DEEP WATER

Introduction to the author

William Douglas was an American author. He served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Nominated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Douglas was confirmed at the age of 40, one of the youngest justices appointed to the court. He started his career as a teacher but later in his life he changed it. This chapter is an excerpt from his “Of Man and Mountains” and based on his childhood experience of drowning in water.

Story in short

Ø  Decided to Learn to Swim.

The narrator decided to learn to swim. There was a pool at Y.M.C.A It offered him a good opportunity. Swimming in the Yakima River was quite dangerous. His mother had warned against it. But the Y.M.C.A. Pool was safe for swimming. It was 2 to 3 feet deep at the shallow end. At the deep end it was nine feet. The slope was gradual. William Douglas had an aversion to the water from the beginning. Once he stood at the beach with his father. A wave swept over him and knocked him down. He was buried in water .He was frightened. The Y.M.C.A. Pool revived those fears.

Ø  The Misadventure at Y.M.C.A pool

The narrator was alone at the pool. He didn't dare to go inside the water alone. Then, came a big bully of a boy. He cried “Hi Skinny!” Then he picked the narrator up and tossed him into the deep end. He went at once to the bottom. He was frightened but not out of his wits. He decided to make a big jump from the bottom. He would try to come to the surface. He would lie flat on the water. Finally, he would paddle to the edge of the pool.

Ø  He grew panicky

Those nine feet were more likely ninety. His lungs were ready to burst. But when he hit the bottom, he gathered all his strength. He made a great spring upwards. He came up rather slowly. He opened his eyes but saw nothing but water. He grew panicky. He was suffocating. He tried to cry but no sound came out. He swallowed water and choked. His legs were paralysed and rigid.

Ø  Stuck under Water

A great force pulled him under water. He was getting dizzy. He went down endlessly. Then stark terror seized him. His arms would not move. He tried to call for help. Nothing happened. He sucked for air but got only water. Then all efforts ceased. He felt like sleeping. He crossed t oblivion .When he woke up, he found himself lying on his stomach beside the pool. He was vomiting. The chap who threw him in said that he was 'only fooling'. But the narrator had nearly died.

Ø  Fear Constantly Haunted Him

For days he was constantly haunted by the fear. He never went back to the pool. He feared water and avoided it whenever he could. Whenever he went near water, the terror would seize him. His legs got paralyzed. Icy horror would grab his heart. The fear stayed with him as the years rolled by.

Ø  Got an Instructor and Learnt Swimming

The narrator got an instructor. He went to a pool. He practiced five days a week. The instructor put a belt round him. A rope attached to belt went through a pulley. On each trip across the pool a bit of panic seized him. It was three months before the tension began to disappear. He taught the narrator and then how to raise his nose and inhale. He repeated the exercise hundreds of times.

Ø  At Last He Conquered His Fear

Next the instructor taught him how to kick with his legs. For weeks he did just that. At first his legs refused to work. But finally he could command them. At last the instructor made him a real swimmer. But he still feared to be alone in the pool. This went on until July. So he went to Lake Wentworth and dived off a dock at Triggs Island. He swam two mile across the lake to Stamp Act Island. The fear fled and he swam on. Finally he had conquered his fear of water.

Ø  The Experience

Left a Deep Meaning It was a unique experience. It left a deep imprint on his mind. He could never forget it. It had a deep meaning for him. He had experienced the feelings, the sensation of dying and the terror that fear can produce.

• Write a critical appreciation of chapter deep water by William Douglas?

Ans. The chapter deals with two basic aspects of human nature: the creation of fear due to any particular circumstance and the ability to overcome that fear. The author of the chapter develops a deep fear for water because of a childhood incident. He is completely handicapped by this fear and is unable to enjoy any activity related to water. The fear is real and he has to face this fear alone to get rid of it. His strong willpower and his skilled trainer pull him out of this darkness of fear. The events of the chapter show us that minor incidents of childhood can have a long lasting and damaging effect on one's mind. Such effects remain active in a person's subconscious mind till the time he makes a conscious effort to wipe them from his mind. A strong determination, courage and a well thought plan can help one overcome the biggest fear of his life. Same was done by the writer in this chapter. He is helped by his coach to become a good swimmer but his quest for fearlessness doesn't end here. He has to do it alone; where his only companion is his capability, his resolve and his nerves of steel. Ultimately he is able to achieve his aim and come out of deep waters drowning all his fears forever.

•  “All we have to fear is fear itself.” Discuss.

Ans. William O. Douglas’ Deep Water justifies President Roosevelt’s assertion that all we have to fear, is fear itself. William O. Douglas’ aversion to water began with his mother’s warnings about the Yakima River and a childhood sea holiday where he first experienced the power of water. At the YMCA pool, where a boy pushed Douglas into the water nearly drowning him, turned the fear into a phobia. However, Douglas decided to challenge this and struggled hard to overcome fear of deep water. With the help of an instructor, and using a pulley connected by a belt to his waist, Douglas re-learnt how to swim in a pool. He learnt to dip his head, exhale underwater and inhale on resurfacing, holding breath. Even though, the trainer declared him as good swimmer Douglas tested himself in treacherous and unfamiliar waters till his phobia vanished completely. Thereafter, William O. Douglas realized that once the ‘fear of fear’ disappeared, true success awaited.

•  How did William Douglas overcome his fear of water?

Ans. Douglas challenged the fear itself and struggled hard to overcome it. With the help of an instructor, and using a pulley connected by a belt to his waist, he re-learnt how to swim in a pool. He learnt to dip his head, exhale underwater and inhale on resurfacing, holding breath. Even though, the trainer declared him as a good swimmer Douglas tested himself in treacherous and unfamiliar waters till his phobia vanished completely. Thereafter, William O. Douglas overcomes the fear of water.

• Describe the misadventure that made Douglas hydrophobic? 

Ans. When Douglas was of ten or eleven years old he had a desire to learn swimming. As he already had a bad experience with water so he was little scared to go to deep water. Still he goes to YMCA pool at Yakima because water in YMCA pool was not that deep. One day he was alone in the pool when he was pushed into the deep end of the YMCA pool by a bruiser boy. Gripped by paralyzing fear, in vain, Douglas tried to spring upwards to the surface twice. He almost lost consciousness before he was saved. This misadventure made Douglas hydrophobic.

EXTRA QUESTIONS

Short answer questions –

1. What was the misadventure that William Douglas speaks about?

2. What was the writer’s first reaction on being flung into the pool?

3. Why did William Douglas hate the idea of getting into the water?

4. How did the instructor build a swimmer out of William Douglas?

5. How did William Douglas make sure that he conquered the old terror? 

LONG QUESTIONS

1. It is Douglas’ will power that enabled him to overcome his fear of water. This reveals that with a strong will human beings can overcome all kinds of fear. Explain with two illustrations from real life.

2. Which experience made the writer feel terrified of water?

3. Explain in brief William Douglas’ attempt to come out of the pool.

4.  How did the instructor help the writer learn swimming?