Deep Water Class 12 Summary PDF: William Orville Douglas was an American legal expert and judge he graduated with a degree in English and economics and taught for a while before working his way through Columbia law school. He was one of the youngest judges appointed to the US supreme court apart from being a judge who championed civil liberties.
Douglas was known for his strong stand on environmental issues, Douglas wrote extensively on the environment travel and the US legal system. his book of men and mountains speaks of his affinity with nature since childhood other works of his are an almanac of liberty Russian journey and beyond the high Himalayas.
Deep water class 12 summary
The story deep water is an excerpt from his book of men and mountains. It details how Douglas developed a fear of water as a child and how he overcame this fear as an adult. Douglas’s detailed analysis of his own fears and experiences serves as a reminder that with perseverance any fear can be conquered.
Here is a summary of the story deep water by William Orville Douglas.
The story begins with the narrator recounting an incident that took place when he was 10 or 11 years old, the narrator had decided to learn swimming at the YMCA pool in Yakima.
He was initially worried when he stepped into the YMCA pool, since it stirred unpleasant memories when he was about three or four years old his father had taken him to a beach in California the waves had knocked him over and he had been covered by water.
This experience had filled him with a deep fear of water, the narrator felt this fear resurfacing at the YMCA pool but over some days he overcame the fear by observing and imitating the actions of other boys who were swimming.
One day the narrator was sitting alone by the side of the pool waiting for the others to turn up, he did not have the confidence to enter the pool alone. A huge boy of 18 came in picked him up and threw him into the deep end of the pool.
The narrator panicked as he sank to the bottom of the pool but he kept his wits about him he decided to push himself up to the surface when his feet hit the bottom and then paddle to the edge of the pool unfortunately, he came up slowly.
When he opened his eyes, he saw nothing but yellow water he started to panic as he rose especially when he could not get his face out of the water, as he sank slowly back down, he started to lose his breath and was suddenly stiff with fear.
He reached the bottom and he jumped again coming up slowly he was overcome with terror again and froze he almost came up but again went back under darkness surrounded him as he gave up the struggle to survive exhausted death seemed to welcome him and he lost consciousness.
The next thing he knew he was lying beside the pool vomiting the water he had swallowed he had been pulled out of the water just in time this incident left him feeling vulnerable and helpless and from that day he was terrified of water.
As he grew older this fear stayed with him and ruined his fishing trips, it prevented him from enjoying simple joys of life like canoeing boating and swimming.
Finally, he decided to learn swimming from an instructor he started practicing five days a week at a pool.
Class 12 deep water summary
First, he swam repeatedly up and down a pool with a belt that was attached to an overhead rope that the instructor held.
He panicked every time he went underwater but this subsided over three months the instructor then taught him to breathe and kick properly and eventually, he learned to swim without help the narrator was overjoyed but wondered if he could swim alone without his instructor’s support.
He managed just fine to curb his lingering doubts he swam alone across lake Wentworth and then across warm lake which he had visited before he did experience his old fear.
Once in lake Wentworth but was able to ignore it when he was able to swim across warm lake and back, he was ecstatic at having conquered his fear. The narrator ends the story by quoting franklin d Roosevelt’s words all we have to fear is fear itself his near-death experience had only made him stronger, he finally felt liberated.
class 12 english deep water summary details
| Book Name | deep water class 12 pdf |
| Format | |
| Size | mb |
| Page | 05 |
| Subject | English |
| Language | English |
The only character in the story is the narrator himself, the narrator is a very determined person despite the fear he feels.
He does not give up easily to overcome his childhood fear of water, he first decides to try learning to swim alone as a young boy though that ends badly, he decides to learn swimming from an instructor year later.
When he successfully learns how to swim, he is finally satisfied only when he is able to swim without fear in an open lake.
The narrator is a disciplined person this is evident from the methodical manner in which he sets out to overcome his fear with no regard to the time taken to accomplish his goal.
The narrator is definitely courageous and a quick thinker his courage is evident in the manner in which he tries to learn swimming without any help when the bully throws him into the pool, he does not let the shock take over his mind.
Instead, he plans and implements a strategy to get out of the pool though his plan does not succeed he does not stop trying until he runs out of breath and energy.
The narrator comes across as a mature person even at a very young age he has no negative or critical remarks to make about the boy who throws him into the pool and nearly causes his death.
Now let us examine the story closely
The setting of the narrative is mostly around water on a beach in and around rivers and lakes and in two separate swimming pools in the USA.
The events take place over several years we can create a timeline of the author’s
Journey from the moments the fear of water took root in his mind to the moments he finally wiped out this fear.
The primary theme of the narrative is the process of overcoming fear especially after a terrifying experience.
The narrator provides a first-hand account of the fear and terror he experiences, as well as how he managed to overcome fear through perseverance.
His experience helps the reader understand how fear can be conquered if one tries hard enough.
a secondary theme in the story is the analysis of fear
The narrator in his story gives a very clear description of his experiences in addition he shows that he can analyze his own reactions to fear.
He knows what triggered his fear in the pool this helps him later as he tries to overcome each individual issue like the fear being triggered by his head going underwater his legs being paralyzed underwater and so on.
The narrative is an actual account written in the first person because the narrator shares his own experiences his viewpoint. That fear can be overcome is convincing.
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