In the short story “Through the Tunnel” by Doris Lessing a young boy named Jerry takes on the risky challenge of swimming through a narrow and long underwater tunnel on his holiday at the beach. It is an interesting story with a variety of remarkable characters.
In the story, Jerry is on holiday at the beach with his mother, when he sees a group of older men diving through an underwater tunnel. This fascinates him so he starts practicing to hold his breath and dive until he can be like them. When he finally tries, he finds out how difficult it is and almost drowns. The rising action starts as he swims into the tunnel for the first time. The climax is when he almost drowns. “He must go on into the blackness ahead, or he would drown. His head was swelling, his lungs crackling.”
There are few important characters in this story. Jerry is introduced using direct characterization and so is his mother. “He was an only child, eleven years old. She was a widow. She was determined to be neither possessive nor lacking in devotion.” But they’re actual personalities are shown indirectly. Th...
The two stories "Brothers are the Same" by Beryl Markham and "Through the Tunnel" by Doris Lessing are both about growing up and entering adulthood. "Brothers are the Same" about a boy named Temas trying to prove he was tough and could be called an adult. In a similar situation in "Through the Tunnel" a young boy named Jerry is determined to go through an underwater tunnel that he saw some older French boys go through. He wants to accomplish this goal to prove to himself that he could do it . The two stories share a similar theme, but the authors perspective on the topic differ.
In the first paragraph the story description of the main characters, Aunt Greta who will be the the boy’s role model through out the story. You
Identity is something every human quests for. Individuals tend to manipulate views, ideas, and prerogative. Janie's identity became clay in her family and friends hands. Most noteworthy was Janie's grandmother, Nanny. Janie blossomed into a young woman with an open mind and embryonic perspective on life. Being a young, willing, and full of life, Janie made the "fatal mistake" of becoming involved in the follies of an infatuation with the opposite sex. With this phase in Janie's life Nanny's first strong hold on Janie's neck flexed its grip. Preoccupation with romantic love took the backseat to Nanny's stern view on settling down with someone with financial stability. Hence, Janie's identity went through its first of many transformations. She fought within her self, torn between her adolescent sanction and Nanny's harsh limitations, but final gave way and became a cast of Nanny's reformation.
Janie's outlook on life stems from the system of beliefs that her grandmother, Nanny instills in her during life. These beliefs include how women should act in a society and in a marriage. Nanny and her daughter, Janie's mother, were both raped and left with bastard children, this experience is the catalyst for Nanny’s desire to see Janie be married of to a well-to-do gentleman. She desires to see Janie married off to a well to do gentleman because she wants to see that Janie is well cared for throughout her life.
Janie's Grandmother is the first bud on her tree. She raised Janie since she was a little girl. Her grandmother is in some respects a gardener pruning and shaping the future for her granddaughter. She tries to instill a strong belief in marriage. To her marriage is the only way that Janie will survive in life. What Nanny does not realize is that Janie has the potential to make her own path in the walk of life. This blinds nanny, because she is a victim of the horrible effects of slavery. She really tries to convey to Janie that she has her own voice but she forces her into a position where that voice is silenced and there for condemning all hopes of her Granddaughter become the woman that she is capable of being.
...ve interest was free born and wished to marry her. However, after Harriet?s attempts to pursued her master to sell her to the young neighbor failed she was left worse off than before. Dr. Norcom was so cruel he forbade Harriet anymore contact with the young man. Harriet?s next love came when she gave birth to her first child. Her son Benny was conceived as a way to get around Dr. Norcom?s reign of terror. However, this is a subject that was very painful for her. She conveys to the reader that she has great regret for the length she went to stop her Master. Along with her own guilt she carries the memories of her Grandmother?s reaction to the news of her pregnancy. Clearly this was a very traumatic time in Harriet?s life. In light of these difficult events Harriet once again found love and hope in her new born son. ?When I was most sorely oppressed I found solace in his smiles. I loved to watch his infant slumber: but always there was a dark cloud over my enjoyment. I could never forget that he was a slave.? (Jacobs p. 62)
George and Ophelia grow up in significantly different environments with exposure to vastly dissimilar experiences; their diverse backgrounds have a profound impact on the way they interpret and react to situations as adults. George and Ophelia both grow up without their parents, but for different reasons. George grows up at the Wallace P. Andrews Shelter for Boys in New York. The Shelter’s strict surroundings did not provide the warm and inviting atmosphere that a mother strives for in a home. The employees at the Shelter are not “loving people,” (p. 23) but they are devoted to their job, and the boys. At a young age, Ophelia loses her mother. We learn very little about her apparently absent father. Mama Day and Abigail raise Ophelia. Abigail provides a source of comfort and love for Ophelia as she fulfills the role of mother figure. Mama day, Ophelia’s great aunt, acts more as a father figure. “If Grandma had been there, she would have held me when I broke down and cry. Mama Day only said that for a long time there would be something to bring on tears aplenty.” (p. 304). Ophelia grows up on the small island of Willow Springs. Everyone knows each other and their business, in the laid-back island community. The border between Georgia and South Carolina splits down the middle of the island. Instead of seeing any advantage to belonging to either state, the townspeople would prefer to operate independently. For George and Ophelia, the differences in their backgrounds will have a tremendous impact on many facets of their adult lives.
Laura's mother and brother shared some of her fragile tendencies. Amanda, Laura's mother, continually lives in the past. Her reflection of her teenage years continually haunts Laura. To the point where she forces her to see a "Gentleman Caller" it is then that Tom reminds his mother not to "expect to much of Laura" she is unlike other girls. But Laura's mother has not allowed herself nor the rest of the family to see Laura as different from other girls. Amanda continually lives in the past when she was young a pretty and lived on the plantation. Laura must feel she can never live up to her mothers expectations. Her mother continually reminds her of her differences throughout the play.
His development of the characters seems to focus on one main character at a time, shifting from one to another. Sonny, who the story is about, is a troubled young man, who is also very private and some would say he’s a bit of a dreamer in a sense. At an early age he becomes addicted to heroin. He is also an aspiring musician who tends to keeps all of his problems bottled up throughout the story—except when he plays his music. Music for him is a freeing outlet. The narrator, also known as Sonny’s older brother is compared to Sonny and the many young men of Harlem. He served in the military in his earlier years and then became a successful, hardworking math teacher. Grace, the narrator’s daughter, dies of polio while her Uncle Sonny is in prison. Her death was the reason that the narrator takes the time out to write to his brother Sonny. Her death becomes an act of grace, resul...
In the short story The Swimmer by John Cheever, one of the dominant themes is the passage of time. In this short story time seems to pass as reality does with us unaware of its passing. The main character is the protagonist hero, Neddy Merrill who embarks on a traditional theme of a homeward journey. The scene opens on a warm mid-summer day at an ongoing pool party with Neddy and his wife Lucinda. The pool is “fed by an artesian well with a high iron content, was a pale shade of green.
When reading a tale of two cities you are introduced to numerous characters with diverse personalities. The character that was most relatable to me had to be Jerry Cruncher’s son. I definitely see myself in Jerry Cruncher’s son in the way he revered his father and love to hang around him. In the story Jerry Cruncher’s son is so influenced by his father’s way of thinking that he holds the same sentiments about his mother’s supposed praying on the family’s downfall. I remember growing up I would ask my father everything and whatever answer he gave me I believed it and not question one thing. Numerous times throughout the story we are shown Jerry’s son tagging along with him as goes to do small jobs for Tellson’s Bank as a messenger throughout London. Growing up I use to love going to work with my father, learning the type of job he does and helping him out in my own way. Another way I could relate to Jerry Cruncher’s son is how he was always curious throughout t...
The three family members are adults at the time of this play, struggling to be individuals, and yet, very enmeshed and codependent with one another. The overbearing and domineering mother, Amanda, spends much of her time reliving the past; her days as a southern belle. She desperately hopes her daughter, Laura, will marry. Laura suffers from an inferiority complex partially due to a minor disability that she perceives as a major one. She has difficulty coping with life outside of the apartment, her cherished glass animal collection, and her Victrola. Tom, Amanda's son, resents his role as provider for the family, yearns to be free from him mother's constant nagging, and longs to pursue his own dreams. A futile attempt is made to match Laura with Jim, an old high school acquaintance and one of Tom's work mates.
The Old Man and the Sea is a heroic tale of man’s strength pitted against forces he cannot control. It is a tale about an old Cuban fisherman and his three-day battle with a giant Marlin. Through the use of three prominent themes; friendship, bravery, and Christianity; the “Old Man and the Sea” strives to teach important life lessons to the reader.
the story he saw the light at the end of the tunnel. He made it out of
Amanda takes it upon herself to mold Tom into the man that she wished her husband was. Of course, he takes it upon himself to be anything but. He spends every night at the movies. Tom uses the movies as a form of escape from his home life and satisfies his urge to leave and explore. He says, “People go to the movies instead of moving.”