Difference Between Failure And Success In Through The Tunnel

Calvin Coolidge says with this quote that talent, skill, intelligence, and education will never overcome persistence and determination. Persistence is the difference between failure and success; it overcomes all things. No matter how much skill someone has, a more determined and persistent person can always be better and achieve more. In a tennis match, if a player is many game points ahead, he could lose determination and start slacking. His opponent, who is more persistent, can get the edge and end up winning the match. This is only one out of many examples of the sheer power of persistence. “Through the Tunnel” by Doris Lessing also has many examples of determination. The main character, Jerry, goes through many trials to accomplish a big
feat. Doris Lessing proves to the reader that Jerry is a persistent person when she writes, “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” (Lessing 279). Readers figure out that Jerry is a very persistent person. He accomplishes his goals not through luck, knowledge, or even that much skill. Jerry accomplishes the feat of going through the tunnel because of his persistence and determination. These two examples prove that Calvin Coolidge is completely correct. No matter how smart, talented, or skillful you are, that will never overcome persistence and determination.