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How Is Jerry Alike

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I think Jerry, the main character, needs friends but is adventurous because he wants respect, he is lonely, and above all he is awkward. In this realistic fiction book by Doris Lessing, the main character Jerry, goes to a beach and he meets some boys that go through an underwater tunnel, and he wants to go too. In the book, it says that Jerry’s mom is a widow so he has no dad. This could make him want friends even more than other people because he doesn’t have a dad to play catch with or something. I think that’s why that Jerry wants to make friends with the big boys, who were the other kids on the beach. The first piece of evidence is “ To be with them, of them, was a craving that filled his whole body.” This supports my claim that Jerry is lonely because this piece of evidence means that Jerry doesn’t just need friends, he also wants friends. This is important because in order to have friends, you need to want friends (although exceptions exist (me)). Another piece of evidence shows that Jerry is awkward on page 5, where it says “and now, in a panic of failure, he yelled up, in English, ‘Look at me! Look!’ and he began splashing and kicking in the water like a foolish dog.” This shows he is awkward because no normal kid what splash and kick in the water and scream “Look at me! Look!” Unless they are young …show more content…

Soon she walked slowly up the path, swinging her striped bag, the flushed, naked arm dangling beside her. “I want some swimming goggles,” he panted, defiant and beseeching.” This shows that right after Jerry saw the boys go underwater and through the tunnel, he wanted their respect and wanted to show them what he was capable of (also maybe to show that he wasn’t that awkward and weird). I would not do this because I am not that respect hungry and I won’t risk my life to impress a couple of strangers (in this book he tries to impress the

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