Deep Water

Chapter Summary

The main concept of the story, “Deep Water” is the strength of “will-power” and how determination can lead a person to achieve success. This story is an extraction of this writer’s writing Men and Mountain. The writer had overcome his fear of water by taking some significant measures. The reasons for developing such fear in the writer’s mind are two incidents. The first incident occurred when the writer was of 4 years and a wave knocks him down. The second incident happened when the impacts of the first incident were not at all disappeared from the writer’s mind. These two incidents create a huge impact on the writer and the fear of drowning started to haunt him. At the end of this story, the writer achieves success in defeating his fear of drowning. The story presents how to overcome any fear only by strong willpower.

How does Douglas make clear to the reader the sense of panic that gripped him as he almost drowned?

At that time when Douglas was thrown into the water, the first thing that came into his mind is to jump at the moment his feet touch the ground. In reality, the nine feet of the pool seems around 90 feet to the writer and as a result, he got panicked. A sense of panic is greatly explained by the writer at this stage. The plan of jumping, being failed creates a huge palpitation. The sense of panic is explained clearly to the readers by stating these matters. At the time of drowning, each step of the writer in saving himself helps the reader to imagine how desperate he was at that time.

In making the description vivid, the details of the writer’s steps and action in saving himself are significant. The writer feels that his heart was ready to burst before he could touch the bottom of the pool. As planned before, the writer tried to jump at that very moment when his feet touched the ground. His thought of bobbing as a cork failed and the only thing that popped in front of the writer’s eyes was only water. At that moment, the writer felt extreme helplessness and as a result, his sense of panic increased. Only after being struck with the fear of stark, the narrator was able to pull some strength to try again for reaching out of the pond.

After several tries, the writer was unable to get out of the water, and finally, someone pulled him out and he was saved for that moment. This detailed description was enough for the readers to get a clear idea about the sense of panic that gripped Douglas as he almost drowned.

How did Douglas overcome his fear of water?

In overcoming the fear of water, Douglas implemented several strategies. The writer decided to attend a regular swimming class to overcome his fear but failed as the trauma of his last two experiences was not leaving him. His legs become frozen just at the moment when he goes down the water. In relaxing the legs’ muscles, the writer decided to continuously kick his legs. Finally, he decided to swim two miles across Lake Wentworth. Besides that, whole length to the shore and back of Warm Lake was also considered by Douglas in achieving his fear.

Why does Douglas as an adult recount a childhood experience of terror and his conquering of it?

In the story, Deep Water, Douglas’s experiences in swimming and his fear of water are explained. The main theme of this story is the impact of willpower that made the writer capable of winning the fear of drowning. As an adult when the writer recounts his childhood experiences, his achievement feels more relative and determined. The sense of consistency is one of such factors that give the writer strength to stay determined to his goals of demolishing fear of water. The writer states as an adult, in death there is peace, there is terror only in the fear of death. The main reason behind such action is to understand the relevance of an incident and also to measure how a string determination can lead a person to achieve anything they want to.

What larger meaning does Douglas draw from this experience?

Douglas’s life-long experiences have made him realize that fear is only a condition and state of an emotional situation. In becoming fearless, a person needs to be aware of the exact area in which he is afraid. In losing such fear, the person needs to face the reality and try harder to tackle such situations. As stated by the writer, fear only lies in the fear of death, the meaning of leading a healthy and fearless life is depicted. The writer also gained the experience that nothing in the world is non-achievable and therefore only by a strong determination, everyone can win his fear.

All we have to fear is fear itself. Have you ever had a fear that you have now overcome?

The fear of fear itself is one of the main subthemes of this story. All the dangerous and traumatic incidents were experienced by the writer and finally, he was successful in overcoming all these things. Such an example can be the achievement of fear in going near a fire. This fear was generated because of an incident in which a fire was broken out in the garage and there was no exit left.

The fire brigade rescued all the people and this incident affected severely and caused a fear that restricted them from going near the fire. In achieving this fear, cooking was learned in which fire is one of the most important requirements and as time goes on, this fear disappears.

FAQs

Q1. What was the incident of misadventure, experienced by Douglas?

Ans. At a very young age of Douglas, he was thrown into a pool by a boy. Despite a mere knowledge about swimming, the writer was placed in that situation that was a severe misadventure for him.

Q2. What happened to the writer when he was 11 years old?

Ans. At the age of 11, a boy threw him in the deep end of the pool and as a result, he started to drown. This incident impacted deeply the writer's mind and his fear of water deepens.

Q3. How had Douglas tried to save himself at the time of drawing in the pool?

Ans. As the sense of drowning came into Douglas's mind, he tried to grab a rope and again taste the failure. This incident leverages fear of water within the writer's mind and as a result, it becomes more difficult for him.