Deep Water
By William Douglas
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The chapter ‘Deep
Water’ is written by William O. Douglas who was an advocate and the longest serving
judge of the court.
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The following
excerpt is taken from 'Of Men and Mountains' by William O. Douglas. It reveals
how as a young boy, William Douglas was nearly drowned in a swimming pool.
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In this essay he
talks about his fear of water and thereafter, how he finally overcame it. We
are able to notice how the autobiographical part of the selection is used to
support his discussion of fear.
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The story is
subjective as it describes the emotions of the writer associated with his
childhood and his fear of water. It brings his childhood memories back when he
was nearly drowned.
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This chapter
depicts the author's intense personal struggle with a traumatic experience and
the subsequent journey of overcoming fear.
§ Chapter highlights the gradual nature of
healing and the theme of triumph over fear. This theme of resilience inspires
the readers to be mentally strong, face the fear and overcome it.
Summary / Synopsis
The chapter ‘Deep
Water’ reflects the author's intense personal struggle with a traumatic
experience and the subsequent journey of overcoming fear.
Traumatic
experience had happened when the narrator was ten or eleven years old. He decided
to learn to swim. There was a pool at the Y.M.C.A in Yakima. He hated to walk
naked in water and show his skinny legs. But he did it to learn swimming.
This scare for
water got into his heart when he was three or four years old and father took
him to the beach in California. He and I stood together in the surf. I hung on
to him, yet the waves knocked me down and swept over him. His breath was gone.
He was frightened. Father laughed, but he got extremely scared of overpowering
force of the waves.
Y.M.CA. swimming
pool revived his unpleasant memories and fear. But he tried to gather confidence
as he was determined. He paddled with his water wings, watching the other boys.
Once he was alone
at the pool. He waited for other boys to come. Then, a big bruiser of a boy,
probably eighteen years old. He picked him up and tossed him into the deep end. He landed in a sitting position, swallowed water, and went at once to the bottom.
He was frightened out of his wits. Those nine feet were more
like ninety, and when his feet hit bottom, he summoned
all his strength and made a great leap upwards. He tried to bring his legs up, but they hung as dead
weights, paralysed and rigid. A great force pulled him under and he went down again. He went down and down, endlessly. And then sheer, stark terror seized him. When his third attempt also failed, his body became weak and motionless. And he was pulled out by the same boy who threw him into the water.
For days, months and years a haunting fear remained in his heart. The slightest thought of water upset him. Water served as a powerful symbol throughout the chapter. Initially, the YMCA swimming pool represents a place of safety and learning, but the traumatic incident transforms it into a source of deep-seated fear. The aftermath is characterised by lingering anxiety, nightmares, and an aversion to water related activities. The fear extends to natural bodies of water, impacting the narrator's ability to enjoy outdoor activities like fishing, boating, wsimming and canoeing.
Finally, one October, the narrator decided to get an instructor and learn to swim. He went to a pool and practised five days a week, an hour each day. The instructor put a belt around him and a rope attached to the belt went through a pulley that ran on an overhead cable. Each time the instructor relaxed his hold on the rope and he went under, the old terror returned and his legs froze. Then, he taught him to put his face under water and exhale, and to raise his nose and inhale. He repeated the exercise hundreds of times. Bit by bit he shed part of the panic that seized him earlier when his head went under water.
After good practice, he went to the Lake Wentworth in New Hampshire, dived off a dock at Triggs Island, and swam two miles across the lake to Stamp Act Island. Once, the fear gripped him in the Lake, he defeated that fear.
The narrator's decision to face and overcome the fear represents a journey of self discovery and resilience. Seeking swimming lessons and practicing regularly with an instructor display a deliberate and determined effort to confront and conquer the deep rooted phobia.
The narrative
highlights the gradual nature of healing and triumph over fear. The
step-by-step process of swimming lessons, started with basic skills and
progressed to more challenging tasks. It results as the incremental progress in
overcoming trauma.
Towards the end,
the eventual triumph of the writer over his fear is marked by a swimming
challenge across a lake. It was the symbol of a profound personal victory.
Despite the initial
fear and ongoing struggles the narrator perseveres, faces the fear which had
deep set in his soul and emerges victorious.