Prose Chapter 3 - Deep Water

“Deep Water” is an excerpt taken from the autobiography of William Orville Douglas- Of Men and Mountains. The chapter narrates the author’s fear of water. He also tells us about frightening incidents which led to the growth of his phobia and the way he conquered it. Determination and strong will power had pushed him to defeat his fear of water, and finally, he learned to swim.

Students can find the summary and accurate NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English Flamingo Deep Water, here at UrbanPro.

Summary

The author’s father used to take him to the beach in California when he was little, about 3 or 4 years old. The huge waves crashed and buried the author with water, therefore leading the author to develop a fear of water bodies early in his life.

A few years later, while going to the local YMCA pool for swimming lessons, the author had a terrifying experience when a young boy had intentionally pushed him into the swimming pool. He felt like experiencing death from a close range.

His aversion to water had remained for a large part of his life, and when it finally started to wane- the primary motivation was his love for fishing and a strong desire to go out swimming in nature.

With the help of an instructor, the author finally learned to swim, practising five days a week. The instructor used to tie a belt around William- attaching a rope to the belt; holding on to him using a pulley and overhead cable. He let go of the rope each time the author panicked. After three months, his childhood fear finally started to fade, and the instructor gave him advanced lessons. He had finally completed teaching the author how to swim. However, in his subconscious mind, the author wondered whether he would be able to swim alone. Wanting to conquer his fear, the author pointed it out to himself sarcastically that what more harm could the water body do to him, especially now that he had learnt swimming. He finally succeeded in defeating his phobia.

Swimming was a great learning experience for William and had a profound impact on his life. Wanting to rid himself of his fear of water fully, he swam through Lake Wentworth at New Hampshire. He had also swum shore to shore from Tieton to Conrad Meadows and from Conrad Creek Trail to Meade Glacier. On having a close encounter with terrifying death, and finally managing to overcome his fear- the author felt that it is the fear of death itself that is terrifying. Death is a rather peaceful process. The author had also learnt to let go of his fear and felt a massive sense of freedom.

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