Deep Water Summary NCERT SOLUTION CLASS 12TH ENGLISH FLAMINGO | EDUGROWN NOTES

TEXTBOOK QUESTION AND ANSWER:

Think As you Read

Q.1 What is the “misadventure” that William Douglas speaks about?

ANSWER:
William O.Douglas had just learnt swimming. One day, an eighteen year old big bruiser picked him up and tossed him into the nine feet deep end of the Y.M.C.A. pool. He hit the water surface in a sitting position. He swallowed water and went at once to the bottom. He nearly died in this misadventure.

Q.2 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?

ANSWER:
Douglas was frightened when he was thrown into the pool. However, he was not frightened out of his wits. While sinking down he made a plan. He would make a big jump when his feet hit the bottom. He would come to the surface like a cork, lie flat on it, and paddle to the edge of the pool.

Q.3 How did this experience affect him?

ANSWER:
The near death experience of drowning had a very strong impact on his psychology. He was deeply perturbed and shaken by the whole experience. A haunting fear of water took control of his physical strength and emotional balance for many years. As he couldn’t bear being surrounded by water, he was deprived of enjoying any water-related activity.

Q.4 Why was Douglas determined to get over his fear of water?

ANSWER:

Douglas regretted being deprived of enjoying water activities like canoeing, boating, swimming, fishing, etc. The wish to enjoy them and the craving to regain his lost confidence, while being in water, made him try every possible way to get rid of his fear. He was finally able to overcome this mental handicap by getting himself a swimming instructor and further ensuring that no residual fear was left.

Q.5How did the instructor “build a swimmer” out of Douglas?

ANSWER:
The instructor built a swimmer out of Douglas piece by piece. For three months he held him high on a rope attached to his belt. He went back and forth across the pool. Panic seized the author every time. The instructor taught Douglas to put his face under water and exhale and to raise his nose and inhale. Then Douglas had to kick with his legs for many weeks till these relaxed. After seven months the instructor told him to swim the length of the pool.

Q.6 How did Douglas make sure that he conquered the old terror?

ANSWER:
Even after the swimming training was over, Douglas wasn’t confident about his swimming or that he had overcome the fear. He was determined to completely get rid of it forever. He swam alone in the pool. He went to Lake Wentworth to dive. There, he tried every possible stroke he had learnt. He fought back the tiny vestiges of terror that gripped him in middle of the lake. Finally, in his diving expedition in the Warm Lake, he realised that he had truly conquered his old terror.

Understanding the Text

Q.1 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:

Once Douglas was sitting alone at the Y.M.C.A pool waiting for others to come. Then there came a big bruiser of a boy. He tossed him up and threw him into the deep end of the pool. Douglas went deep and swallowed water. He was at the sitting position at the bottom. He was frightened but was not out of his wits. On the way down, he had a strategy in his mind. When his feet touched the bottom, he would make a great spring upward. Then he would paddle to the edge of the pool, but he came up slowly. He opened his eyes and saw dirty water. He was deeply frightened. His legs seemed paralysed. A great force was pulling him down. A stark power overpowered him. He shrieked in the water but only the water heard him. After feeling the tiles under his feet, he jumped withal his might but it made no difference. His lungs ached and heart throbbed. Stark terror took him in its grip. His legs and arms could not move. He again tried for the third time. He searched for air but swallowed water. He felt drowsy and ceased all efforts. He was crossed to oblivion. The curtain of his life fell and he lay unconscious.

Q.2 How did Douglas overcome his fear of water?

ANSWER:
After his misadventure in the pool at the Y.M.C.A, Douglas was amidst the fear of the water. He realised that his fishing trips, canoeing, swimming and boating were over. He tried his best to overcome it but the haunting of the water followed him everywhere. Finally he decided to engage an instructor to learn to swim and overcome his fear. He went to the pool and practiced five days a week, an hour each day. The instructor put a belt around him and a rope was attached to the belt. The rope went through a pulley that ran an overhead cable. Douglas held one end of the rope and went back and forth across the pool. On each trip some of the terror would seize him up. After three months, the tension began to decrease.
Piece by piece he shed the panic. He taught him to put his face under water and exhale. He also learnt how to raise his nose and inhale.
This exercise was repeated hundreds of times. Now he was able to shed part of the fear that seized him under water. He went to lake Wentworth Triggs island and Slamp act island. He swam two miles across the lake. Now he was determined and he swam on. He shouted with joy and he had conquered his fear of water.

Q.3 Why does Douglas as an adult recount a childhood experience of terror and his conquering of it? What larger meaning does he draw from his experience?

ANSWER:
Douglas had two childhood experiences of terror. One at the California beach when the waves knocked him down and swept over him. He was terror stricken. At the other occasion he was thrown into the deep end of the Y.M.C.A pool by a big bruiser of a boy. A stark terror overpowered and gripped him. It followed and haunted him wherever he went. He realised that his joys of fishing, canoeing, boating and swimming had ruined. Keeping in view its severe consequences, he engaged an instructor who trained him in swimming and Douglas was able to conquer his fear.
This experience had a deeper meaning for Douglas. Because he had experienced both the sensation of dying and the terror that the fear of it can produce, he learnt the will to live in great intensity. This experience can only be realised by those who had faced to conquer it. This exactly happened with Douglas. He knew: In death, there is peace., there is terror only in the fear of death.’’ Thus one can estimate what matters is the will to live. As Roosevelt said ‘‘All we have to fear is fear itself.’’ So will to live is great and it can take man to touch the highest peaks of life.
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Talking about the text

Q.1 “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:
Roosevelt has appropriately said ‘‘All we have to fear is fear itself.’’ These words have a deeper meaning for all of us. It implies that we fear from fear. Those who have undergone this experience of fear, they can only appreciate its worth. William O. Douglas has faced it twice in life. He had a terrible fear of water. He could not go for swimming, canoeing, boating and rafting etc. He realised that it would ruin his career since it was following and haunting him wherever he went. Fear is our hard core enemy. We must get rid of it at the earliest like Douglas. I too had a terrible experience in my life.
A small tributary flows near our village. During the summer vacation, we used to go there for swimming and bathing. Very often, we were made cautious by the villagers not to bathe in it since there is a deeper hole inside the stream. Being children, we never bothered . One day we took out our clothes and plunged into it. By chance, the water was overflowing the bank and the current was fast. While diving, two among us got stuck into the hole. We cried and cried out. We were going deeper and deeper. We thought that it was the end of our life. One of the boys came outside and saw the villagers. He cried and cried. They came and brought us out of the water. But this enabled us to challenge the fears of life and we can take adventurous life.

Talking about Language

Q.1 If someone else had narrated Douglas’ experience, how would it have differed from this account? Write out a sample paragraph or paragraphs from this text from the point of view of a third person or observer to find out which style of narration would you consider to be more effective? Why?

ANSWER:
If a third person had narrated Douglas’ experience, the impact of the story would have lost the reader’s deep connection with the main protagonist and his fear of water. The narrator then would be passively telling the story from the perspective of an observer. The incident of drowning in water could never have successfully communicated the feeling of the “stark terror” that Douglas underwent.
In third person narrative, the 8th and 9th paragraph of the story would be as follows:
“He flailed at the surface of the water, swallowed and choked. He tried to bring his legs up but they hung as dead weights, paralyzed and rigid. A great force was pulling him under. He screamed, but only the water heard him. He had started on the long journey back to the bottom of the pool.”
“He struck at the water as he went down; expending his strength as one in a nightmare, fights an irresistible force. He had lost all his breath. His lungs ached. His head throbbed. He was getting dizzy. But he remembered the strategy – he would spring from the bottom of the pool and come like a cork to the surface. He would lie flat on the water, strike out with his arms, and thrash with his legs. Then he would get to the edge of the pool and be safe.”
So, it is only the first person narrative that keeps the reader gripped to the story. It makes the experience more relevant and tangible for the reader. It engages him by making him go through the experience along with the protagonist. The desperation and helplessness of being in water, which has almost become fatal, the mental and physical agony of trying to survive the crisis, the long struggle of overcoming the fear bit-by-bit and the jubilation of conquering it at the end; all make the reader feel part of the experience. The first person narrative makes the story a fast-paced and urgent reading for the readers. All this would have been lost had it been a third person narrative or from the point of view of an observer.

Short Answer Type Question:

Q1. 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.

Q2. Which factors led Douglas to decide in favour of the Y.M.C.A. pool?
ANSWER:  The Y.M.C.A. pool was safe. It was only two to three feet deep at the shallow end. It was nine feet deep at the other. Moreover, the drop was gradual. The Yakima River was treacherous and had drowned many. So, he decided in favour of the Y.M.C.A. pool.

Q3. “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.

Q4. How did Douglas initially feel when he went to the Y.M.C.A. pool? What made him feel comfortable?
ANSWER:  Unpleasant memories of the past were revived and childish fears were stirred. In a little while he gathered confidence. He paddled with his new water wings. He watched the other boys and tried to imitate them. He did so two or three times on different days. He began to feel comfortable.

Q5. What two things did Douglas dislike to do? Which one did he have to do and why?
ANSWER:  Douglas hated to walk naked, into the pool and show his very thin legs. Secondly, he was fearful about going in alone. So, he sat on the side of the pool to wait for others. But he had to go into water as one cannot learn swimming without going into water.

Q6. In what connection does Douglas mention “a big bruiser of a boy ?”
ANSWER:  Douglas mentions him for his misadventure in the Y.M.C.A. swimming pool in which he had nearly died. It was this boxer boy who had picked up Douglas and tossed him into the deep end. Later on, when Douglas was rescued, the boy said, “I was only fooling.”

Q7. Describe the boy who was responsible for the author’s misadventure?
ANSWER: He was a big boy, a bruiser. He was probably eighteen year old. He had thick hair on his chest. He was a beautiful specimen. His legs and arms had rippling muscles. He was a fun loving fellow and enjoyed teasing the younger and weaker boys.

Q8. How did the “misadventure” happen with Douglas?
ANSWER: Douglas was sitting alone on the side of the pool, waiting for others. A big, boxer 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.

Q9. “I was frightened, but not yet frightened out of my wits,” says Douglas. Which qualities of the speaker are highlighted here and how?
ANSWER:  Douglas was frightened when he went down into the pool and was about to be drowned. He had an aversion to water and now he was filled with terror. He had remarkable self¬control. He used his mind even in the crisis and thought of a strategy to save himself from being drowned.

Q10. “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.

Q11. What did Douglas experience as he went down to the bottom of the pool for the first time ?
ANSWER:  Going down to the depth of nine feet was not quick. It seemed a long way down. For him those nine feet were more like ninety. Before he touched bottom his lungs were ready to burst. He did not lose his presence of mind. Using all his strength, he made a great jump upwards.

Q12. 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.

Q13. 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.

Q14. What sort of terror seized Douglas as he went down the ‘water with a yellow glow?’ How could he feel he was still alive?
ANSWER:  An absolute, rigid terror seized Douglas. It was a terror that knew no understanding or control and was beyond comprehension of anyone who had not experienced it. He was paralysed under water-stiff and rigid with fear. His screams were frozen. The beating of his heart and throbbing of mind made him feel that he was still alive.

Q15. ‘In the midst of the terror came a touch of reason.’ How did the two forces work in opposite direction 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.

Q16. 7 crossed to oblivion, and the curtain of life fell.’ How did Douglas experience the sensation of dying before he actually crossed to oblivion?
ANSWER:  As Douglas went down the pool the third time, he swallowed more water. All his efforts to jump up ceased. His legs felt limp. A blackness swept over his brain and it wiped out fear and terror. There was no more panic. It was quiet and peaceful. He felt drowsy and wanted to go to sleep.

Q17. 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.

Q18. How did Douglas react to the frightening experience (i) that day and (ii) later when he came to know the waters of the Cascades?
ANSWER:  (i) 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) 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.

Q19. “This handicap stayed with me as the years rolled by.” How did it affect his pursuits for pleasure?
ANSWER: The haunting fear of water followed Douglas everywhere. He rowed in canoes on Maine lakes fishing for landlocked salmon. He went for bass fishing in New Hampshire, trout fishing on the Deschutes and Metolius in Oregon, fishing for salmon on the Columbia, at Bumping Lake in the Cascades. Fear ruined his fishing trips. It deprived him of the joy of canoeing, boating, and swimming.

Q20. 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 determined to get an instructor and learn swimming.

Q21. 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 under water. It was after three months that the tension began to decrease.

Q22. Which other exercise did the Instructor prescribe for Douglas to make him shed the panic caused by water?
ANSWER:  He taught Douglas to put his face under water and exhale. Then he was to raise his nose
and inhale. He repeated this exercise hundreds of time. Bit by bit he shed part of the panic that seized him when his head went under water.

Q23. Which exercise helped Douglas to loosen his stiff legs and make them work as he desired?
ANSWER: The Instructor held Douglas at the side of the swimming pool. Then he made Douglas kick vfith his legs. He did just that for weeks. At first his legs refused to work. But gradually they relaxed. Finally, he was able to command them.

Q24. 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.

Q25. 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.

Long Answer Type Question:

Q1. “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 under water. 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 at 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.

Q2. 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 darkwater again. An absolute terror seized Douglas. He was paralysed under water. His reasoning power told him to jump again. He did so, but his aims and legs wouldn’t move. His eyes and nose came out of water, but not his mouth. He swallowed more water and went down 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.

Q3. 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 under water 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 finally succeeded in his effort.

Q4. 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 under water 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.

Q5. 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 will power. Douglas has all these qualities.
His efforts to overpower the fear of water show his firm determination, resolution and strong will power. 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 specially for the youth.
In short, William Douglas impresses us as a frank, truthful, honest and determined person.