What are some themes in Through the Tunnel?

In Through the Tunnel by Doris Lessing we have the theme of connection, isolation, determination, failure, independence, conflict and coming of age. Narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator the reader realises after reading the story that Lessing may be exploring the theme of connection.

What is the main message of the story Through the Tunnel?

The main theme of the story “Through the tunnel” is coming of age, which means becoming an adult, typically as a result of an event or a rite of passage.

What lesson does Jerry learn in Through the Tunnel?

It’s no longer important because the lesson that Jerry learned is that what others think is unimportant. He met and achieved his own goal. He proved it to himself and that is much more important to him than anything else.

What do you think is the main message or theme of this story consider what the swim Through the Tunnel means to Jerry Why Jerry no longer feels he has to go to the Bay?

The main theme of this story is growing up, coming of age, becoming competent. In the story, Jerry goes from being something of a wimp who has no confidence to being a guy who is quite proud of himself. The swim through the tunnel means a lot to Jerry.

What is the symbolism of Through the Tunnel?

The tunnel represents Jerry’s passageway from youth to maturity, a symbolic journey from boyhood to manhood. By proving himself worthy, Jerry is showing the world that he is no longer a child. In the end, Jerry’s climatic swim through the dark, dangerous tunnel proves his strength and endurance.

What is the conflict in Through the Tunnel?

The plot of the short story “Through the Tunnel” by Doris Lessing follows Jerry, an 11-year-old boy, through a single event of his life: training to swim through an underwater hole in a rock. The plot is focused on two main conflicts: overcoming one’s limitations, and humans versus nature.

What does the beach symbolize in through the tunnel?

In Doris Lessing’s “Through the Tunnel” the two beaches symbolize the two parts of Jerry that are in conflict. The safe beach, where his mother relaxes, represents the safety and maternal protection Jerry experiences as a child. It is at the wild beach that he sees the boys swimming through an underwater tunnel.

How does Jerry feel about himself after swimming through the tunnel?

How does Jerry feel about himself after swimming through the tunnel? He felt proud because he did what he set out to do.

What does the beach symbolize in Through the Tunnel?

What is the most important symbol in Through the Tunnel?

What does the wild beach symbolize in Through the Tunnel?

What is the most important conflict in Through the Tunnel?

Expert Answers There are two major conflicts in this story, one interior and one exterior. Both have to do with the growing maturity of Jerry. Jerry is a young boy when the story opens who has evidently lost his father and whose main companion appears to be his mother.

What was the story of through the tunnel?

“Through the Tunnel” is the story of Jerry, a young boy who is training to make a physical passage through an underwater tunnel, but it is also a story about a boy preparing (unbeknown to him) to make the passage from childhood into young adulthood.

What is the theme of Doris Lessing’s through the tunnel?

Educators go through a rigorous application process, and every answer they submit is reviewed by our in-house editorial team. One theme of Doris Lessing ‘s short story, ” Through the Tunnel ,” is that growing up is a difficult and sometimes painful process.

Why did the boy swim through the tunnel?

The simple fact is that this story is almost ridiculously easy to summarize. On the surface it is about a young boy who swims through an underwater tunnel as a rite of passage in a coming-of-age process.

Where are Jerry and his mother vacationing in through the tunnel?

In Lessing’s “Through the Tunnel,” Jerry, a young English boy, and his mother are vacationing at a beach they have come to many times in years past. Though the beach’s location is not given, it is implied to be in a country that is foreign to them both. Each tries to please the other and not to impose too many demands.