In "Through the Tunnel," what activity does Jerry join the older boys in doing?

"Through the Tunnel" begins with Jerry obediently following his mother to the "safe beach," while he desires to be at the "wild and rocky bay." The next day, he ventures off by himself explaining to his mother that he would like to look at the rocks. As he swims alone, he spots his mother on the other beach and feels somewhat lonely.

Eventually, he notices some local boys running down to the rocks. They watch Jerry for a while, then wave him over. Once they discover that he is a "foreigner strayed from his own beach," they pay little attention to him. Nonetheless, Jerry is pleased to be with them.

Jerry joins the boys in diving between the rocks. Once he accomplishes this, they seem to accept him a little more. Eventually, the boys begin diving and remaining below the surface for what seems like a long time to Jerry. He realizes they must be passing through a hole in the rock beneath the surface, but he is unable to accomplish this task on his first attempts.

At first, Jerry is simply joining the older boys in swimming and diving off the rock jutting out into the water.  He hopes, simply, for acceptance from them: "To be with them, of them, was a craving that filled his whole body."  They seem like men to him and he longs to fit in.

However, they soon all dive off the rock and resurface, one by one, on the other side.  Jerry

understood that they had swum through some gap or hole in [the rock].  He plunged down again [....].  When he came up, the boys were all on the diving rock, preparing to attempt the feat again.

When they dive a second time, Jerry panics, sure that they are all dying somewhere below him as he counts higher and higher, but they all resurface again.  Jerry tries to reclaim the older boys' attention, before they swim away, and he realizes that "They were leaving to get away from him."  It is at this point that he begins to formulate a plan (beginning with his request for goggles) so that he, too, will be able to accomplish this feat.  

What is Jerry's age and family situation in "Through the Tunnel"?

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 with his mother at a foreign seaside resort, Jerry vacillates between wishing to join his mother at their customary beach and desiring to go to the wild bay and explore it because he is at an awkward age. When he tries to join the foreign boys who are older than he, they reject him as childish because he acts silly, splashing the water and calling out, "Look at me! Look!" as he kicks in the water "like a splashing dog."

His venture to this wild bay proves to be a rite of passage for Jerry, though, because he strives to achieve what the older boys have done. Secretly, he practices holding his breath and diving down to the underwater tunnel. He demands swim goggles, and his considerate mother purchases them for him. Finally, Jerry is successful at passing through the tunnel in the large rocks. Now, he no longer wants the other boys.

Once back at the villa, Jerry feels his new sense of maturity as he responds to his mother's questions:

"Have a nice morning?"
"Oh, yes, thank you," he said.
"You look a bit pale....How did you bang your head?"
"Oh, just banged it...."
"Mummy,....I can stay under water for two minutes--three minutes, at least." It came bursting out of him.
"Can you, darling?....Well, I shouldn't overdo it. I don't think you ought to swim any more today."

Having made his rite of passage, it is no longer important to Jerry to go to the bay. He has proven to himself that he, too, can swim through the rock tunnels.

Jerry is described as "the young English boy" in the first line of the story, but the narrator later specifies that he is eleven years-old.  He is at an age where he is still impulsive and childlike at times, still longing for his mother's approval; however, he also very much desires increased independence and freedom from his mother.  We learn that his mother is intensely aware of this as she worries over his safety without her but tries to reassure herself that he's old enough to be alone.  She doesn't want to smother him with her affection and attention, but she also doesn't want to give him more freedom than he can handle. 

As far as his family situation, Jerry is an only child, and his mother is a widow.  This likely increases his mother's concern, that she has to be both mother and father to Jerry and has no one to consult with about his development into an adult.

In "Through the Tunnel," what role do the older boys play in Jerry's rite of passage?

The older boys that Jerry see at the wild beach play an important role in terms of firstly making Jerry aware that he is still a child and secondly showing him what he needs to do in order to grow up and become a man.

If we look at the story, when Jerry first goes to the wild beach, he greets the boys with "desperate, nervous supplication," wanting to fit in. Jerry views them as being "men," which furhter underscores the difference between himself and them. When, however, they dive through the tunnel and Jerry is unable to follow them, and Jerry responds by being silly and trying to make them laugh, note how they respond:

They looked down gravely, frowning. He knew the frown. At moments of failure, when he clowned to claim his mother's attention, it was with just this grave, embarrassed inspection that she rewarded him.

The boys thus highlight to Jerry how young he still is and reinforce his childlike state. They also, through the tunnel that they dive through, present him with the way of becoming "men" like they are and the means of how he can achieve his rite of passage and grow up.

What is Jerry's internal conflict at the start of "Through the Tunnel"?

At the beginning of the story, Jerry is torn between exploring the “wild and rocky bay” and spending time with his mother on the “crowded beach he knows so well.” Jerry is only eleven years old. He is the only child of his widowed mother, and therefore, is understandably protective toward her. He fears that if he takes off on his own, she will be unduly worried about him. Also, he fears that she might be lonely in his absence. Thus, he looks longingly at the wild bay but does not dare to ask his mother to allow him to explore it, until their second day of vacation. His mother, on the other hand, feels like she should allow her son more independence as she does not want to be "either possessive or lacking in devotion." For her, it is a struggle of how to best rear her son as a single parent.

When Jerry finally asks his mother to let him play on the wild bay and she accepts, he is again filled with feelings of contrition. He almost "runs after her, feeling it unbearable that she should go by herself." He is struggling to gain independence from his mother—the main figure in his life. Even after he gets to the bay and swims some, he still looks over at the beach for his mother. When he sees her, "a speck of yellow" in the distance, he is happy, "relieved at being sure of her presence," even though he suddenly experiences loneliness, for he is all on his own. Jerry loves his mother dearly and wants to spend a lot of his time with her. However, he is also experiencing increased self-awareness and the need for self-independence, some of the characteristics of the onset of puberty.

What words in "Through the Tunnel" clarify Jerry's conflicts, motivations, requests, and longing?

Words in “Through the Tunnel” that clarify Jerry’s conflicts and motivations include “craving,” “happy” and “proud,” and “shame.” Words that indicate requests and longing include “supplication” and “pleading.” When Jerry sees the group of older, foreign boys, he quickly feels drawn to them. His strong desire to know them and be accepted into the group is “a craving that filled his whole body.” This desire is expressed through looks and gestures. When one boy smiles at him, Jerry smiles back; his look expresses his request for acceptance. He joins them on the rocks, “smiling with a desperate, nervous supplication.”

Although they do not understand each other’s languages, Jerry begins to feel accepted, so his motivation is somewhat fulfilled and the internal conflict diminished. Jerry “was happy. He was with them.” When they seem to admire his dives, he was “proud of himself.”

Jerry continues to feel conflicted when he realizes that the boys are not fully accepting him because he has not matched the feats they accomplish in the water—one of which turns out to be swimming through the tunnel. His longing to be accepted, which he silently asks of them, is connected with his shame at not matching their skills as well as behaving foolishly. He felt “a pleading grin on his face like a scar that he could never remove.”

How does Jerry change throughout Doris Lessing's "Through the Tunnel"?

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 in which Jerry undergoes the ordeal that changes him.

In the exposition of Lessing's "Through the Tunnel," the mother's arm can be seen, swinging loose as she and Jerry walk along.  This arm, slightly reddened from the other day, swings and Jerry is tempted to run and accompany her.  But, he does not accompany her to the safe beach. Instead, Jerry parts from the "speck of yellow" on the beach and swims out into the water.  On the edge of the cape,  Jerry spots some boys that are burned smooth dark brown and speaking a language he does not understand. Jerry wants to join them:

To be with them, of them, was a craving that filled his whole body.

After Jerry swims a little closer, they turn and watch him with narrowed, alert dark eyes, suspicious of his motives.  When Jerry discovers that they have swum through an underwater tunnel, he perceives this ability to do so as the mark of a man.  When Jerry returns to his mother on her beach, he insists that she buy him some swim goggles.  Afterwards, he goes back to the area where the boys have plunged, and studies the area around this tunnel: 

He knew he must find his way through that cave, or hole, or tunnel, and out the other side....On the day before they left, he would do it.  He would do it if it killed him, he said defiantly to himself.

After much practice, Jerry tinally attempts the swim through the tunnel.  It is a frightening experience as he feels his lungs ache and his head throb from bouncing against the sharp rock of the tunnel; however, Jerry is successful and no longer wants anything "but to get back home and lie down." For, now he is a man, Jerry feels, as he has made the passage from boyhood to manhood.  For, by facing danger and overcoming it, Jerry has acquired greater maturity and independence.

In Through the Tunnel, how would you describe Jerry's status among the swimming boys?

The part which best describes Jerry's place among the boys is the following:

They shouted cheerful greetings at him; and then, as he preserved his nervous, uncomprehending smile, they understood that he was a foreigner strayed from his own beach, and they proceeded to forget him.

One of the boys had smiled and waved at him which encouraged Jerry to join them. It is clear, initially, that they were keen to welcome him because their greetings were 'cheerful.' This demeanour changed, however, when he could not understand what they were saying but he continued smiling which, to them, must have seemed quite foolish. These actions convinced them that he was an outsider who had wandered off from where he was supposed to be.

'...they proceeded to forget him' powerfully indicates how dismissive these boys were of him. He was not their company at all. Even in their midst, he was not someone to be remembered. He might as well have been part of the landscape. Jerry had not made any kind of impact that would make his presence worthwhile. The fact that he was a foreigner is what probably made them reject his previous appeal for friendship.

Jerry's place amongst these boys is, therefore, that he has no place at all. He had been acknowledged and then dismissed from their thoughts almost immediately. They do not see him as a friend or someone they wish to keep company with. Jerry's later actions do not impress them at all and once they have achieved what they came to do, they left to get away from him.

Their brutal rejection was a painful experience for Jerry and drove him to tears. His young ego had been terribly bruised. However, it also made him determined to prove, to himself, that he had been worthy of at least some of their attention and respect since he could do exactly what they did, even if he almost lost his life in the process.  With this purpose served, Jerry found it unnecessary to go to the bay again.    

Having come from the tourists' beach, Jerry is clearly an outsider and foreigner, as well as a younger boy to the older, dark boys who swim from the rocks.

There are, also, innuendos of the racial divide of apartheid, with which Lessing was familiar, having grown up in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). Because of this situation, the boys are probably surprised that Jerry desires interaction with them, and they depart quickly lest some adult appear and accuse them of being "out of place," etc. Perhaps, though, the primary assessment of the older boys is one of disdain for Jerry's juvenile behavior as he shouts what French he knows to the boys and splashes around acting silly.

That the boys perceive Jerry as juvenile is apparent when Jerry calls out to them and they "looked at him idly and turned their eyes back toward the water." Later when he shouts "Look at me! Look!" they "looked at him gravely, frowning" with a similar look to that of his mother when Jerry would fail and she gave him "this grave, embarrassed inspection."

After the boys swim through the tunnel, they gather their things and run off in order to "get away from him." When they rush off, Jerry, left behind, cries. It is then that he decides that he must swim through the tunnel and prove himself.

What is Jerry's family situation in "Through the Tunnel"?

Jerry is "an only child, [of] eleven years old," and his mother is a widow.  As a result, he seems to feel very responsible for her.  "He was very familiar with [her] anxious, apologetic smile," a smile she offers him when she fears that he longs for more independence and greater freedom from her.  When he sees this smile, "Contrition sent him running after her."  Thus, he appears to feel somewhat guilty for desiring some time alone and new adventures.  He even feels "a sort of chivalry" toward her as well, a sense that he must be courteous and generous as a man would be toward a woman for whom he cared.

It is likely her status as a widow, someone who must be both mother and father to Jerry, that prompts the extent to which she fears smothering him or, alternately, seeming to neglect him.  "She was determined to be neither possessive nor lacking in devotion."  Keeping him too close would prevent him from developing properly and could lead to his resentment of her.  Giving him too much freedom could be dangerous or make it seem like she doesn't love him as much as she does.  It's a tough age for a boy without a father.

How is Jerry connected to the other boys in "Through the Tunnel"?

This is a really interesting question because an initial snap judgement might say that Jerry and the boys are not connected. They share no dialogue with each other (because they speak different languages), and their physical time together is very minimal. Jerry is on vacation with his mother, and he asks if he can head over toward some rocks and the local beach. She reluctantly agrees, and Jerry comes across some local boys. He desperately wants to be with them. We aren't sure why it is so important to Jerry, but he definitely wants to be a part of the group of young adventurous boys.

They were of that coast; all of them were burned smooth dark brown and speaking a language he did not understand. To be with them, of them, was a craving that filled his whole body. He swam a little closer; they turned and watched him with narrowed, alert dark eyes. Then one smiled and waved. It was enough. In a minute, he had swum in and was on the rocks beside them, smiling with a desperate, nervous supplication. They shouted cheerful greetings at him;

The native boys figure out that Jerry is a foreign visitor, but they do let Jerry swim with them. Jerry is proud.

He dived, and they watched him; and when he swam around to take his place, they made way for him. He felt he was accepted and he dived again, carefully, proud of himself.

Eventually, the boys dive down and through a tunnel, and Jerry simply can't make the swim. The boys never rejoin Jerry, and he feels saddened by their departure and his own failure. That's it for the physical and visual connection between Jerry and the boys; however, that is not what is most important about the interaction. The entire episode serves as a motivator for Jerry to train and push himself hard over the next week to make that swim. Without those boys, Jerry's coming of age story wouldn't have happened. He accomplished a monumental feat. He attained a goal for himself and gained some independence in his abilities, and he's a changed boy by the end.

In "Through the Tunnel," describe Jerry's age and family situation.

Lessing's young protagonist is eleven years old and he is on vacation with his mother who is a widow. The story begins by explaining a conflict within the boy; he feels the need to stay with his mother out of duty but also wants to explore another beach on his own. The mother recognizes his desire to leave her side and permits it so she won't be too stifling to his growth. In fact, the author reveals the mother's thoughts by saying, "She was determined to be neither possessive nor lacking in devotion. She went worrying off to her beach."

The characters represent a real situation in life as a single mother strives to rear a son to become a man. Without a father figure in his life, she must play both roles and that can be difficult. Jerry's mother, though, does a great job by permitting him to go exploring on his own, but always being near for help if he needs her. After Jerry struggles through learning to hold his breath and daring to swim through the tunnel--and having gone through many headaches and nose bleeds in the process--his mother never over reacts or loses her composure. For example, Jerry tells his mother that he can hold his breath under water for two or three minutes and her reply is "Well, I shouldn't overdo it. I don't think you ought to swim any more today." Luckily, he was done with achieving his goals and agreed to stay out of the water.

Compare and contrast Jerry with the other boys diving in "Through the Tunnel."

An eleven year old English boy on holiday accompanies his mother to the seaside in a foreign country, possibly Africa where some English and French colonies are. There he goes swimming while his mother remains on the beach.  

• On the other side of a small cape, Jerry spots some older boys stripping off their clothes and running down to the rocks. These boys are native to the area and speak a language Jerry cannot comprehend. They are "burned smooth dark brown."
• Envious of their freedom and camaraderie, Jerry wants to be with them and feel a part of their group:

To be with them, of them, was a craving that filled his whole body. 

As he swims and dives the boys watch him, and when he approaches them, they make room for him. Jerry feels that he has been accepted.

• However, the boys soon outdo Jerry as they dive down and come out on the other side of the rock barrier.  Sensing his inadequacy, Jerry clowns and the boys look at him "gravely, frowning," rejecting him as immature. "They swam back to the shore without a look at him." Alone, Jerry cries.
• This rejection makes Jerry want to do what the older boys can, so he secretly practices holding his breath until he feels he can also swim through the tunnel, so that he can feel himself their equal.
• Once Jerry is able to swim through the tunnel, he notices the local boys diving and horsing around about a half mile away.

He did not want them. He wanted nothing but to get back home and lie down.

Now, Jerry does not care what the older native boys think of him: "It was no longer of the least importance to go to the bay." Jerry has made his rite of passage and is their equal now. 

At first insecure and wanting to be accepted by the older boys, Jerry works to be able to swim through the tunnel as they can because he feels this feat is a mark of maturity. When he can do this, Jerry realizes that he has attained some mark of manhood, and he realizes that he does not need others to feel worthy.

How does Doris May Lessing explain Jerry's behavior in Through the Tunnel?

When Jerry sees the group of boys, he finds himself drawn to them. They are 'big boys, men to Jerry' and he wants to be a part of their group.

To be with them, of them, was a craving that filled his whole body...In a minute, he had swum in and was on the rocks beside them, smiling with a desperate, nervous supplication.

When the boys make way for Jerry to dive beside them, he is ecstatic:

He dived, and they watched him; and when he swam around to take his place, they made way for him. He felt he was accepted and he dived again, carefully, proud of himself.

Jerry tries to perform the same feats as the boys so as to be accepted into the group. When he discovers that the big boys have a new trick which he has yet to figure out how to do, he is crushed. The boys are swimming through an underwater tunnel to emerge on the other side of the barrier of rock, and Jerry becomes frantic that he cannot reproduce this feat. He makes faces, shouts out some rambling combination of French words he knows, and generally tries to regain their attention.

They looked down gravely, frowning. He knew the frown. At moments of failure, when he clowned to claim his mother’s attention, it was with just this grave, embarrassed inspection that she rewarded him.

I have bolded the words above and below to show that this is how Lessing explains why Jerry makes faces and shows off; he is desperate to regain the boys' attention and he resorts to doing much the same thing when he is trying to claim his mother's attention. Here is a boy desperate to claim his place among his peers and to find his place in the world.

They were leaving to get away from him. He cried openly, fists in his eyes. There was no one to see him, and he cried himself out.

Hope this helps!

What is Jerry's class background in "Through the Tunnel"?

In the short story "Through the Tunnel" by Doris Lessing, an 11-year-old English boy named Jerry is on holiday with his mother at a beach area in an unspecified location. Instead of going to the crowded beach where most people go, he decides to swim alone in a rocky bay. There he meets a group of local boys who adventurously dive into the water and swim through a tunnel in a large rock. The local boys leave, but Jerry continues to practice holding his breath and swimming until he too, at great personal danger, manages to swim through the tunnel. For him it is sort of a rite of passage.

Jerry's class background is not specified in the story, but we can deduce from Lessing's descriptions that he and his mother are from an upper-middle class or upper class background. Jerry's mother is a widow, and yet they are staying in a villa by the beach. This means that they either own it or can afford to rent it. This villa is also in a country where the local people speak a language other than English, making it even more expensive to go there.

Another indication of their upper-class status is the way that Jerry's mother is so solicitous of his every desire. She appears to be incapable of refusing him any request. When he asks for the goggles, she immediately complies. Additionally, they are excessively polite with each other, as if it is a habit backed by tradition.

Readers are not expressly told what social class Jerry and his mom belong to, so readers are going to have to infer this answer. I think it is safe to assume that they belong to a middle class or higher. Jerry's family obviously has enough money to vacation to another country for more than a day or two. On top of that, their vacation is a beach vacation, and that location alone will drive up the cost of the trip. I believe readers could go farther and say that Jerry's family is probably quite wealthy. Jerry demands the goggles in a way that suggests he is used to getting material possessions when he demands them. His expectations are met with quick results as well. His mom buys the goggles soon after Jerry starts his pestering, and she never once questions the associated cost.

Finally, their vacation doesn't seem to have a specific end date. They appear to be on location until it suits them to leave. The mother's comment about having to go home is quite casual. It seems that she has grown tired of the vacation and has decided that they will go home in the next few days.

In "Through the Tunnel," what is important to Jerry when he first meets the older boys?

Jerry's primary concern is to be accepted by the boys, as he thinks:

"To be with them, of them, was a craving that filled his whole body."

This may be due to the seeming fact that Jerry does not appear to have many friends. He does not speak of any friends back home, and his mother's overprotectiveness may also be a contributing factor to his desire to be one of these seemingly free and independent boys.  The author demonstrates the mother's worry over her son by stating:

"She frowned, conscientiously worrying over what amusements he might seretly be longing for, which she had been too busy r too careless to imagine." 

Slightly further down in the introduction, we once again are privy to her thoughts:

"She was thinking, Of course he's old enough to be safe without me.  Have I been keeping him too close? He mustn't feel he ought to be with me. I must be careful."

This shows the likelihood that up until now, Jerry has been quite guarded by his mother, and thus lends to the idea that he probably has few friends, increasing his need to be accepted by the boys.

What internal conflicts does Jerry face in "Through the Tunnel"?

Initially, Jerry is conflicted about whether or not he should leave his mother alone.  He desperately wants to go to the "wild bay" and leave her at the "safe beach" that they always visit.  Once she senses this, she offers him the opportunity to leave her, but he declines it the first day and "Contrition sent him running after her."  He feels a little guilty about wanting to leave her.  His "contrition" is again referenced the next day, as is his "chivalry."  He feels responsible to and for her, perhaps in part because she is a widow, but he also really wants more independence and freedom.  He is very torn between staying with her and branching out on his own.

Jerry's second internal conflict has to do with swimming through the tunnel.  Although he sometimes thought that "He would do it if it killed him [...]," but in the next moment, "He thought he would return to the house and lie down, and next summer, perhaps, when he had another year's growth in him -- then he would go through the hole."  Jerry recognizes the danger in attempting such a difficult feat; he very literally could drown in that tunnel.  However, he also wants to do it anyway.  He would prove something to himself in accomplishing it. 

"But even after he made the decision, or thought he had, he found himself sitting upon the rock and looking down into the water, and he knew that now [...] -- this was the moment when he would try.  If he did not do it now, he never would." 

He hemmed and hawed for quite a while, and though Jerry shook with fear and dread, he finally did do it.