Through The Tunnel Setting Analysis

Through this story, the author shows how difficult life can be, not everyone has the possibility to live a quiet adolescence, sometimes you have just to grow up faster, be responsible and make difficult decisions from which depends the rest of your life.

Cormac McCarthy’s brain child “The Road” is a postapocalyptic novel that illustrates the harsh reality of the world. This story serves as a truth that humans, when stripped of their humanity will take desperate measures in order to survive. The reader learns; however even when it seems all hope is lost good can still be found in the world. The son character of this story illuminates this philosophy. He is a foil of his father and shows how even a person never accustomed to the luxury of a normal life can still see goodness.

In “Through the Tunnel,” the author, Doris Lessing, writes about a vacation of a widow and her son named Jerry. Lessing turns Jerry’s and his mother’s relaxing vacation into a serious one with the tools of symbolism to unveil the hidden message of the rocky bay and the tunnel, vivid imagery of the tunnel, as well as similes and personification regarding Jerry’s attitude towards the adventure; moreover, the author creates an overall tone of determination and wonder to help construct the well-known theme of never giving up. It is safe to assume the rocky bay and the tunnel both symbolize very important aspects in this short story. The rocky bay could be said to symbolize a turning point in Jerry’s life.

The character and the setting work together to help find the theme in multiple ways. The characters lives and works in the setting, while the setting and society helps influence the main character. The setting shows where the character lives in the world, and how the culture in

This story is a about a boy named Roger who was intelligent and got A’s on everything unlike his other friends who didn’t, was struggling to make the cut in a tough Atlanta grammar school. He was teased by his friends that he’d never be one of the guys in junior high if he didn't dirty up his act. To prove that he wasn’t just a goody-goody, he accepted the dare by his friends to dive under a moving train. This essay is well structured and provides a clear setting and introduction to the main event. This was the day that changed Roger’s viewpoint on life. Hoffman uses metaphors as stylistic devices when he describes himself accepting the dare. Hoffman was afraid to do the dare but he accepted it anyways, just to prove a point. To soothe his anxiety, he created an image about a “friendly train” and runs next to it. He also uses imagery to describe the small details on what's exactly going on while he’s doing the dare. “Even under pure sky, though, I had to fight to keep my eyes open and my shoulders between the rails.”, meaning that he was very afraid that

In life, one must overcome their fears in order to achieve or successfully attain a certain goal in their mind. The short story “Through the Tunnel”, by Doris Lessing tells us about how Jerry builds confidence and maturity throughout the story, by overcoming his fear of going through the dark and scary tunnel underneath the water. The author portrays the idea of overcoming one’s fear to achieve a goal through Jerry, who was once a childish and isolated character, had begun his risky adventure of going through the tunnel to prove his worth to a group of boys and along the way discovers what he truly wants. Over time he becomes more mature and in the end, gain self-acceptance.

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

Often times, settings aid in setting a tone for a piece of writing. In "Rough Road Ahead: Do Not Exceed Posted Speed Limit" by Joe Kurmaskie, the setting is able to instill varying emotions into the author. The desolate desert that Kurmaskie is trapped in elicits feelings of hopelessness and debilitation. After trusting someone for directions, he has gotten lost; which has led into severe dehydration, desperation, and exhaustion. Throughout Kurmaskie's period of weakness, he was also furious due to the misdirection. The further Kurmaskie traveled into nothingness, the worse his feelings and physical state would progress.

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

In the following story Through the Tunnel, the author symbolizes the underwater tunnel as the struggle of going into adulthood. There's two quotes in the book that can prove this thesis correct, “He was trembling with fear that he would not go; and he was trembling with horror at that long, long tunnel under the rock, under the sea.” This proves

Even though, jerry wants to be accepted and in control of his life, the harsh reality is Jerry’s identity wants to be with his mother. Further throughout the story the tunnel is shown as the symbol of the story; letting the reader know that Jerry senses that it is the door to his identity. Additionally, the chronological structure is effective throughout the story in showing the process of growing up and an insight into Jerry’s transformation. Moreover, the 3rd person omniscient narrator and formal register presents the character of Jerry and his mother in a distanced way and without a biased perspective. This suggests the sense of detachment and alienation that Jerry is starting to feel from his mother as he is growing up and wanting to make his own choices. The story is firstly introduced with a description of the mother carrying a bright striped purse. It was this and other uses of describing Jerry’s surroundings with the use of bright colours symbolising jerry’s childish world and thoughts. In addition, the thought of jerry’s childish thoughts shows his struggle to establish his own identity. The author writes that Jerry goes swimming “over a region where rocks lay like discoloured monsters under the surface”. The simile shows that even though Jerry wants to be independent and swim alone in the bay, he’s terrified of being alone in the water and not seeing his mother again. Briefly, Jerry learns that you cannot

Since a young age, Jerry has always gone to the safe beach with his mother. As told in the story, he is starting to get more mature and is experiencing his coming of age. The safe beach represents him as not being as independent as when he travels to the wild bay alone. “Next morning, when it was time for the routine of swimming and sunbathing, his mother said, ‘Are you tired of the usual beach, Jerry? Would you like to go somewhere else’” (Lessing 1). Jerry’s mother is willing to allow Jerry to break away, but he is still quite nervous. The safe beach represents Jerry as a young boy, a time in which he wants to separate from his mother, yet is apprehensive. “It seemed to him that a long time has passed, and he swam to where he could see his mother…. There she was, a speck of yellow under an umbrella that looked like a slice of orange peel” (Lessing 2). Jerry was nervous about being on the wild bay alone, so he checked to make sure he could see

reflects the main plot in the book. It is set on a beach and involves

To begin, Doris Lessing uses many literary devices throughout the story to develop the theme. To be specific, symbolism plays a major role in the evolution of the characters and the story. For example, Lessing introduces one setting that Jerry, the main character, sees as childish and unfitting for him. Then immediately Jerry has his eyes set on “the bay,” where the jagged rocks and crashing waves shows to be for a grown man. Lessing writes, “...he looked over his back shoulder at the wild bay, and all morning, as he played on the safe beach, he was thinking of it (Lessing 1).” The two settings described symbolize the two stages of life that Jerry is amidst. The “crowded beach” symbolizes childhood, safety, and dependence on his mother. On the other hand, the “wild and rocky bay” symbolizes risk, maturity, and independence. “Short Story Student Guide,” explains how the symbolism of the beaches creates the exposition(1). Another example of symbolism is the goggles that Jerry