Who Is Jerry In Through The Tunnel

An interesting character in short story "Through the Tunnel" written by Doris Lessing is Jerry. Jerry is an interesting character because he is a determined, reckless, and maturing boy. The author portrays Jerry this way in "Through the Tunnel" to show a young English boy's rite of passage from childhood to adolescence.

Firstly, Jerry is an interesting character as he is a determined boy. Jerry finds the tunnel through the natives and resolves to "find his way through the cave, hole or tunnel, and out the other side." This is important to him as he wanted to fit in. While Jerry manages to push through the tunnel he endured many painful consequences along the way. These include when "his nose bled so badly he turned dizzy" and "his head was still sore and throbbing." But despite these injuries and his discomfiture Jerry persevered and swims through the tunnel. This is impressive as Jerry is still young but through his dedicated training, he manages to complete his goals. Jerry shows a theme of perseverance and man vs. nature as he combats the tunnel and his own fears to get through.
Jerry develops a reckless behaviour as a consequence of his determination to hold his breath under water. To stay under water Jerry starts to "let himself down into the water with another big stone in his arms so that he could lie effortlessly on the bottom of the sea." This not only is dangerous but could cost Jerry his life. The author shows this brash demeanour to show Jerry's transition from the boy who would look for his mother on the beach to one who would search for tunnels and hurt himself while keeping it a secret from his mother. This conveys to the reader the main idea of deception and the start of Jerry abusing his