Chapter 3 :- Deep Water
Chapter 3 :- Deep Water
GSEB Class 12 English Deep Water Additional Important Questions and Answers
Answer the following questions in three to four sentences each:
1. When did Douglas decide to learn swimming? What options were available to him to swim in? Which one did he choose and why?
Answer:
Douglas was ten or eleven years old when he decided to learn swimming. He could swim in the Yakima River or the Y.M.C.A. pool at Yakima. The Yakima River was dangerous. Many persons had drowned in it. So, he chose the Y.M.C.A. pool. It was considered safe.
2.“I had an aversion to the water when I was in it ?” says ^Douglas. When did he start having this aversion and how?
Answer:
The aversion started when Douglas was three or four years old. His father had taken him to the beach in California. They were standing together in the surf. He had held his father tightly, even then the waves knocked him down and swept over him. He was buried in water. His breath was gone. He was frightened. There was terror in his heart about the overpowering force of the waves.
3. How did the ‘misadventure’ happen with Douglas?
Answer:
Douglas was sitting alone on the side of the pool, waiting for others. A big, bruiser of a boy of eighteen came there. Mocking him as ‘skinny’ he enquired how he would like to be plunged in water. Saying so, he picked up Douglas and tossed him into the nine feet deep end. Douglas struck the surface of water, swallowed water and at once went to the bottom.
4.“On the way down I planned,” remarks Douglas. What plan had he devised and how far did it succeed?
Answer:
While going down to the bottom, he made a plan to save himself from being drowned. He decided to make a big jump as his feet hit the bottom. He hoped to move up to the surface of water like a cork. Then he would lie flat on it, and paddle to the edge of the pool. The plan was only partly successful. He rose to surface twice. But each time he swallowed water and went down.
5.How was the result of the ‘great spring upwards’ that Douglas made on hitting the bottom of the pool for the first time?
Answer:
Douglas rose to the surface very slowly. When he opened his eyes he saw nothing but water with a dirty yellow colour. He grew panicky. He tried to grab a rope but his hands clutched only at water. He was suffocating. He tried to shout, but no sound came out. Then his eyes and nose came out of the water but not his mouth.
6. How did Douglas struggle before hitting the bottom of the pool for the second time? What was the outcome of his struggle?
Answer:
Douglas moved his arms and legs around without control. He swallowed water and choked. His legs hung as dead weights, paralysed and rigid. A great force was pulling him down. He struck at the water with full force as he went down. He had lost all his breath. His lungs ached and head throbbed. He was getting dizzy. He went down through dark water and was filled with fear.
7. “In the midst of the terror came a touch of reason.” How did the two forces work in opposite directions and how did Douglas fare?
Answer:
Reason told him to jump when he hit the bottom as he felt the tiles under him, he jumped with everything he had. But the jump made no difference. A mass of yellow water held him. Stark terror took an even deeper hold on him. He shook and trembled with fright. His arms and legs wouldn’t move. He tried to call for help, but nothing happened.
8. In what state did Douglas find himself on regaining consciousness?
Answer:
He found himself lying on his stomach near the pool. He was vomiting. The fellow who had thrown him in the pool was saying that he was only joking. Then someone remarked that the small boy had nearly died. He hoped that he would be all right then. Then he was carried to the locker room for change of clothes.
9.How did Douglas react to the frightening experience
(i) that day and
Answer :
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. A haunting fear was there in his heart. The slightest exertion upset him. His knees became wobbly. He felt sick to his stomach.
(ii) later when he came to know the waters of the Cascades?
Answer:
Whenever he waded the Tieton or Bumping River or bathed in Warm Lake of Goat Rocks, the terror that had seized him in the pool would come back. This terror would take possession of him completely. His legs would become paralysed. Icy horror would grab his heart.
10. What efforts did Douglas make to get over his fear of water and why?
Answer:
Fear of water was a handicap Douglas developed during his childhood. It stayed with him as he grew older. It ruined his pursuits of pleasure such as canoeing, boating, swimming and fishing. He used every method he knew “to overcome this fear. Finally, he was determined to get an instructor and learn swimming.
11.What was the first piece of exercise the instructor gave Douglas? How long did it take to yield the desired result?
Answer:
The instructor made him go across the pool an hour a day for five days with the help of a rope attached to his belt. The rope went through a pulley that ran on an overhead cable. The instructor held on to the end of the rope. They went back and forth across the pool.
A bit of panic seized him every time. Moreover, the old terror returned and his legs froze when the instructor loosened his grip on the rope and Douglas went underwater. It was after three months that the tension began to decrease.
12. Why does Douglas say: “The instructor was finished. But I was not finished?” How did he overpower tiny vestiges of the old terror?
Answer:
The instructor’s work was over when he built a swimmer out of Douglas piece by piece and then put them together into an integrated whole. However, Douglas was not satisfied as the remnants of the old terror would return when he swam alone in the pool. He would frown on terror go for another length of the pool.
13.Why did Douglas go to Lake Wentworth in New Hampshire? How did he make his terror flee?
Answer:
Douglas was not sure whether all the terror had left even after the training from October to April and practice till July. So, he went to Lake Wentworth and swam two miles. Terror returned only once when he was in the middle of the lake. He had put his face under and saw nothing but bottomless water. The old sensation returned in a smaller size. He laughed and rebuked terror. His terror fled away and he swam on.
Answer the following questions in six to seven sentences each:
1. “There was terror in my heart at the overpowering force of the waves.” When did Douglas start fearing water? Which experience had further strengthened its hold on his mind and personality?
Answer:
The water waves which knocked down young Douglas and swept over him at the beach in California filled him with fear. He was then three or four years old. All this happened when he -had clung to his father. He was buried underwater. His breath was gone and he was frightened. His father laughed, but there was terror in his heart at the overpowering force of the waves.
His introduction to the Y.M.C.A. swimming pool revived unpleasant memories and stirred childish fears. He had gathered some confidence when a misadventure happened as a big boy threw him in the nine feet deep end of the pool. His efforts to rise to the surface and paddle to the side failed twice. He would have drowned if he had not been rescued in time. This terror of water overpowered his limbs and made them stiff. His mind was haunted by fear of water. It was, in fact, a handicap to his personality.
2. Give an account of the fears and emotions of Douglas as he made efforts to save himself from being drowned in the Y.M.C.A. swimming pool.
Answer:
Douglas was frightened as he was going down. His active mind suggested a strategy to save himself from being drowned in water. He knew that water has buoyancy. He must make a big jump as his feet hit the bottom. He hoped to rise up like a cork to the surface, lie flat on it and paddle to the edge of the pool.
Before he touched bottom, his lungs were ready to burst. Using all his strength, he made a great jump. He rose up very slowly. He saw nothing but yellow coloured dirty water. He grew panicky and he was suffocated. He swallowed more water as he tried to shout. He choked and went down again.
His stiff legs refused to obey him. He had lost all his breath. His lungs ached and head throbbed. He was getting dizzy. He went down through dark water again. An absolute terror seized Douglas.
He was paralysed underwater. His reasoning power told him to jump again. He did so, but his arms and legs wouldn’t move. His eyes and nose came out of water, but not his mouth. He swallowed more water and Went down a third time. Now a blackness swept over his brain. He had experienced the terror that fear of death can produce as well as the sensation of dying.
3.How did the misadventure in Y.M.C.A. swimming pool affect Douglas? What efforts did he make to conquer his old terror? Did he succeed?
Answer:
Douglas had nearly died in the swimming pool. For days there was a haunting fear in his heart. The slightest exertion upset him. He avoided going near water as he feared it. The waters of the cascades, fishing for salmon in canoes, bass or trout fishing-all appeared attractive activities. However, the haunting fear of water followed Douglas everywhere and ruined his fishing trips. It deprived him of the joy of canoeing, boating and swimming. The fear of water became a handicap.
He used every method he knew to overcome this fear. Finally, he decided to engage a trainer and learn swimming. In seven months the instructor built a swimmer out of Douglas. However, the vestiges of the old terror would return when he was alone in the pool. He could now frown on terror and go for another length of the pool. This went on till July. Douglas was not satisfied.
He went to Lake Wentworth and swam two miles. The terror returned only once when he had put his face underwater and saw nothing but bottomless water. In order to remove his residual doubts, he hurried west to Warm Lake. He dived into the lake and swam across to the other shore and back. He shouted with joy as he had conquered his fear of water. He Anally succeeded in his effort.
4. Comment on the appropriateness of the title ‘Deep Water’.
OR
Do you think the title ‘Deep Water’ is apt? Give reasons in support of your answer.
Answer:
The title ‘Deep Water’ is quite appropriate to this extract from ‘Of Men and Mountains’ by William O. Douglas. The title is highly suggestive and at once focuses our attention on the main theme – experiencing fear of death underwater and the efforts of the author to overcome it.
All the details in the essay are based on his personal experience and analysis of fear. The psychological analysis of fear is presented from a child’s point of view and centres round deep water and drowning. The overpowering force of the waves at the California beach stir aversion for water in Douglas.
His mother warns him against swimming in the deep waters of the treacherous Yakima River. The nine feet deep water of the swimming pool appears more than ninety to Douglas. However, when he conquers fear he can dive and swim in the deep waters of Lake Wentworth and Warm Lake. Thus, the title is apt and suggestive.
5.What impression do you form of William O. Douglas on the basis of reading ‘Deep Water’?
Answer:
William Douglas leaves a very favourable impression on us. He appears quite truthful and courageous. He gives a detailed account of his fears and emotions as he struggles against deep water to save himself from being drowned. Confessing one’s faults and shortcomings is not easy.
It needs courage, honesty and willpower. Douglas has all these qualities. His efforts to overpower the fear of water show his firm determination, resolution and strong willpower. He has an analytic mind which diagnoses the malady and prompts him to search the cure.
He is frightened of deep water, but not yet frightened out of his wits. In his heroic struggle against fear, terror and panic, he rises to heroic stature. He becomes an idol, a living image of bravery and persistent efforts. He typifies the will not to surrender or yield. His indefatigable zeal is a source of inspiration for all and especially for the youth. In short, William Douglas impresses us as a frank, truthful, honest and determined person.
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