DEEP WATER

William Douglas

Summary

 The story has been taken from the author’s autobiography - ‘Of
Men and Mountains’. This excerpt tells about his fear of water
and how he conquered it by determination and will power.

 As a child of 3 or 4 years old, he had developed an aversion to

water when he went to the beach in California with his father. The
waves knocked him down and he was scared by the might of the
huge waves and it instilled a fear in his sub-conscious mind.

 A few years later, in his eagerness to learn swimming, he joined

a swimming pool where an incident further increased his terror.
He was pushed into the pool by another boy and experienced
death closely.

 Many years after that incident, he stayed away from water but the
desire to go fishing and swimming in nature was strong enough
to motivate him to overcome his fear.

 He learned swimming with the help of an instructor who ensured

that William knew swimming well enough to be able to swim in
huge lakes and waterfalls also.

 Still, when he would swim, the fear from his childhood

experiences, embedded in his sub-conscious mind would grip him
over and over again. He wanted to conquer that fear.

 He faced it sarcastically, thinking that now, as he knew how to

swim, what harm could it do to him. He challenged his fear in the
face of it and finally it would vanish.
  It was a baseless fear instilled in his sub-conscious mind. This
experience was valuable for him. He had experienced terror and
death. He overcame it and finally conquered it.

 William realized that death is peaceful and it is the fear of death

that is terrorizing. His will to live life grew intensely as he had
overcome his fear and started living fearlessly.

THEME
It highlights the fact that childhood fears must never be treated lightly.
If they are not tackled, then they deeply influence one's psychology.
Douglas analyses his fear and finally overcomes it by his courage,
determination, hard work, strong will power, perseverance and the
desire to learn.

NOTES
[Please write the questions and answers in your notebook]
(Questions on Page 29, FLAMINGO – Understanding the
text)
Ans.1: Douglas paints a very vivid description of the experience that he went
through and of the terror that gripped him. He tried to hit the water surface in a
sitting position but became frightened as he went down. He decided to bounce up
but the rise was slow and he panicked. He felt being suffocated and had
swallowed a fair bit of water which choked him. He could not raise his legs. His
lungs ached, he head throbbed and he felt dizzy. He tried again to spring off the
floor, when he couldn’t, terror took a firmer hold of him. He shouted for help but
felt himself going down. While going down he experienced boldness coming over
him and wiping out his terror then, he felt no fear or panic but only slipped into
oblivion.
Ans.2: Douglas realised that the only way to overcome his fear of water would
be to conquer it. So, he got an instructor and practised five days a week. The
instructor attached a rope to his belt, held on to its end and made him go back and
forth. Initially Douglas felt the old terror coming back, but it gradually lost its
grip over the author. The instructor taught him how to put his face under water
and exhale and how to pop his nose out and inhale. Bit by bit he shed off his fear
of water .the coach held him by the edge of the pool. He felt the old sense of
sickens coming over him when he tried to kick his leg, but gradually managed to
master it. And though he had stopped being guided by the instructor, it was not
all over till he tried it out in the open all by himself. So he dived in Lake
Wentworth, swam over two miles, put his face under the water and swam to the
other shore and back of Warm Lake.

Ans. 3: The experience had left a deep impression in the author’s mind and he
could never forget it. He wanted to share this experience with others. He used it
to apply it to a wider meaning of life and living through it. He came to realise that
there is peace in death and terror in the fear of death. He had experienced both,
the sensations of dying and of terror so his will to live had become intense as he
had learnt to be free of fear.

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