Summary
Explanation
Questions and answers
It had happened when I was ten or eleven years old. I had decided to learn to swim. There was a pool at the Y.M.C.A. in Yakima that offered exactly the opportunity.
The writer talks about of the time when his age was ten or eleven. He wanted to learn swimming. There was a swimming pool in Yakima town. The pool belonged to YMCA. This pool was ideal for learning swimming.
The Yakima River was treacherous. Mother continually warned against it, and kept fresh in my mind the details of each drowning in the river.
The Yakima river was dangerous and unpredictable. His mother had warned the writer not to go into the river. She used to regularly tell him about every case of death due to drowning in the river. She had told him so many times that each incident was always fresh in his mind.
But the Y.M.C.A. pool was safe. It was only two or three feet deep at the shallow end; and while it was nine feet deep at the other, the drop was gradual.
The YMCA pool was safe. The pool was three feet deep at one end and nine feet deep at the opposite end. The increase in depth was gradual. The slope at the bottom of the pool was gradual.
I got a pair of water wings and went to the pool. I hated to walk naked into it and show my skinny legs. But I subdued my pride and did it.
Writer (Douglas) purchased new water wings. He did not like to walk in his swimming costume. Because it showed his thin legs. He lowered (comprised) his self-respect. Wore his swimming costume and went to the pool.
From the beginning, however, I had an aversion to the water when I was in it. This started when I was three or four years old and father took me to the beach in California.
Douglas had a dislike or hatred towards water whenever he went into water. This dislike had started when he was about of three years’ age. That time his father had taken him to a sea beach in California.
He and I stood together in the surf. I hung on to him, yet the waves knocked me down and swept over me. I was buried in water.
Douglas and his father stood in the waves. He was tightly holding his father. But a wave threw him down. The wave went over him. He was completely submerged in water.
My breath was gone. I was frightened. Father laughed, but there was terror in my heart at the overpowering force of the waves.
Douglas could not breathe. He was afraid. His father laughed at him. But Douglas was very much afraid. The wave was very powerful. Douglas was overcome by the force of wave.
My introduction to the Y.M.CA. swimming pool revived unpleasant memories and stirred childish fears. But in a little while I gathered confidence.
When Douglas went to YMCA swimming pool, he remembered his previous bad experience. (of getting knocked down by a powerful wave) . His fears of childhood came back to him. But very soon he became confident.
I paddled with my new water wings, watching the other boys and trying to learn by aping them. I did this two or three times on different days and was just beginning to feel at ease in the water when the misadventure happened.
Douglas used his water wings to swim in the pool. He was watching other boys and tried to learn by copying them. He swam with his water wings two-three times on different days. He had started gaining confidence. Just at that time an accident occurred.
I went to the pool when no one else was there. The place was quiet. The water was still, and the tiled bottom was as white and clean as a bathtub. I was timid about going in alone, so I sat on the side of the pool to wait for others.
One day when Douglas reached swimming pool, no one else was there. The place was calm. There was no movement of water. The pool was very clean. He could clearly see white tiles at bottom of the pool. Douglas was scared to go into the pool alone. So he decided to wait for others to come. He sat at the side of the pool.
I had not been there long when in came a big bruiser of a boy, probably eighteen years old. He had thick hair on his chest.
Douglas had not spent much time sitting at the side of the swimming pool. Then a big, strong and aggressive boy came. His age was about 18 years. He had lot of hair on his chest.
He was a beautiful physical specimen, with legs and arms that showed rippling muscles. He yelled, “Hi, Skinny! How’d you like to be ducked?”
The boy had very good physique. His arms and legs were well built, very strong. He shouted at Douglas. Hey thin boy, would like to be pushed into water?
With that he picked me up and tossed me into the deep end. I landed in a sitting position, swallowed water, and went at once to the bottom. I was frightened, but not yet frightened out of my wits.
The boy picked up Douglas and threw him into the pool at deep end. Douglas landed in sitting position. Water went into his mouth. He immediately went to the bottom of the pool. He was frightened but still he could think.
On the way down I planned: When my feet hit the bottom, I would make a big jump, come to the surface, lie flat on it, and paddle to the edge of the pool.
While Douglas was going down in the water, he made his plan for escape. He planned that when his feet touch bottom of the pool, he would try to make a jump to come to surface of water. He would lie flat on surface of water and swim towards edge of the pool. [His plan is a bit ambitious. Coming to the surface of water is fine. But he does not know swimming. How can he lie flat? How can he swim to the edge?]
It seemed a long way down. Those nine feet were more like ninety, and before I touched bottom my lungs were ready to burst.
Douglas felt that his downward journey to bottom of the pool was taking long time. The nine feet distance seemed to be ninety feet. Before he reached bottom of the pool his lungs were full of air. Douglas felt his lungs could burst anytime.
But when my feet hit bottom I summoned all my strength and made what I thought was a great spring upwards. I imagined I would bob to the surface like a cork.
Bob to the surface like a cork Float quickly to the surface like a cork
At last feet of Douglas touched bottom of the pool. He gathered all his power and made a jump. He thought it was a powerful jump. He expected to quickly come to surface like a cork does.
Instead, I came up slowly. I opened my eyes and saw nothing but water — water that had a dirty yellow tinge to it. I grew panicky. I reached up as if to grab a rope and my hands clutched only at water.
But Douglas came up very slowly. Midway he opened his eyes. He could see only water. The water had a light shade of yellow colour. [Small amount of Chlorine gas is mixed in water of swimming pool for disinfecting water. It gives yellow tinge to water.] He was frightened. When he reached at the surface he tried to catch something. But his hands could only catch water.
I was suffocating. I tried to yell but no sound came out. Then my eyes and nose came out of the water — but not my mouth.
Douglas was not able to breathe. He tried to shout but no sound came from his mouth. His eyes and nose came out of water. But his mouth remained in water.
I flailed at the surface of the water, swallowed and choked. I tried to bring my legs up, but they hung as dead weights, paralysed and rigid.
Douglas repeatedly moved his hands and legs at the surface of water. He swallowed water and felt suffocated. He tried to move up his legs. But he could not. He felt his legs had become heavy and rigid. They felt very heavy.
A great force was pulling me under. I screamed, but only the water heard me. I had started on the long journey back to the bottom of the pool.
A big force started pulling Douglas down the water. He shouted. But there was nobody to hear his voice. [This is meaning of ‘only water heard me’.] He once again started going down the pool. The journey to bottom of pool seemed very long.
I struck at the water as I went down, expending my strength as one in a nightmare fights an irresistible force.
While going down Douglas struck at the water. Spending his strength against a horror that could not be overcome.
I had lost all my breath. My lungs ached, my head throbbed. I was getting dizzy. But I remembered the strategy — I would spring from the bottom of the pool and come like a cork to the surface.
Douglas was not able to breathe. His lungs were paining. He was feeling series of pain in his head. His head was spinning. He was getting faint. But he remembered his plan. He would jump from bottom of the pool and quickly come to the surface of water.
I would lie flat on the water, strike out with my arms, and thrash with my legs. Then I would get to the edge of the pool and be safe.
Douglas would lie flat on surface of water. He will move his hands to make cross. He will move his legs to beat water. This way he had planned to reach edge of the pool and be safe.
I went down, down, endlessly. I opened my eyes. Nothing but water with a yellow glow — dark water that one could not see through.
Douglas went down the water. There seemed to be no end to the journey. He could see only water of yellow tinge. He could not see through water so he says it was dark water.
And then sheer, stark terror seized me, terror that knows no understanding, terror that knows no control, terror that no one can understand who has not experienced it.
Then Douglas was completely in the grip of sharp terror. A terror no one can understand. A terror that cannot be controlled. No one can understand this terror if he has not experienced it himself. (Douglas wants to say that he was totally frightened )
I was shrieking under water. I was paralysed under water — stiff, rigid with fear. Even the screams in my throat were frozen. Only my heart, and the pounding in my head, said that I was still alive.
Douglas was trying to shout under the water. But voice did not come out of his mouth. He was not able to make any movement. His whole body felt stiff and rigid as if he was paralysed. Beating of his heart and throbbing in his head indicated that he was alive.
And then in the midst of the terror came a touch of reason. I must remember to jump when I hit the bottom. At last I felt the tiles under me. My toes reached out as if to grab them. I jumped with everything I had.
Even in the middle of terror, Douglas had maintained his ability to think logically. He recalled that he had to jump when his feet touch bottom of the pool. Finally his feet touched the tiles at the bottom of the floor. His toes tried to catch the floor. He then jumped with all his strength.
vBut the jump made no difference. The water was still around me. I looked for ropes, ladders, water wings. Nothing but water. A mass of yellow water held me.
But the jump did not cause any difference. Water was still around Douglas. (means he was still under the water). He started searching for ladders, ropes and water wings. (he was desperately moving his hands to hold something to give him support). But he felt only water. The water with yellow tinge was not allowing him to move out.
Stark terror took an even deeper hold on me, like a great charge of electricity. I shook and trembled with fright.
The terror became more intense. It took a stronger hold on me. (means I was very afraid). The terror caught Douglas as if he was caught by an electric current. Douglas was shaking and shivering because of fear.
My arms wouldn’t move. My legs wouldn’t move. I tried to call for help, to call for mother. Nothing happened.
Douglas could not move his arms. He could not move his legs. He tried to shout for help. He tried to call his mother. But he could not.
And then, strangely, there was light. I was coming out of the awful yellow water. At least my eyes were. My nose was almost out too.
Then Douglas saw light. He found it strange because he thought he would never come out of water. He was coming out of yellow tinged frightful water. His eyes had come out of water. His nose was almost out of water.
Then I started down a third time. I sucked for air and got water. The yellowish light was going out.
Then Douglas started going into the water for the third time. He wanted to breathe air. But water got into his mouth. The light was now disappearing. (means his eyes were closing)
Then all effort ceased. I relaxed. Even my legs felt limp; and a blackness swept over my brain. It wiped out fear; it wiped out terror. There was no more panic.
Then all efforts stopped. Douglas relaxed. His legs became weak. He had no sensation in his legs. A darkness came into his brain. (Everything had become dark.) All the fear was gone. There was no terror.
It was quiet and peaceful. Nothing to be afraid of. This is nice... to be drowsy... to go to sleep... no need to jump... too tired to jump... it’s nice to be carried gently... to float along in space... tender arms around me... tender arms like Mother’s... now I must go to sleep...
It was calm and peaceful. All the fear had vanished. It was good to feel like sleeping. It was good to go to sleep. It was nice to float in the space. Douglas felt soft arms of his mother. He says to himself to go to sleep.
I crossed to oblivion, and the curtain of life fell.
Douglas became unconscious. He thought he is dead.
The next I remember I was lying on my stomach beside the pool, vomiting. The chap that threw me in was saying, “But I was only fooling.”
When Douglas gained consciousness, he was lying on his stomach near the pool. (Somebody had taken him out of the pool and saved his life) He was vomiting. The person who had ducked Douglas into the pool was saying that he had thrown Douglas into the pool just for fun.
Someone said, “The kid nearly died. Be all right now. Let’s carry him to the locker room.”
Someone scolded the bruiser boy that the kid (Douglas) almost died. Now behave like a good person. Let us take him to locker room.
Several hours later, I walked home. I was weak and trembling. I shook and cried when I lay on my bed. I couldn’t eat that night.
Many hours after being taken out of the pool, Douglas went home. He was weak. He was shivering. He was upset. He cried in his bed. He could not eat anything that night.
For days a haunting fear was in my heart. The slightest exertion upset me, making me wobbly in the knees and sick to my stomach.
For many days the fear stayed in the heart of Douglas. The fear used to repeatedly come to him. His knees used to tremble because of even small amount of hard work. He used to vomit because of small stress or small work.
I never went back to the pool. I feared water. I avoided it whenever I could.
After this incident Douglas never went into the swimming pool. He remained fearful of water. He avoided going into water.
A few years later when I came to know the waters of the Cascades, I wanted to get into them.
After some years Douglas heard about cascades. He wanted to go there and take bath in these.
And whenever I did — whether I was wading the Tieton or Bumping River or bathing in Warm Lake of the Goat Rocks — the terror that had seized me in the pool would come back.
Whenever Douglas walked in a river or took bath in a river, the terror of the swimming pool would come back to him.
It would take possession of me completely. My legs would become paralysed. Icy horror would grab my heart. This handicap stayed with me as the years rolled by.
Douglas would be completely under the influence of fear. He would not be able to move his legs. And the horror would come back to his heart and make him very cold. The disadvantage of fear of water remained with Douglas during coming years as well. He could not overcome his fear when he grew.
In canoes on Maine lakes fishing for landlocked salmon, bass fishing in New Hampshire, trout fishing on the Deschutes and Metolius in Oregon, fishing for salmon on the Columbia, at Bumping Lake in the Cascades — wherever I went, the haunting fear of the water followed me.
Douglas went in a boat for fishing in Maine lakes. He also went to other places for fishing. He went to waterfalls. Everywhere the unforgettable fear of water came to him.
It ruined my fishing trips; deprived me of the joy of canoeing, boating, and swimming.
The fear destroyed joy of fishing trips. It removed all the joy of boating and swimming. I used every way I knew to overcome this fear, but it held me firmly in its grip. Finally, one October, I decided to get an instructor and learn to swim. I went to a pool and practiced five days a week, an hour each day.
Douglas used every method to overcome his fear. But it did not go away. At last in the month of October he decided to hire services of one coach to learn swimming. (One October means – month of October, he does not remember the year). Douglas practised for one hour in a day for five days in week.
The instructor put a belt around me. A rope attached to the belt went through a pulley that ran on an overhead cable. He held on to the end of the rope, and we went back and forth, back and forth across the pool, hour after hour, day after day, week after week.
The coach had put belt around waist of Douglas. He attached a rope to the belt. The rope was taken over a pulley. The coach used to hold the end of rope. This way there was no chance of drowning. Douglas swam across the pool regularly. (Hour after hour, day after day and week after week means that he practices regularly for a long period of time)
On each trip across the pool a bit of the panic seized me. Each time the instructor relaxed his hold on the rope and I went under, some of the old terror returned and my legs froze.
During each journey across the pool, some amount of fear used to come to Douglas. Whenever the instructor loosened the rope, Douglas went under the water. At every such time the old fear came to Douglas and his legs would stop moving.
It was three months before the tension began to slack. Then he taught me to put my face under water and exhale, and to raise my nose and inhale. I repeated the exercise hundreds of times. Bit by bit I shed part of the panic that seized me when my head went under water.
After about three months, the fear (tension) started reducing. The coach then taught Douglas to breathe out while keeping mouth under the water. He also taught Douglas to raise his nose above water to breathe in. Douglas repeated these many times. Gradually, Douglas was able to remove his fear of putting head under water.
Next he held me at the side of the pool and had me kick with my legs. For weeks I did just that. At first my legs refused to work. But they gradually relaxed; and finally I could command them.
After this exercise, the coach taught Douglas to how to use his legs for swimming. Douglas caught side of the pool with his hands and used his legs to kick water. He did this exercise for many weeks. Initially he could not move his legs. Gradually he learnt the correct method.
Thus, piece by piece, he built a swimmer. And when he had perfected each piece, he put them together into an integrated whole.
Through step by step instructions the coach taught swimming. When Douglas had learnt every step, instructor combined all the steps into one lesson.
In April he said, “Now you can swim. Dive off and swim the length of the pool, crawl stroke.” I did. The instructor was finished.
In the month of April the coach told Douglas that he could swim. Coach asked Douglas to dive into the swimming pool and do a crawl stroke. Douglas did that successfully. The work of instructor was completed.
But I was not finished. I still wondered if I would be terror-stricken when I was alone in the pool. I tried it. I swam the length up and down.
But my work was not completed. I had a doubt if I would get terror when I was alone in the swimming pool. So I swam alone. I swam the length of pool from one end to another and then back to first end.
Tiny vestiges of the old terror would return. But now I could frown and say to that terror, “Trying to scare me, eh? Well, here’s to you! Look!” And off I’d go for another length of the pool.
Very small amount of terror would sometimes come back to me. But now I could look directly at the terror and tell him that I was not scared of it. Look, I am not scared of you. And then I would swim one more time along the length of pool.
This went on until July. But I was still not satisfied. I was not sure that all the terror had left.
I kept doing that till July. But I was not satisfied. I was not sure every amount of terror had left me.
So I went to Lake Wentworth in New Hampshire, dived off a dock at Triggs Island, and swam two miles across the lake to Stamp Act Island.
So Douglas went to a lake in Hampshire. He dived from an edge at Triggs Island. He swam two miles across another lake. He reached Stamp Act island. (He is trying to test himself to be sure that he is fully confident. And that there is no trace of terror left.)
I swam the crawl, breast stroke, side stroke, and back stroke. Only once did the terror return.
Douglas swam with different styles of swimming. Only on one occasion, he felt terror.
When I was in the middle of the lake, I put my face under and saw nothing but bottomless water. The old sensation returned in miniature. I laughed and said, “Well, Mr Terror, what do you think you can do to me?” It fled and I swam on.
When Douglas was in the middle of the lake, he put his face under the water. He saw water only. The old feeling of terror came to him in very small amount. Douglas laughed and said to himself. Mr Terror, you cannot do anything to me. (It shows his confidence on himself) The terror ran away and he continued to swim.
Yet I had residual doubts. At my first opportunity I hurried west, went up the Tieton to Conrad Meadows, up the Conrad Creek Trail to Meade Glacier, and camped in the high meadow by the side of Warm Lake.
Still Douglas had some left over doubts. So he went to Tieton and other places. He stayed in a tent in a grass field on the side a lake called Warm Lake.
The next morning I stripped, dived into the lake, and swam across to the other shore and back — just as Doug Corpron used to do. I shouted with joy, and Gilbert Peak returned the echo. I had conquered my fear of water.
Next morning he changed to his swimming costume. He dived into the lake to cross its breadth and returned to the starting point. He was very happy. He shouted with joy. There was an echo from the mountain called Gilbert Peak. Now Douglas felt that he had overcome his fear.
The experience had a deep meaning for me, as only those who have known stark terror and conquered it can appreciate.
The experience had a big effect on Douglas. Those who know the terror, can only understand the joy of overcoming it.
In death there is peace. There is terror only in the fear of death, as Roosevelt knew when he said, “All we have to fear is fear itself.”
After death everything becomes peaceful. One feels terror because of fear of death. Nobody wants to die. Roosevelt had said that we should fear the fear itself. Meaning that we should be brave. We should not be afraid of.
Because I had experienced both the sensation of dying and the terror that fear of it can produce, the will to live somehow grew in intensity.
Douglas had nearly died. So he had experienced the terror and the feeling of death it causes. Now his desire to live became strong.
At last I felt released — free to walk the trails and climb the peaks and to brush aside fear.
Finally Douglas was relaxed. He could now fearlessly walk on narrow paths, climb mountain peaks. His fear was gone. He refused to accept fear.
Summary
The chapter 'Deep water' by William Douglas is an excerpt from the writer's autobiography Of Men and Mountains and describes his journey to overcome his hydrophobia. The fear which generated at the age of 3 or 4 at California beach, got strengthened at Y.M.C.A pool, kept haunting Douglas. This terror gripped his heart firmly and he could not enjoy water activities because of his handicap. The fear of water and near to death experience took Douglas on a journey to conquer his fear and live life peacefully. The near to death experience at Y.M.C.A at Yakima made him realize the true value of life and the necessity to inculcate the values of will power and determination to live life in a better and peaceful way. Douglas made relentless efforts to brush aside this fear and ultimately got succeeded in it. The terrifying fear and its details take the reader to experience the worries and terrors felt by the writer. The chapter further propagates the mantra of life given by former American President Franklin D. Roosevelt 'All we have to fear is fear itself.' The statement underlines the fact that it is not death rather the fear of death which brings complexes, terrors and anxieties in one's life. It is hence, mandatory to beat this fear with constant efforts, determination and will power.
Question & Answers of the lesson
Q 1. What was the 'misadventure at the Y.M.C.A. pool that the writer William Douglas speaks about?
Ans. One day, Douglas was sitting on the edge of the pool. He did not know how to swim. Suddenly a big boy came there. He picked Douglas up and tossed him into the pool. Douglas was sure to be drowned, but luckily he was saved.
Q 2. How was the writer affected by his misadventure at the pool?Ans. It shook the writer badly. After some hours, he was able to walk back home. He was feeling very weak. He was trembling. He shook and cried when he lay on his bed. He could eat nothing that night. A terrible fear filled his heart. He never went back to that pool again.
Q 3. Why was Douglas determined to get over his fear of water?Or
How did the fear of water ruin Douglas' trips and other joys?
Ans. Douglas visited many famous water spots in his country. But whenever he want to put his foot into them, the old fears would come to his mind. It spoiled his trips and joys of fishing, boating and swimming. That was why he was determined to get over this fear.
Q 4. How did the instructor make a swimmer out of Dougas?Ans. The instructor made Douglas practise five days a week, an hour each day. He put a belt around Douglas. A rope was attached to the belt. The rope went through a pulley. He was made to go back and forth across the pool. He was taught how to exhale and inhale. Thus, piece by piece, the instructor built Douglas a swimmer.
Q 5. How did Douglas make sure that he had conquered the old terror?Ans. The writer visited some of the famous water spots. He swam across them successfully. At last, he went to Lake Wentworth in New Hampshire. He swam two miles across the lake. Then he went and camped by the side of the Warm Lake. The next morning, he dived into the lake. He swam across to the other shore and back. He shouted with joy. He had conquered his fear of water.
Q 6."All we have to fear is fear itself" says Roosevelt. Explain the import of the statement.Or What is the message of the lesson "Deep water"?
Ans. In death there is peace. There is terror only in the fear of death. This is the message of the lesson. Roosevelt had said, "All we have to fear is fear itself." All terrors and fears are psychological. We can conquer them. Only we have to be determined. Douglas conquered the fear of water only by making himself a perfect swimmer.
Additional Questions
1. When did the writer join the Y.M.C.A. pool and why?Ans. The writer joined the YMCA pool when he was ten or eleven years old. He had a childhood fear of water. He wanted to get over this fear. That was why the writer decided to join it.
2. What did the writer do to learn swimming at the Y.M.C.A. pool?
Ans. The writer got a new pair of water wings. He watched other boys and tried to learn swimming by imitating them. He swam with his water wing two or three times on different days.
3. Describe the writer's childhood experience when he was three or four years old.
Ans. When the writer was three or four years old, his father took him to the beach in California. They were standing together in the surf. The writer was clinging to his father. Suddenly a strong wave came and swept over him. He was buried in water. His breath was gone. His father laughed, but he was frightened. The incident developed a fear of the water in his heart.
4. How did the big boy who threw the writer into the pool look?
Ans. The boy looked big and strong. He was about eighteen years old. He had thick hair on his chest. He had a well-built beautiful body. He had rippling muscles on his arms and legs.
5. What did the eighteen-year-old boy do to the writer and why?
Ans. The boy saw the writer sitting alone on the side of the pool. He cried, “Hi Skinny! How would you like to be ducked?" With this, he picked the writer and threw him into the pool.
6. Why was the writer at first not much frightened when he was thrown into the pool?
Or What was Douglas’ reaction and condition when he was under water in the pool?
Ans. The writer at first not much frightened when he was thrown into the pool. On the way down, he made a plan. He would hit the bottom and make a big jump. Then he would come to the surface like a cork and be saved.
7. How did the writer feel when he stopped all efforts to save himself in the pool?
Ans. The writer tried a lot to save himself but failed. Then he stopped all efforts. A blackness swept over his brain. It wiped out all his fear. There was no more panic. He began to feel sleepy. He felt he was being carried along in tender arms.
8. What was the 'misadventure at the Y.M.C.A. pool that the writer William Douglas speaks about?
Ans. One day, Douglas was sitting on the edge of the pool. He did not know how to swim. Suddenly a big boy came there. He picked Douglas up and tossed him into the pool. Douglas was sure to be drowned, but luckily, he was saved.
9. How was the writer affected by his misadventure at the pool?
Ans. The incident at the YMCA pool shook the writer badly. After some hours, he was able to walk back home. He was feeling very weak. He was trembling. He shook and cried when he lay on his bed. He could eat nothing that night. A terrible fear filled his heart. He never went back to that pool again.
10. Why was Douglas determined to get over his fear of water?
Or How did the fear of water ruin Douglas' trips and other joys?
Ans. Whenever Douglas walked in a river or took bath in a river, the old fear of water would come to his mind. It spoiled his trips and joys of fishing, boating and swimming. That was why he was determined to get over this fear.
11. What did the writer finally do to get over his fear of the water?
Ans. The writer used every way to overcome his fear of water. Finally, one October, 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.
12. What special method did the instructor use to teach the writer to swim?
Ans. The instructor put a belt round the writer. A rope was attached to the belt. It went through a pulley. The pulley ran on an overhead cable. The instructor held on to the end of the rope. Thus, the writer went back and forth across the pool.
13. The writer says, "The instructor was finished. But I was not finished." Why?
Ans. The instructor thought he had made a swimmer out of the writer. But the writer was still not satisfied. He feared that when he was alone in the pool, his old fears would come back to him. So he wanted to try still more in the pool.
14. How did Douglas make sure that he had conquered the old terror?
Ans. The writer visited some of the famous water spots. He swam across them successfully. At last, he went to Lake Wentworth in New Hampshire. He swam two miles across the lake. Then he went and camped by the side of the Warm Lake. The next morning, he dived into the lake. He swam across to the other shore and back. He shouted with joy. He had conquered his fear of water.
15. What deep conclusion did Douglas draw from his various experiences of swimming?
Ans. During his experiences, Douglas had known both the fear of death and the sensation of death. He had come to the conclusion that there is terror only in the fear of death. In death, there is peace. Therefore, all one needs to fear is fear itself.
16. What was Douglas's condition when he was under water in the pool?
Ans. When the writer was under water, he could see nothing but water. He lost his breath. His lungs ached. He was getting dizzy. He tried to cry in fear but no sound came. He went down thrice, and thrice he tried to come up. But all his efforts failed. Then he stopped all his efforts.
17. What did the author's mother tell him about the Yakima river?
Ans. The Yakima river flew through the writer's state. It was very dangerous. The writer's mother told him about the various drowning accidents in it.
18. What had happened when William Douglas was ten or eleven years old?
Ans. A misadventure happened when William Douglas was ten or eleven years old. He was alone at the YMCA swimming pool. A big boy threw him into the deep end of the pool. He had to undergo a long and intense suffering during those moments. At last, he found himself lying beside the pool.
19. Why did the narrator join the Y.M.C.A. pool for swimming? Why did his mother warn continually against his going to the Yakima River?
Ans. William Douglas had decided to learn to swim. But the Y.M.C.A. pool was safe. It was only two or three feet deep at the shallow end and nine feet at the deeper-end. The slope was also gradual. His mother continually warned him against his going to the Yakima River for swimming. It was because the river was treacherous. Many persons had drowned in it and lost their lives.
20. How and why did Douglas develop an aversion to the water when he was in it?
Ans. When William Douglas was three or four years old, his father took him to the beach in California. They stood together in the surf. The waves knocked him down and swept over him. He was buried in water. His breath was gone and he was frightened. So he developed an aversion to water.
21. What was the misadventure and how did it start?
Ans. One day the narrator was sitting alone on the side of the pool and waiting for other boys to come. Suddenly a strong bully boy of eighteen came there and threw him into water. Very soon he went to the bottom. He struggled to come up but couldn't. He felt paralyzed and suffocated. He was nearly drowned.
22. What did Douglas plan when his feet hit the bottom?
Ans. Douglas was thrown into the deep end of the pool. On the way down, he made a plane. He thought that when his feet hit the bottom, he would make a big jump upward and come to the surface. Then he would lie flat on water for some time. Finally, he decided to paddle to the edge of the pool.
23. Why did Douglas grow panicky?
Ans. He thought that when his feet hit the bottom, he would make a big jump upward and come to the surface. But he came up slowly. He saw nothing but water. He was suffocating. He tried to cry but no sound came out. He felt paralysed and grew panicky.
24. What was the condition of his body when he was under water in the pool?
Ans. He felt suffocating under the water. He had swallowed the water and choked. He tried to bring his legs up. But they became lifeless and paralysed. He had lost all his breath. His lungs ached and head pounded. He was getting dizzy. He felt stiff and rigid with fear.
25. 'And then in the midst of the terror came a touch of reason.' What was that and did it succeed?
Ans. 'In the midst of the terror came a touch of reason.' It was for him to remember to jump when he hit the bottom. However, he did not succeed in it. He jumped with everything he had. But the jump made no difference. Stark terror took an even deeper hold on him. His arms and legs wouldn't move.
26. What happened when all efforts ceased?"
Or How and when did Douglas find himself lying beside the pool?
Ans. Douglas tried thrice to come out of the water but every time he failed. Then he stopped all his efforts. His legs felt limp. A blackness swept over his face. It wiped out fear. It wiped out terror. There was no more panic. It was quiet and peaceful. He crossed to oblivion. When he came to senses, he found himself lying on his stomach beside the pool.
27. What did the chap that threw Douglas say in the end?
Ans. When Douglas came to his senses, he found himself lying on his stomach beside the pool. The big boy who had tossed Douglas into the pool was still there. He defended himself by saying that he was only fooling. His intention was not bad.
28. How did the haunting fear of water ruin his fishing trips and other joys?
Ans. The fear stayed with William Douglas as the years rolled by. Wherever he went, the haunting fear of the water followed him. In canoes on Maine Lakes or fishing for salmon and trout, the terror followed Douglas. It ruined his fishing trips. It deprived him of the joys of canoeing, boating and swimming.
29. What did Douglas do to overcome his fear of the water ? Did he get any success?
Ans. William Douglas used every way to overcome his fear of water but he could not succeed. Finally, one October, he decided to employ an instructor and learn to swim. He went to a pool and practised five days a week, an hour each day. Douglas did succeed in his mission. The instructor made him an expert swimmer.
30. Why did Douglas go to Lake Wentworth in New Hampshire ? What did he do there?
Ans. Douglas was not sure that all the terror of water had left him. So he went to Lake Wentworth in New Hampshire and swam two miles across the lake to Stamp Act Island. He swam breast stroke, side stroke and back stroke. It gave him a new confidence in overcoming his fear of water.
31. How did the instructor make William Douglas a perfect swimmer?
Or How did the instructor help Douglas to overcome his fear of water?
Ans. The instructor trained Douglas with the help of n overhead pulley. He made Douglas practise five days a week, an hour each day. Then he was taught how to exhale under water and inhale above water. Thus, piece by piece, the instructor built Douglas a swimmer and helped him to overcome his fear of water.
32. How did William Douglas finally overcome his fear of water? (Imp.)
Ans. Douglas hired an instructor to teach him how to swim. The instructor made Douglas a perfect swimmer. But still Douglas was not sure of himself. So, he went to Lake Wentworth and dived off a dock at Triggs Island. He swam for two hours across the lake. Only once did the terror return. But it fled and he swam on. At last, he had conquered his fear of water.
33. "The experience had a deep meaning for me." says William Douglas. Elucidate the statement.
Or What did Douglas learn from his experience of swimming?
Ans. The experience of water terror had a deeper meaning for Douglas. In reality the author put a deeper meaning for all of us. Only those who had encountered a stark terror and conquered it can appreciate it. It stresses the point that a man must encounter all obstacles or terrors in his life by having a determined mind and the success would crown him in the end.
34. "All we have to fear is fear itself" says Roosevelt. Explain the import of the statement.
Or What is the message of the lesson "Deep water"?
Ans. Roosevelt had said, "All we have to fear is fear itself." All terrors and fears are psychological. We can conquer them. Only we have to be determined. Douglas conquered the fear of water only by making himself a perfect swimmer. Through this lesson the author wants to convey the message that in death there is peace. There is terror only in the fear of death. This is the message of the lesson.
35. Douglas says: "The instructor was finished. But I was not finished". Why did he utter such words?
Ans. The instructor had done his job. He had made a swimmer out of him. His duty was over. But the narrator was still not satisfied. When he was alone in the pool, the old fear would return. He was to continue his efforts to be a perfect swimmer. He would continue till he finally overcame his fear of water.
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