“Lawrence allowed the waves to lift him up and carry him towards the shore. The sea held no terrors for him as he calmly swam back the rest of the distance to the land. He ran home happily as the sea breeze evaporated the water off his body.”
a) Why had Lawrence never been to school? Did he want to?
b) Why was Lawrence keen to participate in the swimming competition?
c) What did Lawrence do while going towards home?
d) Why did he take the old road along the coast? Why did he curse himself?
e) What was Lawrence thinking as he ran towards the stadium? What sound did he hear and where was it coming from?
Answers
Answer:
Deep Water Summary
The story has been taken from the author’s autobiography- ‘Of Men and Mountains’.
In this piece, he tells about his fear of water and how he conquered it by determination and willpower.
As a child, when he was 3 or 4 years old, he would go to the beach in California with his father. He would get scared by the might of the huge waves which swept over him and it instilled fear in his subconscious 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 subconscious mind would grip him over and over again. He wanted to conquer that fear.