I think Jerry learned more than only two lessons in the story. One lesson that he learned was the importance of training. I think he always knew the importance of training, which is why he...

To begin, the beach is identified as "the safe beach"; it is the beach Jerry and his mother have always visited on holiday. It is a place that he associates with his childhood, with safety, and...

Doris Lessing builds suspense in "Through the Tunnel" by using words with negative connotations and painful imagery to describe Jerry's experience at the "wild bay." Instead of the "safe beach,"...

When Jerry first encounters these "big boys -- men to [him]," they're described as being "of that coast, all of them burned smooth dark brown, and speaking a language he did not understand. To be...

"Through the Tunnel" is a great coming of age story. It's great because of how relatable the story is to most readers. Jerry isn't going through a coming-of-age adventure that is pure fantasy. His...

By swimming through the tunnel, Jerry completes a rite of passage. He also realizes that even though he can do what the big boys can, he still wants to go home and spend time with his mother.

Rather than go to the beach where he and his mother usually go, Jerry is drawn to a different rocky location. Even to reach that bay, he has to climb over sharp rocks that scrape his feet. Looking...

Several instances of foreshadowing, or hints of what is to come, occur in the exposition of Doris Lessing's "Through the Tunnel." The story opens as Jerry follows his mother to the beach. In the...

Jerry cries from fear, embarrassment, frustration, and humiliation. At the beach, Jerry gets permission from his mother to swim away from her over by the rocks, a good distance from her. There he...

For Jerry, the wild bay seems to represent adulthood and maturity. He's a young adolescent, and so it seems natural that he no longer wants to accompany his mother to their usual, "safe beach,"...

Jerry's having swum through the tunnel is his rite of passage into manhood, and that is enough. By overcoming great obstacles and by facing danger alone, Jerry has acquired greater maturity and...

The exposition of "Through the Tunnel" is the early part of the narrative that introduces the setting and background information; it is also an introduction to the characters, at least some of...

I think the atmosphere and mood that is created through those words is a suspenseful, tense, and ominous atmosphere. Dorris Lessing needed to use words like "dark" and "looming" in order to change...

The final words in the story best summarise why Jerry did not challenge his mother's instruction that he should not go swimming any more that day: It was no longer of the least importance to go to...

After his rejection by the older native boys in the wild bay, Jerry's goal is to accomplish what these boys have done by swimming through the underwater tunnel on his own. In this way, he can...

An excellent swimmer, Jerry is able to dive well, too. The native boys, who have been diving off the rocks in the wild bay themselves, accept and like Jerry when they see him dive. When Jerry...

Jerry wants to strike out on his own and join in with the other boys as proof that he is old enough to be safe without his mother. When Jerry reaches the rocks, he notices that there is an "edge of...

Doris Lessing's story has two settings; the "safe beach" on which Jerry's mother sits, and the "wild bay" where the native boys daringly swim through and underwater tunnel. It is in this wild bay...

Jerry's mother is motivated by her concern that she give Jerry enough freedom, freedom appropriate to a quickly-maturing eleven-year-old boy, but not too much, as too much freedom might be...