CBSE Class 12 English Deep Water Notes Set 04

Chapter Sketch

Deep Water is an excerpt taken from 'Of Men and Mountains' by William O Douglas, a leading advocate of individual rights and a Justice in the courts of USA. It reveals how as a young boy, he nearly drowned in a swimming pool. He talks about his fear of water and thereafter how he finally overcame it.

About the Author

William Douglas (1898-1980) was born in Maine, Minnesota, USA. After graduating with a Bachelors of Arts in English and Economics, he decided to pursue a legal career. He became an adviser and friend to President Franklin D Roosevelt. Douglas was also a leading advocate of individual rights. He retired in 1975 after thirty-six years service as a Justice in the courts.

About the Character

William Douglas (The narrator) He as child got afraid of water due to two frightening incidents in his childhood, but later on overcame his fear with sheer determination and will power.

Summary of the Chapter

The Narrator Developed an Aversion to Water at a Young Age

The narrator recalls a horrific incident that happened to him when he was ten or eleven years old. He had decided to learn swimming, and the YMCA pool gave him the opportunity, as it was safe, it was only two or three feet deep at the shallow end and, while it was nine feet deep at the other end, the drop was gradual. In comparison, the Yakima river was treacherous. The narrator’s mother continually warned him against it. She kept reminding him about the details of each drowning incident in the river. The narrator developed an aversion to water at the age of three or four when his father took him to the beach in California. The waves knocked him down and swept over him. He was buried in water and was breathless. He was terrorised by the strong force of the waves, but his father had only laughed.

The Misadventure

The introduction to the pool revived the narrator’s unpleasant memories and stirred his childhood fears. Still, he tried to learn swimming by imitating the other boys. He was just beginning to feel at ease in the water when a mishap occurred. He went to the pool one day and found that no one else was there. He was timid about going in alone. So, he sat on the side of the pool to wait for others. Just then a big bully came. He was quite muscular. He picked up Douglas and threw him into the deep end of the pool. Douglas landed in a sitting position, swallowed water, and went at once to the bottom.

Douglas Tried to Save His life

The narrator was frightened, but not frightened out of his mind. He made a plan to save himself. When his feet would hit the bottom, he would make a big jump, come to the surface, lie flat on it and paddle to the edge of the pool. However, the nine feet down seemed more like ninety to poor Douglas. He was totally out of breath when his feet touched the bottom. Still, with all his strength, he made a spring upwards. He came up slower than he had thought. He opened his eyes and saw nothing but water. He started to panic. Douglas was suffocating and tried to yell but no sound came out.

A Sheer, Stark Terror

Then he came up to the surface and started beating the surface of the water. He tried to breathe, but swallowed water and choked. Douglas tried to bring his legs up, but they hung like dead weights. A great force was taking him to the bottom of the pool. He had lost all his breath. His lungs ached and his head throbbed. But he remembered his strategy. He opened his eyes and saw nothing but water with a yellow glow. A sheer, stark terror seized him-terror that knew no understanding, terror that knew no control, a terror that only the one who had experienced it could understand. He was shrieking under water. Only his heart and the pounding in his head said that he was still alive. Douglas told himself that he had to remember to jump when he reached the bottom. He again jumped with all his might, but his jump went in vain. He was still under water. The stark terror took him more tightly in its clutches.

The Fight for Survival is Lost

Douglas describes how fear paralysed him. His arms and legs stopped moving. He trembled with fright. He tried to call for his mother, but nothing happened. Suddenly, Douglas found himself coming out of the water. He sucked for air and got water. Then he started going down for the third time. Then all his efforts ceased and his body went limp. A blackness took over his brain which wiped out fear and terror. Everything went quiet and peaceful. Douglas felt as if he was wrapped in his mother’s arms. Then he fell unconscious. The next thing he remembers was lying on his stomach beside the pool, vomiting.

The Terror Destroyed Douglas' Social Life, He Tried to Overcome it

Douglas couldn’t eat that night. He was weak and trembling. He shook and cried on his bed. He never went back to the pool. He feared water and avoided it whenever he could. Whenever he went near water, the terror that had seized him in the pool would return to haunt him. The fear paralysed him. This handicap stayed with him as years rolled by. It ruined his fishing trips and deprived him of the joy of canoeing, boating and swimming. He tried his best to overcome this fear, but it didn’t let go of him. Finally, Douglas decided to get a swimming instructor. He went to a pool and practised five days a week, an hour each day. The instructor put a belt with a rope around Douglas. This rope went through a pulley. The instructor held on to the other end of the rope. Each time the instructor relaxed his hold on the rope and Douglas went under, some of the old terror returned and froze his legs. It took him three months to get over this fear. Then the instructor taught him to breathe while swimming. Next he taught him to move his legs. Thus, piece by piece, bit by bit, he built a swimmer out of Douglas.

Douglas' Will to Live Grew in Intensity

After the training was finished, Douglas wondered if he would be terror-stricken when he would be alone in the pool. He tried, and tiny vestiges of the old terror did return, but now he was not afraid. Douglas was still not satisfied. So, he went to Lake Wentworth in New Hampshire and swam two miles across the lake. When Douglas was in the middle of the lake, he put his face under and saw nothing but bottomless water. The old sensation came back to haunt him. But this time Douglas was strong. He swam on. Yet he had some residual doubts. At his first opportunity, he went to the Warm Lake. He swam to the other shore and back. He was thrilled with joy, as he had conquered his fear of water. The experience had a deep meaning for him. He explains that death was peaceful but it was the fear of death that crippled a person. Here he quotes President Roosevelt, saying, ‘All we have to fear is fear itself.’ Because he had experienced death and the terror that it could produce, his will to live somehow grew in intensity.

WORD MEANINGS

The given page numbers correspond to the pages in the NCERT textbook.

Page 23

• treacherous — dangerous, unreliable
• water wing (s) — an apparatus in the shape of inflated waterproof bags that can be fixed to the arms to help someone learn swimming

Page 25

• subdued my pride — overcame feeling ashamed
• surf — a mass of foam formed by waves breaking on a seashore
• overpowering — overwhelming
• stirred — aroused
• paddled — moved through the water
• aping — imitating, copying
• misadventure — mishap
• bruiser — bully
• specimen — example
• rippling — swelling, bulging
• ducked — pushed under water
• spring — jump
• bob to the surface like a cork — move up quickly to the water surface like a piece of cork

Page 26

• panicky — afraid, alarmed
• flailed at the surface — swung arms or legs violently on the surface
• expending — spending or using up
• irresistible — overwhelming
• strike out — hit sharply
• pounding — rhythmical beating or throbbing

Page 27

• oblivion — unconsciousness
• curtain of life fell — as if life ended
• fooling — joking
• locker room — changing room of the pool
• Icy — which can freeze
• fishing for landlocked salmon — fishing for edible fish trapped by being cut off from the sea

Page 28

• bass — a common term for many different species of fish
• trout — a freshwater fish
• back and forth across the pool — one way and the other across the pool
• slack — lessen or reduce
• integrated — composite
• crawl stroke — a stroke in which the swimmer lies flat on the water with face submerged, and takes overhand arm strokes, while moving his legs up and down
• vestiges — traces or remains of something that is disappearing or no longer exists

NCERT FOLDER

Think as you Read 

Question. What is the "misadventure" that William Douglas speaks about? or What shocking experience did Douglas have at the YMCA pool? or What happened to Douglas at the YMCA pool?
Answer: William Douglas speaks about the 'misadventure' which happened at the YMCA swimming pool when he was about ten or eleven years old. A big bully threw Douglas into the deep end of the pool when no one was around. As Douglas realised that he was drowning, he made several attempts to save himself, but all in vain. Finally, he felt that he would die and then he lost consciousness. When he gained consciousness, he was lying outside the pool. Apparently, somebody had rescued him.

Question. What were the series of emotions and fears that Douglas experienced when he was thrown into the pool? What plans did he make to come to the surface? or What did Douglas feel and do when he was pushed into the swimming pool?
Answer: When Douglas was thrown into the pool, he was very much scared but he did not lose his mind. He planned that he would make a big jump when his feet would touch the bottom. Thus, he would come to the surface. Unfortunately, the plan failed. Douglas then grew panicky and started suffocating. He felt that he would die, and then he lost consciousness.

Question. How did this experience affect him? or What deep meaning did his experience at the YMCA swimming pool have for Douglas? or How did his experience at the YMCA swimming pool affect Douglas? or What did Douglas learn from his experience of almost drowning?
Answer: The near drowning experience had a very deep meaning and impact on Douglas. It left a haunting fear lurking in his heart. He was extremely scared of water and avoided going near it whenever he could. The fear deprived him of the joys of boating and fishing and destroyed his social life.

Think as you Read 

Question. Why was Douglas determined to get over his fear of water?
Answer: Douglas regretted being deprived of enjoying water-based activities and sports like canoeing, boating, fishing and swimming. His ardent wish to enjoy such activities and regain his lost confidence while staying in water were the reasons for his determination to get over his fear of water.

Question. How did the instructor "build a swimmer" out of Douglas? or How did the instructor turn Douglas into a swimmer? or How did the instructor make Douglas a good swimmer?
Answer: The instructor built a swimmer out of Douglas piece by piece. First the instructor made him shed his initial fear of water by making him cross a pool suspended by a rope attached through a pulley to his belt. This went on for three months. Then Douglas was taught to exhale under water and raise his nose above water and inhale. Then Douglas was made to kick with his legs until these were relaxed. Finally, after seven months, the instructor told him to swim the length of the pool.

Question. How did Douglas make sure that he conquered the old terror? What was the deep fear in William Douglas' mind? How did he get over it? or How did Douglas' experience at the YMCA pool affect him? How did he get over this effect?
Answer: At the age of three or four, Douglas was engulfed by waves from the sea, which started his fear of water. Then, when he was ten or eleven years old, Douglas was tossed into a nine feet deep swimming pool by a boy who was a bully. Douglas had a near drowning experience which further increased his fear. Determined to get rid of his fear, Douglas engaged an instructor under whom he practised five days a week, an hour each day. The instructor tied Douglas with a rope suspended from a pulley to help him overcome his fear. However, every time when the instructor loosened his grip, Douglas' fear returned. It took him three months to overcome it. Next, the instructor taught Douglas to exhale under water and inhale by raising his nose. He was made to kick with his legs at the side of the pool to build up stamina. Thus, Douglas spent six months with the instructor i.e. from October to April. Thereafter, he practised on his own by swimming across various lakes, finally overcoming his fear.

Understanding the Text 

Question. How does Douglas make clear to the reader the sense of panic that gripped him as he almost drowned? Describe the details that have made the description vivid.
Answer: Although panicky, Douglas had his strategy in place to come popping up like a cork and then paddling to the edge of the pool. Unfortunately, his first attempt failed and terror seized him. He tried to grab a rope but his hands clutched only at water. He was suffocating and tried to yell, but no sound came out. His legs were paralysed, his lungs ached and his head throbbed. He was dizzy and trembled with fright. The only signs of life in him were his beating heart and pounding head. He attempted to come out of water a third time, but in vain. He sucked for air and got only water. Finally, he stopped making efforts and fell unconscious. All the above details of his gripping, near-drowning experience make us feel that we are experiencing his lurking terror step by step.

Question. How did Douglas overcome his fear of water?
Answer: Refer to the answer of Q 3 in 'Think as you read (page 29)' above.

Question. Why does Douglas as an adult recount a childhood experience of terror and his conquering of it? What larger meaning does he draw from this experience? or What lesson did Douglas learn when he got rid of his fear of water?
Answer: The tormenting phobia of water was with him since the incident at the YMCA pool. Douglas as an adult recounted the horrific experience, as it had completely changed his life. He felt that the sensation of dying somehow intensified his zest for life. The fight against the terror taught him the very important lesson that 'All we have to fear is fear itself.' When he finally shed his fear, it proved that nothing is impossible for one with a firm will and determination.

Talking about the Text 

Question. "All we have to fear is fear itself". Have you ever had a fear that you have now overcome? Share your experience with your partner.
Answer: Like Douglas, I too had a terrible experience in my life, but now I have overcome the fear of drowning which started due to the incident. A small river flows near our village. During the summer vacation, we used to go there for bathing and learning swimming. Very often, we were cautioned by the villagers not to bathe in it, as there is a deeper part near the bank where we swam. Being children, we never really bothered. One day my brother and I took off our clothes and plunged into the river. By chance, the water was overflowing the bank and the current was fast. While diving, two of us got stuck in the deeper portion and started drowning. We cried out loudly. We felt we were going to drown. We thought that it was the end of our lives. When one of my friends saw us, he shouted to the other villagers to call them. They soon came and brought us out of the water. Since then we shifted our bathing to another part of the river and took the guidance of another villager who was an expert in swimming. Soon I was an expert swimmer and have overcome the fear of drowning due to the confidence I have developed, as I am now a good swimmer.