Through The Tunnel Symbolism

An example of this can be found in the short story, The Grave, written by Katherine Anne Porter. In this short story two young kids, a brother and sister, go out exploring in a graveyard. “...propped their twenty two Winchester rifles carefully against the rail fence, climbed over and explored among the graves.”(Porter 2) The symbolism is the two kids climbing over the fence. The fence acts as the barrier between the two worlds of childhood and adulthood. Them climbing over it represents the transition that young kids go through when becoming adults. Later in the story the brother kills a pregnant bunny. When they discover that the bunny was about to have babies the sister feels guilt. “She was quietly and terribly agitated, standing with her rifle under her arm, looking down at the bloody heap.” (Porter 11) The reader can see that there is symbolism with the young girl holding the gun under her arm and her looking down at the dead

In the short story "Through the Tunnel", Doris Lessing describes the adventure of Jerry, a young English boy trying to swim through an underwater tunnel.  Throughout the story, the author uses the third person omniscient point of view to describe the boy's surroundings and to show us both what he and the other characters are thinking and what is happening around them.  By using this point of view, the author is able to describe the setting of the story, give a detailed description of the characters, and make the theme visible.

Literary elements such as symbolism are found in almost any piece of writing. Symbolism is used to portray the deeper meaning of something by representing it with anything the writer chooses. In the short story, ¨Cathedral,¨ Raymond Carver uses many forms of symbolism to portray the different events and their meanings within his writing.

The symbolism of the color brown and the struggle of Jerry going through the tunnel represents the signs of maturity. Jerry describes the boys as having “burned smooth dark brown” skin. In Jerry’s point of view, they are described as “big boys, men, to Jerry”. The two quotes associate the brown skin with being older and mature. In the time span between Jerry seeing the boys and Jerry and his mother leaving the beach, he trains himself to swim through the tunnel in order to be like the big boys. Jerry suffers through many hardships in order to pass through the tunnel and he does it all by himself without his mom or anyone to help him. Swimming through the tunnel is like the transition from an immature child to a sophisticated, young adult. After Jerry swims through the tunnel all by himself, it is said that his mother puts her hand on “his warm brown shoulder”. Describing Jerry’s shoulder as brown shows that Jerry is now like the older boys. The symbolism of the brown skin emphasizes the maturity of Jerry, and the symbolism of the tunnel emphasizes that becoming a young adult is a journey one has to go through on his or her own and with a lot of struggling on the way. The effect of the symbolism illustrates that growing up will include some hard times, but it is worth it in the end because people know that they can do things on their own now.

In Chapter 12 from HTRLLP, the author describes in detail the usage of symbolism in different types of literature. Developing the information happens

“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change” (Dyer). Symbolism is a technique that helps add interest, create meaning and illustrate emotion in a story. The use of repeated symbolism is an example of how authors unify their writing in stories. Additionally, Symbolism adds a deeper level of meaning to passages written in literature. To some this symbolism is seen as a monotonous repetition that becomes mechanical at times. Authors do this by showing that one item is being represented by other items to help readers find a connection while they are reading. The short story The Scarlet Ibis, by James Hurst is a great example where symbolism is used as it depicts a troubling story where two brothers learn the importance of family.

Now comparing these stories, Jerry and the narrator of “Sixteen” are very much alike, just as they are apart. Maureen Daly and Doris Lessing really give the reader a good feel for the characters and mood, making the tone easy to comprehend. In “Sixteen”, the narrator is very serious when talking about how she is, in fact, quite smart, and knows what she’s doing when it comes to life. Along with this, Jerry is very serious about practicing his breath golding and swimming because he wants to be able to get to and go through the tunnel. It’s a goal, not a dream. Both of these characters take the reader on a very personal journey; one into the mind and heart, and one into the process of him becoming a “man”. Two very difficult things to normally talk about. The authors create anxiety for the readers when Jerry is actually in the tunnel. He begins counting, higher and higher, the longer he’s in the tunnel, making the reader think, “There’s no way he’s going to make it out.” There is also a sense of anxiety in

Symbols are important in each story to define the theme. Close observation of the symbols within each story proves to one their

To have a goal is similar to an achievement that you want to complete. This achievement is usually tough and will make you do something different than what you normally do. This goal can take your whole life or it can just be one day. The point of a goal is to challenge yourself to reach a particular endpoint that you desire. “Through the Tunnel” by Doris Lessing is a story about a boy named Jerry and his goal to swim through a tunnel under the ocean. Lessing's characterization of Jerry shows that in order to achieve a goal, one must prepare, practice, and sacrifice. This characterization is revealed when he first thinks about controlling his breathing, when he exercised his lungs one day after another, and when he stayed in the hole so

“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.

Whenever someone accomplishes a huge achievement, they have stories of how hard they worked to earn it. In almost every single story of accomplishment, there are obstacles the hero has to overcome. Doris Lessing, a British novelist, had a very hard childhood, full of struggles to survive, and yet she published 86 novels and won a Nobel Prize in Literature. In Lessing’s short story “Through the Tunnel,” the main character Jerry faces the challenge of swimming through a long underwater passage. A close examination of the story shows dark objects represent setbacks while the light represents achievement. Thus, the initial darkness of the tunnel’s appearance, the luminous color of the ocean, and the changing of light during Jerry’s passage through

In “Through the Tunnel” the author uses symbolism to show how the boy needs a “safety zone.” In this short story, the main character, Jerry is described as a child who wants to hang out with older boys and going swimming with them through the tunnel at the bigger beach. “It seemed to him that a long time had passed, and he swam out to where he could see his mother. Yes, she was still there, a yellow spot under an orange Umbrella”(Lessing 116). The yellow and orange colors represent caution and safety.

Adolescence and the transformation to adulthood can be symbolized in countless ways. For example, Doris Lessing shows this process constantly throughout “Through the Tunnel” by including a variety of metaphors. The first time Jerry and his mother arrived at the beach that they had been to on other vacations, he looked at the rocky bay before looking at the beach. Lessing wrote, “...the young English boy stopped at a turning of the path and looked down at a wild and rocky bay, and then over the crowded beach he knew so well…” This symbolized the beginning of his journey because he was taking a greater interest in the bay than he had in years passed. After the first day on the beach with his mother, Jerry decided that he wanted to go down by

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

Tunnels can be strange for some people, but seeing a tunnel at the bottom of the ocean is very strange for Jerry. Jerry is on a vacation with his mother and goes out every morning to the rocks diving and swimming with the older kids throughout the day. Doris lessing describes Jerry as a kid who challenges himself against a strange looking tunnel in her story “Through The Tunnel” through the use of symbolism in the setting, the trip through the tunnel and the wild bay.