Full Answer
What is the symbolism in through the tunnel?
What Is the Symbolism in “Through the Tunnel”? In “Through the Tunnel” by Dorris Lessing, many of the places in the story are symbolic of Jerry’s passage from childhood to adulthood. The safe beach, the wild beach and the tunnel all represent different aspects of the boy’s path to becoming a man.
What do Jerry’s goggles symbolize?
The goggles can therefore really only be seen as symbols of experience gained through trial and error; a mark of maturity. The beach where Jerry’s mother enjoys the water is referred to variously within the mind of Jerry as the “safe beach,” “big beach” or “her beach.” What Jerry does not say when thinking about the beach is “my beach.”
What do the beach and the tunnel represent in the Outsiders?
The safe beach, the wild beach and the tunnel all represent different aspects of the boy’s path to becoming a man. The first symbolic location that readers encounter in the story is the safe beach, where Jerry’s mother spends her time.
What is the significance of Jerry's passage through the tunnel?
Once Jerry swims through the tunnel, he has moved beyond even the wild beach and has completely left his mother behind in order to join the other boys. Because of the position of the tunnel relative to the others and his mother and the effort it takes to get through the tunnel, the tunnel comes to represent Jerry’s rite of passage into manhood.
Why does Jerry want goggles in through the tunnel?
he wanted to impress the other boys by swimming through the tunnel they all swam through. So he told his mother that he needed swimming goggles.
What are the symbols in through the tunnel?
The tunnel represents Jerry's passageway from youth to maturity, a symbolic journey from boyhood to manhood. By proving himself worthy, Jerry is showing the world that he is no longer a child. In the end, Jerry's climatic swim through the dark, dangerous tunnel proves his strength and endurance.
What had filled the goggles when Jerry was inside the tunnel?
He could see nothing but a red-veined, clotted dark. His eyes must have burst, he thought; they were full of blood. He tore off his goggles and a gout of blood went into the sea. His nose was bleeding, and the blood had filled the goggles.
What does swimming through the tunnel symbolize?
The act of training to swim through the tunnel is an intense emotional and physical struggle for Jerry, so when he finally does make it through by the end of the story, he has made a new step toward the independence of adulthood.
What does the bay symbolize in through the tunnel?
All this takes place in the rocky bay, which thus comes to represent the emotional proving ground on which young people face the challenges that teach them self-sufficiency and self-confidence.
What is the symbolism of these settings the wild beach the safe beach and the tunnel?
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 without his mother. The "tunnel" is a challenge or rite of passage or test Jerry must pass to gain access to that future.
What does Jerry accomplish by diving Through the Tunnel?
Jerry makes it his goal to find the passageway and swim through it, even though it means staying underwater so long that he could drown. By achieving this goal, he attains a form of independence from his mother. “Through the Tunnel” is unlike most of Lessing's fiction.
How old is Jerry in Through the Tunnel?
eleven years oldThe protagonist of the story, and its only named character, Jerry is a young English boy on vacation with his mother to a coastal town in a foreign country. He is eleven years old and his father is dead.
How do you know that Jerry is proud after his swim Through the Tunnel?
How does Jerry feel about himself after swimming through the tunnel? He felt proud because he did what he set out to do.
What does the tunnel mean to Jerry?
Through The Tunnel, provides the reader with an opportunity to acknowledge the steps to manhood that every boy feels is necessary. As the boy, Jerry is without his father, the only taste of manliness that he has discovered yet is swimming within the bay and out of his mother's sight.
What's the theme of through the tunnel?
The passage from childhood to adulthood is the theme of "Through the Tunnel." When Jerry first arrives on holiday with his mother, they spend their time together on "the safe beach," but Jerry's thoughts are about "the wild bay." What Jerry experiences about himself in that bay will help him to leave behind the ...
What is a character trait of Jerry in through the tunnel?
In the beginning of the story, Jerry comes across as caring towards his mother and still looking for her protection. This is suggested through his attitude to her and through the fact that he looks for her from the water: “He was very familiar with that anxious, apologetic smile.
What is the meaning of the story through the tunnel?
Doris Lessing's-“Through the Tunnel” examines the experience of “rite d'passage” for Jerry, a young English boy. This story tells of a young man's determination to prove to himself that he can do the impossible, which is to swim down where the older boys swim and emerge a man, so to speak.
What is the theme in through the tunnel?
The passage from childhood to adulthood is the theme of "Through the Tunnel." When Jerry first arrives on holiday with his mother, they spend their time together on "the safe beach," but Jerry's thoughts are about "the wild bay." What Jerry experiences about himself in that bay will help him to leave behind the ...
What does red symbolize in The Masque of the Red Death?
The color red features heavily in 'The Masque of the Red Death. ' While sometimes red can symbolize passion or life-sustaining blood, red is exclusively associated with death in this story. The fictional plague is named the Red Death because it makes people bleed out of the pores on their face.
What is the conflict in through the tunnel?
The plot of the short story “Through the Tunnel” by Doris Lessing follows Jerry, an 11-year-old boy, through a single event of his life: training to swim through an underwater hole in a rock. The plot is focused on two main conflicts: overcoming one's limitations, and humans versus nature.
Paragraphs 13-17 Question Write: What do Jerry's reactions to the boys in paragraphs 13-17 suggest about him?
Jerry swam through the tunnel to prove to himself that he could do it.
What is Jerry's anchor?
Jimmy's goggles serves as a kind of anchor... they allow him to see things clearly.
through the tunnel
A vacation trip to the beach in an unnamed foreign country and a chance encounter with some older boys ignites a desire to test the limits of his m...
What happens when Jerry puts on the goggles?
The Goggles. When he puts the goggles on, Jerry is not suddenly able to see everything clear. The first time he tries using them, the goggles comes loose and are of no value. Jerry must first learn how to use goggles and then once that happens, everything looks different.
What is the underwater tunnel?
The Tunnel. A tunnel is a passage that take you from one place to another, often acting as a short cut—sometimes a dangerous one. The underwater tunnel serves as the symbol that takes Jerry from childhood to the beginning of adolescence, from dependence to independence, from boyhood to the beginning of manhood.
The Tunnel Quotes in Through the Tunnel
The Through the Tunnel quotes below all refer to the symbol of The Tunnel. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one: ).
The Tunnel Symbol Timeline in Through the Tunnel
The timeline below shows where the symbol The Tunnel appears in Through the Tunnel. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.