The development of character through the methods of describing the thoughts and feelings of the character, the words of the character, the perception of a character by another, and other devices such as imagery are used by Doris Lessing in her story "Through the Tunnel."
- Thoughts and Feelings of Characters
Because Lessing employs an omniscient narrator, the reader is provided much detail in what the main characters are thinking. In the exposition, for example, Lessing describes the introspection of Jerry's mother as she has conflicting feelings about allowing him to leave her and go look at the rocks near the big beach.
She was thinking. Of course, he's old enough to be safe without me. Have I been keeping him too close? He mustn't feel he ought to be with me. I must be careful.
Jerry's feelings are revealed to the reader, as well. When he tries to gain the attention of the older native boys, they "turned their eyes back toward the water" and continue what they are doing. "Through his hot shame," Jerry tries clowning as though he does not care about their reaction.
Throughout the narrative, Jerry's feelings are described. In another example, "he was trembling with horror" at the sight of the long tunnel which he wants to swim through. Throughout his attempt to pass through the tunnel, the omniscient narrator provides a description of his mother's and Jerry's varied feelings and thoughts.
- Perception of a Character by Other Characters
As mentioned earlier, the older native boys are uninterested in Jerry, who cannot perform the feat that they can.
Jerry, who goes through a rite of passage by swimming through the tunnel, undergoes psychological change, and his mother wrestles mentally with her changing perceptions of Jerry, also. At the end of the narrative, for instance, after Jerry rushes to the bathroom to clean his head from the bang against the tunnel. His mother examines him when he comes to greet her. "He was strained; his eyes were glazed-looking." As she talks with Jerry, she is
...ready for a battle of wills, but he gave in at once. It was no longer of the least importance to go to the bay.
- Literary Devices
In the opening paragraph, Jerry follows his mother, who walks before him. Lessing uses imagery to describe her:
....Her other arm, swinging loose, was very white in the sun. The boy watched that white, naked arm, and turned his eyes....
Later, as Jerry swims over to the rocks that are distant from the beach where his mother is, "that bare arm, now slighty reddened from yesterday's sun...
In one character description of Jerry's mother, Lessing employs a metaphor [bold], followed by a simile [italics]:
There she was, a speck of yellow under an umbrella that looked like a slice of orange peel.
Another simile describes the older boys:
...the water beyond the rock was full of boys blowing like brown whales.
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