Deep Water Summary and Important Questions for class 12th
The Deep Water lesson is a very
helpful one that explains how the author of the deep water overcame his fear.
It is evident from Deep Water Class 12 that the author's phobia of the water
was sparked by two dreadful experiences. When he was four years old, a wave
pushed him down the first time. The second time, a bully threw him into the
bottomless end of the pool. That incident nearly resulted in his drowning.
Deep Water Summary
Water really scared him because he
had experienced such horrible things. But he put a lot of effort into
overcoming the fear, and in this great struggle, he finally prevailed over it.
The author's methods for overcoming his phobia are described in the Deep Water
lesson. The William Douglas Deep Water teaches us a valuable lesson about
overcoming fear via mental and willpower training. Deep Water Summary
Deep Water Summary and Important Questions-William 0. Douglas recalls a misadventure
of childhood. When he was ten or eleven years old, it had occurred. He made the
decision to pick up swimming. In Yakima, the Y.M.C.A. had a secure swimming
pool. At the shallow end, it was just two or three feet deep, and at the other
end, it was nine feet deep. The decline happened gradually. He went to the pool
and bought himself a pair of water wings. He detested baring his extremely thin
legs by going into the ocean nude.
When he was three or four years
old, the author started to dislike the water. He had gone to a beach in
California with his father. On the surf, they stood together. He was washed
over and knocked down by the waves. His body was submerged in water. He had
stopped breathing. It scared him. Although his father chuckled, the young
author was terrified of the waves' overwhelming power.
Deep Water Summary and Important Questions-Unpleasant memories were revived
when he went to the Y.M.C.A. pool for the first time. Childish fears were
stirred. But soon he gathered confidence. He watched other boys paddling on
water with their water wings. He tried to learn by imitating them. He did this
two or three times on different days. He was just beginning to feel comfortable
in the water when the misadventure happened.
When he went to the pool, there was
no one else. So he sat on the side of the pool to wait for others. Shortly
afterwards a big boy, a boxer, came. He was probably eighteen years old and had
beautiful muscles on his legs and arms. He called the author ‘Skinny and asked
how he would like to be plunged in water.
Deep Water Summary and Important Questions-The boxer boy picked Douglas and
threw him into the deep end. He struck water in a sitting position. He
swallowed water and at once went to the bottom. He was frightened, but did not
lose his wits. He made a plan. He would make a big jump when his feet hit the
bottom. He would come to the surface like a cork, lie flat on it and then
paddle to the edge of the pool.
Those nine feet appeared more than
ninety. Before he touched bottom his lungs were ready to burst. When his feet
hit the bottom, he made a great jump upwards, but he failed to reach the
surface at once. He came up slowly. His eyes and nose came out of water, but
not his mouth. He moved around his legs on the surface of water. He swallowed
water and choked. He tried to bring his legs up, but they hung as dead weights.
He again went down to the bottom of the pool.
Also Read-
He was shrieking under water
because terror had seized him. He was paralysed under water, but his heart and
the pounding in head told him that he was still alive. When he hit the bottom,
he jumped with his full might. The jump made no difference. The water was still
around him. His arms and legs wouldn’t move. He trembled with fear. He tried to
call for help, to call mother, but nothing happened. Then he rose up. His eyes
and nose were almost out of water. He sucked for air and got water. He started going
down a third time.
Then he gave up and let his guard
down. His intellect was overtaken by a darkness that erased all fear. Panic was
over. He was tired and wanted to go to sleep. He abandoned all efforts. He
completely lost his memory. He awoke to find himself vomiting while sleeping on
his stomach next to the pool. He was thrown in by a boy who stated, "I was
only fooling." The child had almost perished, someone had mentioned. They
led him to the changing area after that.
Deep Water Summary and Important Questions-He walked home after several hours.
He was weak and trembling. He shook and cried when he lay on his bed. He
couldn’t eat that night. For days a haunting fear was in his heart. He never
went back to the pool. He feared water and avoided it whenever he could.
A few years later, he came to know
the waters of the Cascades. He wanted to get into them. Whenever he did so, the
terror that had seized him in the pool, returned. His legs would become
paralysed. An icy horror would grab his heart. This handicap remained with him
even as time passed. Wherever he went, the haunting fear of water followed him.
It ruined his fishing trips. It deprived him of the joy of canoeing, boating,
and swimming.
He used every method he knew to
overcome his fear. Finally, he 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. A rope attached to the belt went through a
pulley on an overhead cable. He held on to the end of the rope. They went on
this way for many weeks. On each trip across the pool a bit of panic seized
him. Each time the instructor relaxed his hold on the rope and the author went
under water, some of the old terror returned and his legs froze.
It was three months before the
tension began to slack. Then the instructor taught him to put his face under
water and exhale, and to raise his nose and inhale. He repeated the exercise
hundreds of time. Very slowly, he shed some of the old panic as his head went
under water.
Then the instructor held him at the
side of the pool and had him kick with his legs. He did so for weeks. Gradually
his legs relaxed. Thus, piece by piece, he built a swimmer. When he had
perfected each piece, he put them together into an integrated whole. He had started
practising in October and in April the trainer told him that he could swim. He
asked the author to dive off and swim the length of the pool. He began with
crawl stroke.
Also Read-
When he swam alone in the pool tiny
remnants of the old terror would return. But now he could rebuke his terror.
This went on till July. He was still not satisfied. So he went to Lake
Wentworth in New Hampshire. There he dived off a dock at Triggs Island. He swam
two miles across the lake to Stamp Act Island. He swam the crawl, breast
stroke, side stroke and back stroke. The terror returned only once. When he was
in the middle of the lake, he put his face under and saw nothing but bottomless
water. He asked terror what it could do to him and it fled away.
Some doubts still remained. So he
went up the Tieton to Conrad Meadows, up the Conrad Trail to Meade Glacier. He
camped in the high meadow by the side of Warm Lake. Next morning, he dived into
the lake and swam across to the other shore and back. He shouted with joy, and
Gilbert Peak returned the echo. He had conquered his fear of water.
The experience had a deeper meaning
for him. Only those who have known stark terror and conquered it can appreciate
it. In death there is peace. There is terror only in the fear of death.
Roosevelt knew it. He said, “All we have to fear is fear itself.” Douglas 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 Douglas felt liberated. He
was free to walk the trails and climb the peaks and to ignore (dismiss) fear.
Characters
in Deep Water
William Douglas: William Douglas possessed
a terrible fear of water. He had a terrible event when he was a little child.
He nearly drowned in a swimming pool when he was five years old because he was
pushed into the deep end. He was a timid, quiet man who lacked self-assurance.
He was terrified that his peers would make fun of him, tease him, and degrade
him. His confidence is frequently impeded by his dread of the sea.
He could not fulfil his desire of
swimming in fresh water lakes. He made the decision to get over his phobia of
water, and with the help of a swimming instructor, he started taking swimming
classes. He practiced continuously until he mastered swimming because he was
dedicated to his objective and was motivated to achieve it. Finally, he
defeated the fear and realized that it only existed in his mind. The victory
made him live a better and fulfilling life.
Mr. Ross: The swimming instructor,
is a kind and understanding individual. He is an accomplished and well-informed
swimming instructor who is driven by passion. His calm, gentle, and personable
demeanor makes his students feel at ease in his presence. His wonderful sense
of humor makes learning to swim much more enjoyable. He understands how
important it is to treat phobia sufferers with kindness and patience. He
assists William in getting over his fear by standing by him, praising him for
his achievements, and giving him his full attention.
Along with teaching him how to
swim, he also conveys him the important life lessons like the value of
conquering one's anxieties, the benefits of hard effort and perseverance, and
the joy of accomplishing one's goals
Deep Water Important Questions and Answers
How did
Douglas make sure that he conquered the old terror?
After the instructor had trained
Douglas in the art of swimming, Douglas was still not sure of himself. He felt
tiny vestiges of the fear now and then. So, he went to Lake Wentworth and swam.
Once when terror returned, he challenged it and did not let it overcome him.
Finally, Douglas went to the Warm Lake. There he swam and the fear didn’t
return to haunt him again.
What efforts
did Douglas make to get over his fear of water?
After several individual attempts
to overcome his fear, Douglas finally engaged an instructor. The instructor
built a swimmer out of him. But Douglas was not sure. To confirm that the
terror would not strike him when he was swimming alone, Douglas decided to go
to Lake Wentworth in New Hampshire. At last, he made his terror fly away by
swimming across the Warm Lake.
Why did
Douglas go to Lake Wentworth in New Hampshire?
Douglas was not satisfied with his
practice so he decided to go to Lake Wentworth. There when he was swimming in
themiddle of the lake, only once did the terror return, but he finally overcame
it, and it made him feel better.
When Douglas
realised that he was sinking, how did he plan to save himself?
When a big boy threw Douglas into the
water, he went straight down. He was completely frightened. Still, he did not
lose his wits and thought of a strategy to make a big jump when his feet
touched the bottom, so that he could reach the surface. He even thought that he
would lie flat on the surface and finally paddle to the edge of the pool.
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