Sam Dean

Written in essay format

Through The Tunnel Literary Analysis

The rewards of hard work and determination

“Determination will get you through anything”

-Unknown

    Hard work and determination pay off. In the book, Through The Tunnel, by Doris Lessing, an eleven year old boy named Jerry is determined to accomplish his challenging goal, he had his share of tough moments, but he perseveres through them. The young boy, Jerry, is on vacation with his mother. Jerry discovers a more interesting, yet dangerous way to go about their vacationing, and has to overcome challenges in order to complete his goal. Jerry attacks his challenge with grit, and shows determination to complete his task. “As soon as she had bought the goggles, he grabbed them from her hand as if she were going to claim them for herself, and was off, running down the steep path to the bay.”

    Jerry and his mother are on vacation, and every day they go down to the regular, not too interesting beach. Jerry looks around and notices a wild, rocky bay, he decides that one day he will go explore the bay instead of going to the regular beach. One day, Jerrys mother allows him to go to the bay to explore. As the approaches the bay, he notices a couple older boys, diving off the rocks. “The English boy swam toward them but kept his distance at a stone’s throw. They were of that coast; all of them were burned smooth dark brown and speaking a language he did not understand. To be with them, of them, was a craving that filled his whole body.” Jerry observes them for a while, and notices that when they dive down, they stay underwater for a while and pop up on a different side of the bay. Jerry gets swim goggles, and over the next few days he explores the underwater tunnel. At this point in time, he is not able to hold is breath for long enough to make it through the tunnel, so everyday he trains himself to hold his breath. Jerry starts experiencing nosebleeds very often, and his mother becomes worried. He keeps at his task despite the nosebleeds, and eventually makes it through the tunnel. He had a tough time making it through the tunnel, but despite his pain and bleeding, Jerry feels very accomplished.

He could see nothing but a red-veined, clotted dark. His eyes must have burst, he thought; they were full of blood. He tore off his goggles and a gout of blood went into the sea. His nose was bleeding, and the blood had filled the goggles.

    Jerry was not very good at holding his breath; he did not know what the tunnel looked like; his time left on vacation was running short. Things were not looking good for him in order to complete his task. “In another four days, his mother said casually one morning, they must go home. On the day before they left, he would do it. He would do it if it killed him"

    With most tasks come challenges, and Jerry ran into challenges too. He was experiencing a lot of nose bleeds, and his mom was suggesting that he takes a break from the bay and does not physically overdo it. “That day and the next, Jerry exercised his lungs as if everything, the whole of his life, all that he could become, depended upon it. Again his nose bled at night, and his mother insisted on his coming with her the next day. It was a torment to him to waste a day of his careful training.” He did take a break, but knew he needed to get back to work. Jerry’s experience is a great representation of perseverance and how it helps us overcome problems in any situation.