Maturity In Doris Lessing's Through The Tunnel

An unknown author once said, “Maturity comes when you stop making excuses and start making changes.” This is exactly what happens in the short story Through the Tunnel. In the story, Jerry, an eleven year old boy, must face hardships to become an adolescent. He would like to swim through a tunnel at the bottom of the sea, so he stops making excuses and gets right to work, focusing on the “holding-one’s-breath” portion of the training. Although at first glance this may seem like a very straightforward story, there is, in fact, a deeper meaning and theme. Some of these are the themes of growing up and the fact that maturity does not come without a cost, usually in the form of trails and tribulations. The author, Doris Lessing, conveys difficulties of maturing and adolescence through similes and symbolism. …show more content…
It is how the story has its deeper meaning. Almost everything represents something else. For instance, “...the young English boy stopped at a turning of the path and looked down at a wild and rocky bay, and then over to the crowded beach he knew so well from other years” (Lessing 356). The crowded, but safe, beach represents Jerry’s childhood, or just childhood in general. Whereas the “wild and rocky bay” showcases that maturing comes with hardships that Jerry must overcome. Another example of symbolism could be that, “Jerry’s ability to hold his breath may...be understood as a symbolic assertion of his independence” (Wilson). Lessing again uses symbolism to explain another theme of the story, independence. Jerry holding his breath all the way through the tunnel is another hardship he must overcome to become an adolescent. Lessing, as demonstrated by theses proofs, uses symbolism to explain to the reader that that adolescence may be “wild and rocky”, much like the bay. She also uses symbolism to describe that Jerry would like to gain independence, symbolized by Jerry’s ability to hold his

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