DEEP WATER BY WILLIAM DOUGLAS

DEEP WATER

DEEP WATER

The author William Douglas talks about his fear of water and how he finally overcomes it. He narrates an autobiographical incident that occurred when he was ten or eleven years old and almost drowned in the Y.M.C.A swimming pool. In result he developed a fear of water, which he was able to conquer after several years because of sheer determination. The lesson conveys the message that is not death but fear of death that creates terror and anxiety in our mind so the fear needs to be shaken off.

IMPORTANT POINTS TO REMEMBER:

1. Developed aversion to water

(i) 3 to4 years old: father took him to the beach in California.

(ii) waves knocked him down.

(iii) swept over him.

(iv) fear of water sets in

2. Yakima River :

(i) dangerous

(ii) mother-warned him against it.

(iii) kept fresh in his mind - each drowning in the river.

3. Misadventure at Y.M.C.A.(safe pool)

(i) Y.M.C.A. pool-shallow end is 2-3 feet deep; 9 feet at the deep end

(ii) An 18 yr old bully tossed him into the deep end

(iii) Douglas' plan (strategy)-when he hits the bottom of the pool-he would jump &come

to the surface.

(iv) went 9 feet down

(v) failed to rise, suffocated, lungs ached, head throbbed. fear-stricken

(vi) became unconscious, nearly died.

4. Effect/Impact of Fear :

(i) ruined his fishing trips

(ii) deprived him of the joy of canoeing , boating & swimming.

5. HIRED AN INSTRUCTOR TO OVERCOME FEAR OF WATER :

(i) practised 5 days a week-1hour each day

(ii) used belt& rope to teach swimming

(iii) Taught to exhale under water &inhale above water

(iv) Taught Limb coordination

(v) Taught different strokes-crawl stroke, breast stroke, side stroke& back stroke

6. TESTED HIMSELF :

(i) Went to Lake Wentworth in Hampshire-swam 2 miles to Stamp Act Island

(ii) Went up to Meade Glacier to swim in warm lake near Gilbert Peak.

CHARACTER SKETCH OF DOUGLAS

*adventurous by nature.

*had a zest for life.

*courageous/bold.

*indomitable spirit-to overcome his fear.

*not frightened by crisis-accepted it as a challenge.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

1.      What was the author’s early childhood fear of the water? How did it affect him in the rest of his life?
The author and his father once went the beach of California when the former was three or four. While playing in the surf of the sea, the author was knocked down by the water and was buried under it. His breath was gone and a deep fear developed in his mind.

2.      Why was Douglas’ mother particular that he should not go to the Yakima River? How did she manage to keep the son away?
The Yakima River was treacherous. Drowning was common in it. By reminding him of each drowning incident, Douglas’ mother kept him away from the Yakima River.

3.      What made the YMCA pool a safe place to learn swimming?
The YMCA pool at Yakima was not so deep. At the shallow end it was only three feet deep and at the deepest end it was nine. Moreover, the bottom of the pool was tiled, its slope was gradual and the water was clear.

4.      What was the misadventure that happened while William Douglas was making his attempt to learn swimming in the YMCA pool?

Douglas was attempting to learn swimming in the YMCA pool. He was sitting on the side of the pool waiting for other boys to come. Unexpectedly a big boy arrived there, and, seeing Douglas sitting timidly, grabbed him and threw him onto the deepest part of the pool and left him to drown. Douglas landed inside the pool in a sitting position, swallowed water and went at once to the bottom of the pool.

5.      I was frightened, but not yet frightened out of my wits. What does this mean?
It was quite unexpected that Douglas was thrown into the deepest part of the YMCA Pool. The fact that he didn’t know swimming increased the risk and danger. But Douglas was not ready to overtaken by the sheer fear of sinking. On the contrary he strengthened his mind and got ready to apply his wit to overcome the situation.

6.      What were Douglas’ plans when he went down the water the first time?
Douglas was frightened at being hauled into the deep water but he was strategic even at such a crucial stage. While sinking, he planned to make a leap once his feet touched the tiled bottom of the water and consequently reach the surface and swim to the side and escape.

7.      What did Douglas experience when he went down to the bottom of the pool for the first time?
Answer. When the author was going down to the bottom of the pool for the first time, those nine feet felt almost like ninety feet. His lungs were ready to burst, but somehow he summoned all his strength and sprang upwards, hoping to reach the surface, but he didn’t pop up to the surface like a cork, as he had imagined. When he opened his eyes he saw nothing but water, his hands too grabbed only water.

8.      Why did Douglas fail to come to the surface of the pool as he hoped to?  

Ans. When Douglas was thrown into the pool by a muscular boy, he landed in a sitting position, swallowed water and touched the bottom. He was frightened but he had not lost his wit. He thought of a strategy to come up to the surface by making a big jump when his feet touched the bottom. But his lungs were about to burst. He thought to spring back to the surface like a cock but he moved slowly. He grew panicky and saw water everywhere. He reached up as if to catch a rope with his hands but he could not clutch water and was paralyzed.

9.      What were the thoughts that came to Douglas’s mind when he was going towards the bottom of the pool for the third time?

Ans. When Douglas went down the third time, his effort ceased. He relaxed and his legs felt limp. He felt there was nothing to be afraid of. It was nice and he felt drowsy, ready to sleep, too tired to jump. He felt he was floating and the tender arms of his mother were carrying him gently and putting him to sleep.

10.   ‘I crossed to oblivion and the curtain of life fell’. Why did the author make this remark?

Ans. The author had made three futile attempts to spring up to the surface but as his strength failed and energy got exhausted, he gave up and stopped all his efforts. He relaxed and passed into a state of unconsciousness and then there was no fear after that.

11.  How did this experience affect him?

This experience revived the fear of water. He felt weak and trembled as he walked home. He shook and cried when he lay on his bed and could not eat anything that night. He was haunted by the frightening experience. The slightest exertion upset him, making him wobbly in the knees and sick in the stomach.

Douglas’ experience at the YMCA pool left a haunting fear of water in his heart. He never went back to the pool. He feared water. He tried to avoid it whenever he could. And whenever he went to a pool, the terror that seized him in the pool would come back. His legs would become paralysed. Icy horror would grab his heart. This handicap stayed with Douglas for years.It ruined his fishing trips. He lost the joy of canoeing, boating, and swimming. 

12.   Why was Douglas determined to get over his fear of water?

Ans. Douglas after his misadventure and a near brush with death became so scared of water that he could not go fishing, canoeing, boating and swimming. He tried hard to overcome his fear but it held him firmly in its grip. Finally, one October he decided to get an instructor and learn to swim. He started going to the pool 5 days a week, an hour each day.

13.  How did the instructor “build a swimmer” out of Douglas?

1.He went to a pool and practiced five days a week, an hour each day

2.The instructor put a belt around him. A rope attached to the belt went through a pulley that ran on an overhead cable. He held onto the end of the rope, and they went back and forth

3. Then he taught him to put my face under  water and exhale, and to raise  nose and inhale. He repeated the exercise hundreds of times

4.Next he held him at the side of the pool and had him kick with my legs. For weeks he did just that.

5.Thus, piece by piece, he built a swimmer. And when he had perfected each piece, he put them together into an integrated whole. 14.  How did Douglas make sure that he conquered the old terror?

At first, he tried to overcome his fear of water on his own.  But when this failed, he got an instructor for himself who worked on Douglas’ fear very methodically. With his help, Douglas began by learning to be at ease in water. After this, he practiced exhaling-inhaling in water to eliminate the fear of putting his head inside the water. Then, he moved on to master individual steps of swimming which were, finally, integrated into a complete experience of swimming, by his instructor. After about six months, Douglas could not only swim well but was, also, free of his fear to a great extent.

At this stage, Douglas’ journey of truly overcoming his fear to its tiniest vestiges began. He swam alone in the pool. He went to Lake Wentworth to dive. He tried every possible stroke he learnt. Finally, in his diving expedition, in the Warm Lake, he conquered his fear completely.

15.  Why does Douglas as an adult recount a childhood experience of terror and his conquering of it? What larger meaning does he draw from this experience?

Ans. The experience of terror was a handicap Douglas suffered from during his childhood. His conquering of it shows his determination, will power and development of his personality.
He drew a larger meaning from this experience. “In death there is peace.” “There is terror only in the fear of death.” He had experienced both the sensation of dying and the terror that fear of it can produce. So, the will to live somehow grew in intensity. He felt released- free to walk the mountain paths, climb the peaks and brush aside fear.

16.  Give an account of the fears and emotions of Douglas as he mad efforts to save himself from drowning in YMCA pool.

Ans. - When the author was flung into the deep end of the pool, he was overcome with fear.

- Fortunately, he was able to think rationally.

- So, he planned that as soon as he hit the bottom, he would make a big jump.

- He hoped that he would be able to come to the surface.

- but his efforts went futile.

-Panic groped him when he realised that he had gone deep inside nine feet of water.

-He thought he would bob to the surface like a cork

-His limbs were almost paralysed.

- He failed to find anything to hold on to and he was again being pulled under.

-His lungs ached and his screams went unheard.

-The mass of yellow water gripped him which produced stark terror.

-When three attempts to rise to the surface failed, he fainted. He experienced a terror which never left him.

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