“Curiosity equals obstacles”

Can you imagine holding your breath for two to three minutes underwater, trying

to go through a pitch black tunnel risking it all, just to prove victory to yourself? This

short story,“Through the Tunnel,” written by Doris Lessing describes the main

character Jerry, as a curious, mature eleven year old English boy who is visiting South

Africa with his widowed mother. With his mother’s openness, he is given the chance to

run freely around without her. His curiosity lures him to discover an underwater tunnel.

This curiosity about the tunnel creates a variety of obstacles; finding its entrance,

practicing his lung capacity, and finally overcoming his fear. These obstacles that he

faces will either enhance his life or take it away .

Discovering that there was a tunnel was not too much of an obstacle, but finding

where the opening was proved to be the difficult part. The salt burned his eyes, and

he could not see a thing under th...