Lesson 3
Deep Water
Short Answer Type Questions
Q. 1. Why was Douglas determined to get over his fear of water ?
Ans. The fear of water ruined his fishing trips, deprived him of the joy of canoeing, boating and swimming. He used every way he knew to overcome this fear he had developed since childhood. He determined to get an instructor and learn swimming to get over his fear of water.
Q. 2. “All we have to fear is fear itself.” Have you ever had a fear that you have now overcome?
Ans. Roosevelt has said, “All we have to fear is fear itself.” This means we must keep fear away from us. If we want to have a happy life, we must be free from fear. Fear is our hardcore enemy. We must get rid of it as early as possible.
Q. 3. What is the “misadventure” that William Douglas speaks about?
Ans. William Douglas is speaking about the incident at the Y.M.C.A. swimming pool, where he almost drowned, as a “misadventure”. The author was ten or eleven years old and had barely begun to learn swimming. He was suddenly thrown into the water by someone and he couldn’t swim and started drowning.
Q. 4. How did Douglas make sure that he conquered the old terror ?
Ans. Douglas still felt terror-sticken when he was alone in the pool. He was not sure that all the terror had left. So, he went to lake Wentworth, dived off a dock at Triggs Island and swam two miles across the lake. Yet he had residual doubts. So, he went to Meade Glacier, divide into warm Lake and swam across to the other shore and back. Thus, he made sure that he had conquered the old terror.
II. Long Answer Type Questions
Q. 1. How does Douglas make clear to the reader the sense of panic that gripped him as he almost drowned? Describe the details that have made the description vivid.
Ans. Douglas gives a detailed account of his feelings and efforts to save himself from getting drowned. He takes us through his near death experience at the pool by detailing every aspect associated to it. He uses literary devices to make the description graphical and vivid. His feeling of suffocation, fear and losing hold on sense perceptions make the readers experience what he does.
Q.2. How did Douglas overcome his fear of water ?
Ans. Douglas took the help of an instructor to learn swimming, who worked on his fear very methodically. For three months, he was taken across the pool with he help of a rope. The instructor taught him to exhale underwater and inhale through raised nose. He made him kick his legs to make them relax. After about six months, Douglas could not only swim well but was also free of his fear to a great extent. He swam alone in the pool. He swam two miles across Lake Wentworth and the whole length to the shore and back of warm lake. Thus, he overcome his fear of water.
Q. 3. 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?
Q. 3. 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 the fear shows his determination, will power and development of his personality. The experience had a deep meaning for him. “In death, there is peace. There is terror only in the fear of death. All we have to fear is fear itself.” He had experienced both the sensation of dying and the terror that fear of it can produce, the will to live somehow grew in intensity. At last he felt released-free to walk the trails and climb the peaks and to brush aside fear.
