Through the Tunnel

“She walked away, that bare arm, now slightly reddened from yesterday’s sun, swinging. And he almost ran after her again, feeling it unbearable that she should go by herself, but he did not.”

This is when Jerry first strays from his mother. It shows his growing independence but also the loneliness that comes with it. Jerry’s conflict with himself pervades and propels the story.

“He went out fast over the gleaming sand, over a middle region where rocks lay like discolored monsters under the surface, and then he was in the real sea—a warm sea where irregular cold currents from the deep water shocked his limbs.”

This quote further establishes the setting for Jerry’s journey. The rocky bay is not tame but wild. Because this wildness is what first entices Jerry toward maturation, it is what first sparks his character growth.

“To be with them, of them, was a craving that filled his whole body.”

This passage shows how desperately Jerry wants to be like the local boys, to belong with them. To him, they epitomize manhood and inspire his longing for such a change himself. These boys also provide the plot developments that pull Jerry toward his rite of passage.

“And now, in a panic of failure, he yelled up, in English, ‘Look at me! Look!’ and he began splashing and kicking in the water like a foolish dog.”

This moment is essential in showing Jerry’s immaturity at the beginning of his journey—and it eventually results in loneliness that motivates his independence. As his childish awkwardness paints a very undignified picture, the older boys look down on him. Seeing their frowns, Jerry feels he doesn’t belong, and he experiences the shame that pushes him to start trying harder.

“As soon as she had bought the goggles, he grabbed them from her hand as if she were going to claim them for herself, and was off, running down the steep path to the bay.”

This begins Jerry’s journey into self-discipline. No longer simply exploring the rocky bay, he actively strategizes to conquer the bay’s challenge: the tunnel. Because his strategizing also demands more intellectual involvement, this development indicates that Jerry is beginning to assess the world differently. The goggles symbolize that new outlook. From this moment on, he does not quit in his pursuit.

“Now, he could see. It was as if he had eyes of a different kind—fish eyes that showed everything clear and delicate and wavering in the bright water.”

This passage illustrates the goggles’ symbolic importance. With the goggles’ help, Jerry sees things in a new light—light that will help him through his rite of passage.

“Something soft and clammy touched his mouth; he saw a dark frond moving against the grayish rock, and panic filled him. He thought of octopuses, of clinging weed. He pushed himself out backward and caught a glimpse, as he retreated, of a harmless tentacle of seaweed drifting in the mouth of the tunnel.”

Upon Jerry’s first close attempt at making it through the tunnel, he gives up—not because anything is actually wrong but because of a childish fear of monsters or dangers lurking in the water. However, this is a fleeting episode in his learning process. Most of the narrative, including this quote, creates the buildup to Jerry’s grand feat.

“He knew he must find his way through that cave, or hole, or tunnel, and out the other side.”

This is the moment Jerry realizes he must complete this rite of passage. He comes to a moment of clarity that failure is not an option. Knowing that he cannot give up just because things become hard, he starts to develop a sense of self-discipline.

“It was a torment to him to waste a day of his careful training, but he stayed with her on that other beach, which now seemed a place for small children, a place where his mother might lie safe in the sun. It was not his beach.”

At this point, Jerry is not yet a man, but he clearly no longer identifies as a child. The safe beach is no longer inviting to him. This further highlights the setting’s symbolic importance.

“He did not ask for permission, on the following day, to go to his beach. He went, before his mother could consider the complicated rights and wrongs of the matter.”

This is Jerry’s first moment of truly branching out on his own. He is no longer concerned with even getting his mother’s permission to act. It feels too childish to spend time arguing with her.

“A curious, most unchildlike persistence, a controlled impatience, made him wait.”

Jerry is starting to realize the changes happening in him. His project is unrelated to childish impulses. He has developed a strong sense of self-discipline that reflects maturity.

“He would do it if it killed him, he said defiantly to himself. But two days before they were to leave—a day of triumph when he increased his count by fifteen—his nose bled so badly that he turned dizzy and had lie limply over the big rock like a bit of seaweed, watching the thick red blood flow on to the rock and trickle slowly down to the sea. He was frightened.”

Jerry remains at war with himself. He knows he must complete this rite of passage, but, at the same time, he is scared of what will happen if he tries. To be successful, he must learn to overcome this fear.

“But even after he had made the decision, or thought he had, he found himself sitting up on the rock and looking down into the water; and he knew that now, 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.”

This is a turning point in Jerry’s character development. He knows he will attempt this rite of passage and that he must attempt it now. There is no more time for waiting. This is the moment before Jerry successfully travels through the tunnel.