Through The Tunnel" is written by a lady called Doris Lessing. Through the tunnel is a short story about a boy called Jerry and his mother who are on holiday

"I'd like to go and have a look at those rocks over there" The writer makes Jerry say this because in this story Jerry wants to be more mature like an adult than immature like a kid.

When she left him to go his own ways, Jerry had some more guilt going through his head. When his mum left him she felt insecure about letting him go his own ways.

"once Jerry got to the other beach, he went straight to the sea for a swim. The sea was warm from the heat of the sun, but when the currents of the deep sea came in, it would shock his limbs since it was so cold. When he had swam so far out from the bay he would look back and look for his mother"

The writer writes this to show that Jerry is trying to grow up by going to the beach by himself, but he still looks for his mother to make himself feel more secure.

When Jerry gets back to the beach he sees some boys who had burnt smooth skin and spoke a different language. This is the part of the story where jerry is introduced to his challenge, to go through the tunnel. Jerry thinks this is a good chance to make some new friends. Jerry tries to act older so that he can fit in with the boys. When Jerry gets back to the bay he climbed on to the rocks where the boys are, and tries to blend in. Jerry wants to join in because he thinks it may make him mature since he is playing with the older boys. The boys that Jerry is playing with are older and the writer makes them older than him, because jerry wants to be like them. When Jerry is with them it makes him feel older and more mature.

After Jerry and the other boys have dived in a few times they all have a rest, after a bit the biggest of the boys gets ready to dive. As soon as he dives in the rest of the boys go to the edge and look at the water. Jerry lets out a yell of warning after a minute. This is the point when the challenge is introduced to Jerry. When the boy comes back up the rest of them dive in to do the same, Jerry also dives in to see what is happening. Once jerry sees them he wants to do it . Jerry wants to show he is mature by going through the tunnel, but he can't because he can't hold his breath for long enough to do it.

"I want some swimming goggles"

Jerry starts to demand things so he can do his challenge of going through the tunnel. Jerry also starts to snatch things like a little child, this shows that he is still an immature little kid that he does not want to be. As soon as he has the goggles he goes straight to the bay to try them, he thinks this will help him to do the challenge. When he gets into the water they just fall off.

Jerry has to practice his breathing to do the challenge, which took up most of his time. Every time he goes under water for a long time his nose starts to bleed. He can hold his breath for one hundred and sixty seconds and when he keeps on practicing he can hold it for two minutes. This is the amount of time he needs to go through the tunnel. when he finds out that he is going home in a couple of days he decides to do it the day before he goes home.

The time comes for him to do the challenge he goes to the bay and dives in. when he is going to the tunnel lots of thoughts are going through his head whether he is going to die or not and whether he will see his mother again. Once he gets to the tunnel he starts to go through the tunnel it gets thinner and thinner, and he starts to wonder if he will make it. Jerry makes it through and he is so delighted because he thinks he is mature now, but really he is just the same person as before the challenge.

Ewan Hunter 3T3 Through the tunnel essay 12/18/2007