Through the Tunnel Summary

Doris Lessing’s short story “Through the Tunnel” was first published in 1955 in The New Yorker. Lessing, a well-known British Zimbabwean writer, wrote about many important topics of the 20th century, such as race, gender, and politics. However, this story focuses on personal growth. It is a coming-of-age story about a young English boy and his mother on vacation at the beach.

The story begins with 11-year-old Jerry and his widowed mother walking to the beach in a foreign country. As they walk, Jerry sees a rough, rocky beach down a separate path. It looks wild and different from the safe, familiar beach where they are headed. He feels curious about it but decides to stay with his mother. His mother walks in front of him, carrying a bright striped bag, her arm swinging loosely in the sunlight. They are both trying to understand each other; Jerry’s mother worries that he doesn’t want to be with her, while Jerry doesn’t want to hurt her feelings. He stays with her that first day but can’t stop thinking about the rocky bay.

The next day, as they head to the beach again, Jerry’s mother asks if he is bored. He quickly replies, “Oh, no!” and smiles. He doesn’t want her to feel lonely. Still, he mentions that he is interested in the rocks at the other bay. His mother, wanting to give him some independence, tells him he can go while she stays at the usual beach. Jerry is excited as he reaches the rocky shore. He dives into the water and swims far out. From there, he can see both the small bay and the big beach where his mother is sitting under her yellow umbrella. He feels relieved that he can see her but also suddenly lonely, knowing she is sitting by herself.

As he swims back to shore, he notices a group of local boys running around on the rocks, completely comfortable there. He swims toward them, hoping to join. The boys speak a language he doesn’t understand, but he desperately wants to be part of their group. When one of them looks at him, he feels encouraged and swims closer. However, when the boys realize he is a foreigner, they mostly ignore him. Even so, Jerry enjoys their company.

The boys start diving off the cliffs, and Jerry follows their lead. To him, they seem more like men than boys. The biggest one dives into the water and disappears for what seems like a long time. Then he suddenly comes up on the other side of a large rock, separated from where they started. One by one, the other boys also dive, disappear, and reappear on the other side of the rock. Jerry, still on the first side, watches in confusion. He realizes they must be swimming through an underwater tunnel in the rock, but he can’t see the entrance. He tries to search underwater, but the saltwater stings his eyes. He feels embarrassed and left out. The boys eventually leave, and Jerry is left alone, crying on the rocks.

Later, Jerry returns to the villa where he and his mother are staying. He waits for her, and soon she arrives, walking slowly up the path, swinging her striped bag. The sun makes her bare arm look flushed. The moment he sees her, he tells her to buy him swimming goggles. She does, and as soon as he has them, he rushes back to the rocky bay. He dives into the water again and again, searching for the hidden tunnel. At first, all he sees are fish and the smooth rock. Finally, after using a heavy stone to sink deeper, he spots a small opening in the rock. He tries to push through it but gets scared when something touches him. He imagines it is an octopus, but it is only seaweed. He quickly swims back up, but now he is determined to get through the tunnel.

Jerry decides to train himself to hold his breath longer. He practices daily, counting how long he can stay underwater. He pushes himself until the sun goes down. That night, he dreams of the rock and his goal. However, his nose starts bleeding from all the practice, and he feels dizzy and weak. His mother doesn’t know what he has been doing, but she warns him not to overdo it.

Even though his nose keeps bleeding, he continues training. The next day, his mother asks him to stay with her at the safe beach, and he has to waste the day playing in the shallow water. The following day, without asking for permission, he goes straight to the rocky bay again. He practices even more, studying the rock and trying to hold his breath for two full minutes. His mother reminds him that their vacation is almost over. He decides that he must go through the tunnel before they leave.

Although he has trained a lot, he still worries about getting dizzy and possibly drowning. He wonders if he should wait until next summer, but deep down, he knows he has to do it now or he never will. Finally, he takes a deep breath and dives. He finds the tunnel entrance and pushes himself through. His head throbs, and his body scrapes against the sharp rock. The journey is exhausting, and as he keeps going, he feels like he might not make it. The surface seems so far away. He fights through his pain and finally reaches the open water. His heart is pounding, and his goggles fill with blood from his nose, but he has done it.

After this challenge, Jerry feels satisfied. He no longer needs to prove anything. For the rest of the vacation, he is happy to relax with his mother. He doesn’t even feel the need to go back to the rocky bay again. He has achieved his goal, and that is enough.