One thing interesting about the setting in the short story "Through the Tunnel" is that author Doris Lessing carefully uses word choices to show the striking contrast between the beach and the enticing rocky bay, and the contrast helps set the mood of the story and develop the major theme.
Some examples of word choice that help to convey the setting of Doris Lessing’s story are the fact that as Jerry heads off to play in the “wild bay,” the author describes the “rough, sharp rock[s],” and he runs “sliding and scraping” down the rocks to the water. The negative connotations of this word choice paint a vivid picture of the author’s setting, which is meant to be an untamed, dangerous, and alien land that Jerry is left to go and explore on his own.
