Through the Tunnel

Through the Tunnel Summary | Detailed Summary

"Through the Tunnel" is a short story originally published in the New Yorker in 1955. The author, Doris Lessing added it to her collection of short stories, A Habit of Loving, two years later.

This story is about Jerry, an eleven-year-old British boy on the verge of manhood, and his widowed mother. They are on holiday in another country, probably someplace in Africa.

In the beginning of the story, we see the concern that each of these characters has for one another. Jerry and his mother are heading to a beach and Jerry sees a bay that looks intriguing. His mother asks him if he would rather go somewhere else and being the good son, he says no. Finally, he admits that he would rather go exploring. His mother grapples with the idea and then decides that though she is worried about him, she will let him go.

Jerry is overjoyed and starts to explore his surroundings. He swam out into the ocean and at the same time kept an eye on his mother. His attention is soon caught by the other children playing, locals. They are swimming down by the rocks. They tried to talk to him, but when they saw that he could not understand, they soon started to forget him. He watched them dive off the rocks and soon joined them.

One of boys jumped into the water and swam to the bottom. It was several minutes until he popped out on the other side of the rocks. The others soon joined him. Jerry tried to follow but couldn't find the entrance to the tunnel. When he was unsuccessful, he tried to get their attention by splashing around. This only irritated the others, which embarrassed Jerry. He again watches them as they dive. This time when they appeared on the other side, they gathered their things and left. Jerry began to cry because he felt rejected by the group.

After they left, he tried once again to find the tunnel but couldn't because he was getting salt in his eyes. He asks his mother for swimming goggles and was so impatient for them he made her go by them right then.

At his next outing, he tries again to find the entrance and finally finds it. He then comes to the surface and grabs a stone that will weigh him down and jumps plunging to the bottom. He finds the hole and starts to go in but was scared back to the surface because of some seaweed that he thought was an octopus.

It is at this time that Jerry decides that he needs to go through the tunnel and will spend the rest of the summer trying to. He knows that he cannot hold his breath for as long as he needs to and over the next several days starts to work on holding his breath. His mother just makes sure that he is ok and lets him do what he wants, never asking him what he is doing.

After a day or two Jerry's nose starts to bleed because he spends so much time trying to hold his breath. Though he was irritated, he did as he was told when his mother insisted that he rest for a day. He finds that the day of rest helped and he can hold his breath longer. He patiently waits until he is sure he can hold his breath before trying that tunnel.

Now that Jerry can hold his breath longer, he begins to study the entrance to the tunnel. When he goes home, he is told that he is going to be going home soon. This makes him more determined than ever. He goes out and two days before he is scheduled to leave, he gets a nosebleed that makes him dizzy. It is now that he realizes if he passes out in the tunnel that he will die and it makes him concerned. He debates going home and trying it next year but then decides to try it then anyways. He realizes that if he waited until next year, he would never do it.

The story goes on to describe how Jerry gets through the tunnel and his fears of dying while going through it. In the end, just as he is sure he is about to drown, he hits the open ocean. He is overjoyed that he has succeeded even though it leaves him with another bloody nose. He sees the local boys playing in the distance and doesn't even really care. He goes back home and takes nap. He doesn't tell his mother. His mother is trying to let him grow up and decides to ignore his symptoms and act like everything is fine.