A Story of Maturity

“Confidence comes with maturity, be more accepting of yourself”-Nicole Scherzinger

Maturity can come in many different ways, in the story, Through the Tunnel, by Doris Lessing, Jerry goes through a very big change both mentally and physically. Through his endeavors, Jerry changes his whole mindset about life. He no longer feels compelled to receive the satisfaction of the “older boys”, and feels that to have satisfaction, he must prove himself to himself and not to others that he may be jealous of, a tremendous sign of maturity. “She was ready for a battle of wills, but he gave in at once. It was no longer of the least importance to go to the bay.” Jerry feels he needs to prove himself to the other boys in order to belong. He spends many hours training his lungs to be able to make the dangerous journey through the tunnel, often going home with terrible bloody noses and feeling exhausted. “That night, his nose bled badly. For hours he had been under water, learning to hold his breath, and now he felt weak and dizzy.” Jerry is craving acceptance so much that he is willing to die for the boys just to give credence to him. He comes to terms with the fact that he is putting his life at great risk all to just fit in with a group of kids he most likely won’t see again in his life. “If he did not do it now, he never would. 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.”

He felt he would sink now and drown; he could not swim the few feet back to the rock. Then he was clutching it and pulling himself up on to it. He lay face down, gasping. He could see nothing but a red­veined, clotted dark. His eyes must have burst, he thought; they were full of blood. He tore off his goggles and gout of blood went into the sea. His nose was bleeding, and the blood had filled the goggles. He scooped up handfuls of water from the cool, salty sea, to splash on his face, and did not know whether it was blood or salt water he tasted. After a time, his heart quieted, his eyes cleared, and he sat up. He could see the local boys diving and playing half a mile away. He did not want them. He wanted nothing but to get back home and lie down. [Through the Tunnel, Page XXII]

Jerry realizes that his life will go on, part of the group or not; moreover, he passes the group on his way home after almost dying trying to impress them, and he doesn’t even care that they won’t acknowledge the fact he wants absolutely nothing to do with them. In this story, we saw how Jerry matured so that he no longer craved the attention so much from the boys that he was willing to risk his life for it. He finds it silly that he would try to do something like this and you can tell he is ashamed as he hides it from his mother. “He rushed to the bathroom, thinking she must not see his face with bloodstains, or tearstains, on it.” For Jerry, this maturity is very good for him, as you saw what great lengths he would take just to receive attention, which now no longer matters to him.