Through the tunnel point of view

Point of View Essay

In the short story "Through the tunnel", Doris Lessing describes the adventure of Jerry, a young English boy trying to swim through an underwater tunnel. Throughout the story, the author uses the third person omniscient point of view to describe the boy's surroundings and to show us both what he and the other characters are thinking and what is happening around them. By using this point of view, the author is able to describe the setting of the story, give a detailed description of the characters, and make the theme visible.

By using the third person omniscient point of view, the narrator can give us a detailed and unbiased description of his/her surroundings while still retaining part of the character's view of reality. When the narrator says "It was a wild-looking place, and there was no one there" we are given the mother's view of the boy's beach, which in her opinion is "wild looking". This gives us a clear picture of the setting. Additionally, the senten...