Jerry: Jerry is an eleven-year old English boy who is on vacation with his mother at a villa resort in a foreign country. He is an athletic, curious and determined young child who feels unwelcome on the beach he is staying at when a group of “men” frequently visit the bay every day. Despite his feelings of isolation, Jerry is resolute on being apart of the group. However, when he partakes in their activities of challenging diving and swimming they begin to ignore and separate themselves from him, seeing that he is a little immature kid. Nevertheless, Jerry goes through major changes in a short period of time, recognizing that he must change himself in order to fit in and develop a friendship with the group. Aware of this, he begins to train himself mentally and physically, calming his mind and exercising his lungs underwater to take in a full capacity of oxygen. During this process, the reader witnesses Jerry developing from a childish adolescent into a mature teenager as he practices without any type of support, knowing this is something he must do on his own. As he emerges victorious in the end by conquering an amazing feat, he does not receive a marvelous trophy, but instead knows within himself that he has accomplished something that he never thought was possible. At the end of the story, the reader now understands that Jerry is a dynamic character.
• Internal: Jerry, the main character, is wavering between childhood and adolescence. This is presented by Jerry’s constant longing to be in the water and swim through the tunnel.
• External: Jerry versus the tunnel, ocean, and air. The tunnel is the main problem Jerry is attempting to overcome, while the water and air add additional problems to Jerry’s current dilemma.
The author, Doris Lessing, has a particularly normal writing style. Instead of elaborating and overdoing it, she uses simple words and phrases to directly state what she wants the reader to distinguish. The tone can be described as loose and casual and she makes the characters speak in realistic and believable language. The only thing the author doesn’t supply is a lot of sensory details and figurative language but she doesn’t exclude them altogether.
• Tunnel: The first key theme is the tunnel, which symbolizes the passage to manhood. When Jerry is first introduced in the story, he is a very callow and young boy but as he perseveres through the dark and unknown tunnel, he is in a sense born into the new Jerry into mature adulthood.
• Safe beach: The second major theme associated is the safe beach, where Jerry’s mother relaxes most of the time on vacation. This particular beach signifies the safety and caring protection Jerry experienced as a child.
• Wild and rocky bay: The third main theme happens to be the other part of the beach, which represents the other part of Jerry who wishes to break away from his mother and become a little more independent.
The two instances of irony in the short story occur in the form of situational irony. The first example of irony is presented when Jerry tells his mother that he can easily hold his breath for over two minutes. Since she instructed Jerry not to go into the bay, the reader might expect her to react more angrily but in fact, she is fairly calm. The second instance and probably the most ironic situation of the story is when Jerry actually gets stuck in the tunnel. Since Jerry had sacrificed so much of his time preparing for his feat, the reader probably did not expect for this mishap to occur.
Recommendation:
We would recommend this story to anyone ages 12 or older for sake of appropriatness and level of reading comprehension. Anyone that wants to end a satisfing story with a smile on their face should pick this book up as soon as possible!
Critique:
This story is sort of a roller coaster in the sense that it comes with mixed emotions. You start out with happiness and joy and it slowly ends up in fear and anxiousness. If you want a great short story that will keep you on the edge of your seat, this is the story to choose. It doesn't start out smooth as some author's choose to write stories, but you soon catch on and are taken for a ride!