Through the Tunnel
Reading Response: Through the Tunnel——by Doris Lessing
Meaning:
In the short story Through the Tunnel, Jerry and his mother spent their holidays near the sea. Jerry, the eleven-year-old English boy, was trying to become more independent and be accepted by the local boys so he left the safe beach where his mother stayed and turned to a more dangerous one. The main conflict appears when Jerry was convincing himself to practice holding a longer breath and dive through a long underwater tunnel made up of rock walls in the bottom of the sea. He wanted to demonstrate that he was able to cross the barriers without the help of other people. The overall meaning of the story is that growing up is always a harsh process but everyone has to face the challenges and go through them. This can be noticed in the sentences “…this moment when his nose had only just stopped bleeding, when his head was still sore and throbbing --- this was the moment when he would try. If he did not do it now, he never would” in which Jerry suffered all the pains but still continued trying to cross the tunnel. In the photo essay, the four pictures are mainly aiming to illustrate the connections of two generations, between youth and adults. For instance, the old lady in the second picture was injected Botox to look younger. The boy in the third picture is reading a book which gives us a sense that he is mature and knowledgeable.
The written text demonstrates that youth and wisdom can coexist when Jerry thought about the dangers of his action and practiced to be well-prepared. “Supposing he turned dizzy in the tunnel? Supposing he died there, trapped?” He was conscious to the upcoming risk of losing his life so he put lots of efforts to make sure that he was able to cross the tunnel. In the photo essay, the only picture that is linked with youth and wisdom is the boy on the lower left who is reading the book. He knows that he can get more experience and knowledge from the book so it can be seen as
Meaning:
In the short story Through the Tunnel, Jerry and his mother spent their holidays near the sea. Jerry, the eleven-year-old English boy, was trying to become more independent and be accepted by the local boys so he left the safe beach where his mother stayed and turned to a more dangerous one. The main conflict appears when Jerry was convincing himself to practice holding a longer breath and dive through a long underwater tunnel made up of rock walls in the bottom of the sea. He wanted to demonstrate that he was able to cross the barriers without the help of other people. The overall meaning of the story is that growing up is always a harsh process but everyone has to face the challenges and go through them. This can be noticed in the sentences “…this moment when his nose had only just stopped bleeding, when his head was still sore and throbbing --- this was the moment when he would try. If he did not do it now, he never would” in which Jerry suffered all the pains but still continued trying to cross the tunnel. In the photo essay, the four pictures are mainly aiming to illustrate the connections of two generations, between youth and adults. For instance, the old lady in the second picture was injected Botox to look younger. The boy in the third picture is reading a book which gives us a sense that he is mature and knowledgeable.
The written text demonstrates that youth and wisdom can coexist when Jerry thought about the dangers of his action and practiced to be well-prepared. “Supposing he turned dizzy in the tunnel? Supposing he died there, trapped?” He was conscious to the upcoming risk of losing his life so he put lots of efforts to make sure that he was able to cross the tunnel. In the photo essay, the only picture that is linked with youth and wisdom is the boy on the lower left who is reading the book. He knows that he can get more experience and knowledge from the book so it can be seen as