Themes In The Short Story 'The Tunnel'

Reading coming of age stories are always interesting and at times nastolgic. Coming of age stories typically include a young protagonist forced to make a grown decision which is a transition to their first move into adulthood. In a sense, these stories show the protagonist shifting from innocence to gaining experiences. The two coming of age stories that we read in class were “A White Heron” by Sarah Orne Jewett and “The Man Who Was Almost A Man” by Richard Wright. Both being coming of age stories, they have similar features but were different in the sense that one protagonist seemed to have made a shift into adulthood whereas one did not.

The Prince of Los Cocuyos certainly touches upon the topic of “Coming of Age”. Everyone experiences it at some point of his or her life. “Coming of Age” is the transition from one’s childhood to adulthood. While this transition is taking place, one gains more responsibility and privileges. It may affect a person both, physically and emotionally. Everyone experiences it differently. During this transition, you develop as a human being.

Various novels can be classified as “coming-of-age” texts, this means that these are stories about a protagonist’s transition from childhood to adulthood or just growing up even as an adult. These novels show their growth and change in character over the length of the text. Novels such as The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, and Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston are all examples of coming-of-age novels. In Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God the story is focused on Janie Crawford and her growth over the course of the book.

Throughout the short story “Sheila Mant,” the boy must decide between the bass and Sheila. First off, the boy might pick the bass. One reason why he might pick the bass is because it is the biggest bass he has ever hooked. As it says in the text, “One, that it was a bass. Two, it was a big bass. Three, that it was the biggest bass I had ever hooked” (Wetherell 3). The boy had never hooked a bass this big in his life and is afraid it is his only chance. If the boy picks the bass, then he could have a trophy of a lifetime. The second reason the boy might pick the bass is that he has a history with fishing. As the story states, “Yeah, bass. They come into the shallows at night to chase frogs and moths and things. Big largemouths. Micropterus salmoides, I added, showing off”

“The Bass, the River, and Sheila Mant,” by W. D. Wetherell, is an initiation story in which the symbols of fishing and Sheila Mant illustrate how the character of the narrator transforms from youth and innocence to sophistication and maturity. At age fourteen, it is typical for a boy such as the narrator to be beginning this transformation. Being innocent and naïve in a sense, the fourteen year old narrator gets an enormous crush on a seventeen year old girl named Sheila Mant and comes to believe she is what he loves most in life. For him, Sheila is a symbol of the maturity and sophistication he will eventually become a

There are many people that are mean, selfish, and kill for money. In “The Bass, the River, and Sheila Mant”, Sheila Mant is one of the mean and selfish people. In this story, Sheila exhibits laziness, not caring about anybody but herself, and using people. All of these characteristics are exhibited through indirect characterization. That shows, better than direct characterization, what type of person Sheila Mant is.

Abraham Lincoln said, “You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.” Often times in our society young people push off responsibilities, it's easy to do. Technology and other innovations have made it convenient for us to become distracted and to push things off. However when growing up, sometimes taking responsibility cannot be avoided. In coming of age stories, the author uses symbolism to exemplify how the protagonists experience new independence and responsibility while they transition from childhood to adulthood.

Coming of age is an influential part of many people’s lives. They begin to leave behind their innocent childhood views and develop a more realistic view on the world around them as they step forward into adulthood. (Need to add transition) Many authors have a coming of age theme in their books; specifically, Harper Lee portrays a coming of age theme in his book To Kill A Mockingbird. Through the journeys of their childhoods, Jem and Scout lose their innocence while experiencing their coming of age moment, making them realize how unfair Maycomb really is.

The story “Through The Tunnel” by Doris Lessing is about a boy named Jerry who vacations with his mother. Jerry matures over time because he wanted to be included in the group of older boys. He thought he would be accepted if he swam through an underwater tunnel. Jerry’s swim through this tunnel is a passage from boyhood to adulthood. Doris Lessing uses the symbol of the tunnel to illustrate a boy’s childhood to adulthood.

Coming of age is a recurring theme that is universally known throughout many different pieces of literature. Whether it’s influenced on true experiences, childhood memories, or even based on one’s current juvenile reality, many of theses works have a correlation between them that include many similar ordeals and struggles that the character goes through in order to metamorphosize into taking their first step out of childhood. One prominent theme that often appears is how one experiences and faces a time of tribulation and other walls that stand in one’s path. In effect, hardships mature and enlighten one, causing the loss of something such as childhood innocence. Lastly, these three combined points finally lead to one’s metamorphosis out of childhood. All in all, these three factors take one out of childhood, and slowly allows one step out into the reality of this world.

In coming of age stories, the protagonists often experience a pensive and dramatic moment where either they break through to adulthood or retreat to childhood - it is this moment that unveils the magnitude of growing up for the reader.

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 a standard coming of age novel, the protagonist is usually in their adolescent to early adulthood years.

During the lectures and readings that we have done on coming of age, I have learned that coming of age is a lot like a milestone in life. It happens when we mature or become more knowledgeable and it can happen no matter what age we are. The story, “Boys and Girls”, by Alice Munro, shows us the perfect example of coming of age and is also a story that left a lasting impression on me because of it feminist aspect of a girl’s life.

The so called deal was not something that appealed to Inari. In any case, it is whats keeping her safe from the coldness that is pursuing her. So now, she must take advantage of anything that can be of use to her. Looking around the hideout, Inari sees the demon statue in its resting position with it's wrist tied and fingers pointing up. I guess his plan is working out for him. I wonder if he's dead now.