In the story “Through the Tunnel,” the author, Doris Lessing, tells a story of the reality of growing up. The main character is Jerry, an eleven year old English boy who is on vacation with his mother. When he meets a group of boys, his only wish is to be a part of them. Jerry shows maturity by wanting to make new friends, but also becomes immature when they don’t have quite the same idea. Lessing creates a compelling narrative about self conflict to impress others and yourself. Lessing shows how determination is pushed to the limit through Jerry’s journey to maturity. In the beginning and middle of the story, Jerry is premature and he makes impulsive decisions and acts foolish. One example of this might be “[The group of boys] were leaving to get away from him. [Jerry] cried openly, fists in his eyes.” When trying to fit in fails, Jerry cries and whines. This is sheer childishness in the fact that he doesn’t even know the group of boys, but he wants so much …show more content…
One piece of evidence is “He did not want [the group of boys]. He wanted nothing but to get back home and lie down.” This is after he succeeds in his task, but realizes it was not worth it. Another segment of text that follows this is “[Jerry’s mother] was ready for a battle of wills, but [Jerry] gave in at once. It was no longer of the least importance to go to the bay.” He is realizing now that he does not need to impress others, and this is notably grown up. Sometimes one needs to see that not everyone is going to like them as they get older. In conclusion, “Through the Tunnel” has many different concepts but Lessing’s main theme Jerry’s growth maturity. By realizing it’s okay that he may not be accepted by the group of boys, Jerry changes in a way no one could teach him. There were high stakes for him to evolve in this way, but by the end of the story, he realizes he doesn’t have to prove himself to anyone but
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.
It is all about social recognition and self-realization. There has always been vulnerability innate in every single human being. We all want to be part of a larger community where we can prove our stand and secure it so that nobody can harm us. In a lot of these stories, when the kids talk, you can clearly make out the vulnerability in their voice, and G actually points this out over the course of the book. Now there are two ways of being recognized in a community: the good way and the bad way. The bad way seems so easy, tempting and “cool” in the beginning. That’s why young people usually end up making this decision. Gregory Boyle sees that this is merely a mistake that stems from the craving of social recognition and decides to convert these lives for the better because to him, conversion is “recognizing the truth”. He wants to use love and compassion to make the youth see the light and head into the right direction, the good path that is. Particularly in the story of Looney, according to Marcus Borg and Gregory Boyle, there was always a large group of people “who felt wholly unacceptable” (Boyle, 70). Greg uses Jesus’ strategy to have compassion in them, to share their feelings. “Precisely to those paralyzed in this toxic shame, Jesus says, “I will eat with you”. He goes where love has not yet arrived, and he “gets his grub on.” (Boyle, 70). Greg eats with Looney and shares with him Looney’s amusement when he shows G how great he
The influence of others can have a major impact on someone’s life; shaping both their belief and their behaviour. This is definitely the case in the Apprenticeship Of Duddy Kravitz. On his journey, toward becoming a ”‘somebody” several character's influence Duddy Kravitz negatively. Max Kravitz is not the best role model for Duddy, as he lies to him, assumes the worse for him, and degrades women. Uncle Benjy unintentionally teaches him violence, drinking, and what to do in a relationship. Jerry Dingleman, best known as “The Boy Wonder”, discourages Duddy and shows how Duddy can cheat his way to success. These three characters affect Duddy kravitz throughout his strive into becoming a successful man in the future.
I think he will be able to pick himself up and off of this rut of hopelessness through seeing how much hope Trevor has for him. Although he goes to jail, I feel as though Jerry’s starting over doesn’t involve being sober, but no longer being depressed and deprived of faith. I believe this because he mentions shooting stars when he talks to Arlene when she drops him off at work, “When I was a kid, we used to call that a falling star. I used to think if you saw one, you’d get your wish” (50). This shows he did have faith at one point in time, and it still peaks through in what he says and thinks.
Jerry’s mother stops and looks for him and asks if he wants to go to
Carl matures into a person who has friends and high self esteem, someone who is comfortable with his decisions and makes independent choices. At the beginning of the text when he and Harley first arrived at Wattle Beach, Carl didn?t belong, he didn?t fit in with anyone his own age. He arrived with a reputation, constantly shadowing him, seemingly pinned to the name that he bore. Matt. Everyone looked at him and his relatives in disgust. But throughout the story, Carl has tried and succeeded in proving them wrong. Everyone pushes Carl around but through the experience of getting the job at the barge, befriending Skip Duncan, joy, Justine and Maddie, Carl learns to stand up for himself and the people he loves and cares about. He shows this when he stands in the way of Maddie and Nathan when he believes that Maddie may possibly be in harms way. ?It was no different from standing on the barge, confident in what he knew.? Carl has turned into a young man who is confident in what he knows and will let nothing stand in the way of what he thinks is right.
As a young girl, there wasn't anything that Jerry loved more than her family, especially her uncle, Joe. When he is found dead after her eleventh birthday, Jerry is devastated and finds a hard time dealing with this loss. Now, years later when she returns to her hometown of Cairo, Illinois to bury her father, she finds that there was a lot more to the story than she realized as a pre-teen that is soon uncovered, thanks to her estranged cousin, Clara, and Jerry's overwhelming desire to finally know the truth. In a town where everyone knows everything about their neighbor, the family must struggle to keep their issues private and address the lack of trust, constant betrayal, and forgiveness all in a matter of four days.
In her famous short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” Joyce Carol Oates shows the transition from childhood to adulthood through her character Connie. Each person experiences this transition in their own way and time. For some it is leaving home for the first time to go to college, for others it might be having to step up to a leadership position. No matter what, this transition affects everyone; it just happens to everyone differently. Oates describes Connie's unfortunate coming of age in a much more violent and unexpected way than the typical coming of age story for a fifteen year old girl.
Jerry is a very individual kind of person, likes to be alone, find out things by himself, and
Later when Jerry arrives at the "party" he admires Milo's dress and wonders about the other party-goers because so far it is only to two of them. Milo said that they are the party. Jerry is not the type of guy that wants to be someone's escort. He offers to return the money and suggests that she find some other man to do this for her. She tells him that she is more interested in his work than him. She wants to help him make it big and introduce him to important art dealers and such. While at a club he has a chance encounter with the infamous Lise.
As I have already mentioned, he does not cope with existence like an adult. He is not able to keep his work, his family has been broken to pieces, and yet, all he does is looking for the rich and famous, and dreaming about the return of his career. He is secretly proud that Jayette, the woman in the coffee-shop, has noticed him.
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.
One of the aspects of being a grown-up is that you are mature, which the boy had not shown throughout the short story and proves that he is very sophomoric. An example that the boy shows in the story which is not mature at all is that he gets all obsessed over the girl, even though they've only talk once to the point where he agrees to buy her a gift at the bazaar and listens to what she says, this is a sophomoric act.
Cruncher makes two promises near the end of the book saying he'll try to be a better person and stop doing the horrible things he previously was. “First, them poor things well out o’ this, never no more will I do it, never no more! Second: them poor things well out o’ this, and never no more will I interfere with Mrs. Cruncher's flopping, never no more!” (Dickens 352). Jerry promises to stop robbing people's graves and to not interfere with his wife's praying again. This shows he's had a sudden change in his values or beliefs. Jerry changes from being a criminal to a person who wants to try and do better.
Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate. He was always in a good mood and always had something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!"