Analysis Of 'Through The Tunnel' By Doris Lessing

Jerry is haunted by his unimportance. He is unable to regain his composure after he overplays his rebellious actions. Defying the Vigils and Trinity takes its toll. Although

In the story “Through the Tunnel” by Doris Lessing the main character Jerry is young and sees a group boys do something that he finds interesting, Going through the tunnel. The problem is he is too young and too weak to do it. The boys were Judging and excluding him and it made him sad. Jerry used the negative actions of the french boys as motivation to set a goal of swimming through the tunnel before he leaves. Although Jerry is not physically strong or mature he has a large amount of mental strength and uses what should be his weakness be his strength.

The story Through the Tunnel is about a young boy named Jerry and his mother going on vacation to a beach resort that they have previously visited. The villa they are staying at consist of two beaches. The safe, crowded beach is where Jerry’s mother goes and the wild Rocky Bay is where Jerry ends up spending most of his time. While Jerry swims in the water at the wild bay, he sees a group of boys diving into the water. Jerry knew right when he saw them, he wanted to be just like them. In his eyes, “They were big boys—men to Jerry” (Lessing 148). To show that he was brave, he found the courage to dive off the

Jerry Starts as a new kid at this Cathlic boys school called Trinity high. He has just recently lost his mother to illness and lives with his dad in a apartment. Jerry is a quiet kid throughout the story. When Jerry really starts to change is when Archie decides to make him a mark for the Vigils (secret society) assignment. Archie through minipulation is changeing Jerry little by little. A true turning point is when Archie gets Emile Janza, the school bully, to beat jerry up with the help of some middle schoolers. This ultimatly

He has been through alot in his life like his mother died of cancer which has him isolated. He is always engaged in a battle with himself and with the outside world. He looks up to his father who is a pharmacist thinks his father has a dull and boring life but admires him. A strength jerry has is he does not complain about the crap he has gone through in his life and at school and it pays off at the end, his biggest weakness is he can’t win the battle with himself and the outside world.

In the book there are multiple acts of Jerry being bullied for being different. He is faced with multiple acts of bigotry and cruelness. For instance Emile Janza accused him of being a homosexual, then had the neighborhood kids jump him. This just shows how

At the beginning of the book, Jerry was introduced as a sad, insecure boy who had his heart broken by the thought of his dead mother. Jerry wanted his mother back and let himself think that it was all just a dream, and he would have his mom back soon. Jerry tried out for the football team very undetermined of even making it. The coach wanted him to come back tomorrow with a more preppy attitude towards being a member of the team. Archie could see the struggling freshman in football tryouts and wanted to give Jerry an assignment, but Obie thought it was a bad idea because Jerry's mother recently passed. Archie thought that it was the perfect opportunity for a treatment.

He was not the type of kid to do his homework, bring home good grades to mom, and marry his high school sweetheart like many of his peers around him at the time. In fact, he had larger aspirations that were very unconventional ambitious. “I want to set the world under a marquee that read: ‘Jerry Weintraub Presents.’” Jerry ran away from home with his friend Stuie at about twelve years old. He believed that the only way to learn was from real experiences and it was almost impossible for him to learn anything in the classroom. “All life was a theatre and I wanted to put it up on stage.” Jerry’s life was full of crazy ideas is one of the motifs that is scattered throughout this

Throughout the story Through the Tunnel, the most important theme that recurs is self determination. The boy in the story, Jerry, has demonstrated this self determination by pushing himself through tough situations. One of these situations was when Jerry saw the French boys playing in the ocean. In the text, it said, “To be with them, of them, was a craving that filled his whole body.” (244) This quote proves his determination because later on in the story, he then swam toward them. Eventually, they started playing, and the boys yelled cheerful greetings at him. That’s when Jerry knew that he was welcomed in. Without his determination in this scene, Jerry wouldn't have been able to play with the boys. Jerry demonstrates self determination in

“Yet, walking down the path with her, he blurted out, ‘I’d like to go and have a look at those rocks down there,’’ (Lessing 1). During the short story, “Through the Tunnel,” Lessing shows that Jerry has an interest in breaking away from his mother early on in the story. He shows a passion for wanting to go to the wild bay, instead of staying with his mother at the safe beach for their vacation. Jerry’s transformation from boy to a young man is revealed in the settings of the safe beach, wild bay, and the journey through the tunnel.

As the book develops, we see Jerry, usually a meek boy, stand up for what he believes is right after getting bullied by his teachers and the Vigils. In the beginning of the story, Jerry stays quiet in situations where a stronger character would have spoken up, but he imagines himself standing up, “Hey coach, you spit on me... Stop the spitting, coach.” But what he said aloud was, “I’m all right coach. (pg. 3)” Jerry was always defiant in his head, but he could never bring himself to speak his mind out loud. As the book progresses, Jerry grows sick of watching the teachers and the Vigils bully the other students, and the buildup of all their actions causes him to refuse to complete the Vigils’ assignment. Jerry doesn’t understand why he did

I had two goals in writing this paper. The first goal being to get a good grade. The second was to thoroughly bring out the theme of symbolism in “Through the Tunnel”. I achieved my second goal, and hopefully my first, by carefully analyzing the story and taking notes in preparation for writing my paper. I then took my notes and translated them into something readable, which is much harder than it sounds. During the editing process, I had a peer review sheet that was to help me strengthen the weak points in my paper. Unfortunately, the review sheet helped me very little. On the subject of strong and weak points, I feel the strongest point of my paper is that I always have a quote to back up my point, but on the other hand I feel my weakest

Nature has always been one of the toughest obstacles. It always has its way of bringing out the crazy side of people. It can test a boy’s potential, authority, and dedication. In Doris Lessing’s “Through the Tunnel,” the main character, Jerry, refuses to give up on getting through the tunnel. Instead, he is determined to prove that he will not be labeled as a little kid. He will not pay attention to the signs that he is not old enough to get through the tunnel without getting hurt. As a result, he sets out to prove that he can win this battle and that he is not a little boy anymore. The setting in “Through the Tunnel” has an impact on the characters, the plot, and symbolism.

He has no mother he has no skates all that he wanted was a family.One day she adopted jerry was joyful he was going to get a mom.Then years later jerry was sick he had a couple of weeks to live he was shocked that he was going to die.Then they were shocked that jerry was going to die in a couple of weeks.Jerrys family was not going to be a family without jerry.

Sharon Olds contrast two worlds, the worlds she compares in the story is race difference. Minorities being compared to white people and their differences. It introduces two characters a boy described as mysterious, but suspicious looking, while the narrator is described in a more positive way by showing they are wealthy and victimizing themselves. It also contrast the difference between wealth and poverty. It is one of the key parts of the story because both characters are very different in that perspective. The story gives an insight on the character’s thoughts by showing the fear she feels while on the subway for being rich and generalizing that someone poor will mug her for her riches.