Question

Why is through the tunnel a coming-of-age story

Answer 1

Answer:

The missing options:

1. Because Jerry goes through a rite of passage in "Through the Tunnel," the story is classified as coming-of-age story.
2. In "Through the Tunnel," swimming through the tunnel is important to Jerry because he wants to impress the older boys.
3. In "Through the Tunnel," Jerry does not challenge himself.
4. In "Through the Tunnel," Jerry does not feel as emotionally close to his mother as he does to his father.

The correct option is 1.

Explanation:

Coming of age story depicts the journey of the protagonist from his childhood to adulthood. Also known as 'Bildungsroman' or 'education novel'. This genre reveals the journey traveled by the main character into various walks of life. It shows the changing of protagonist from being foolish to wise, his development and maturing.

Through the Tunnel is a short story written by Doris Lessing. This short story was first published in 1955 in the magazine of American weekly.

The story is about Jerry, who is eleven years old and has come for vacations with his mother, who is a widow. On the second morning of their vacations, during their routine of swimming and sunbathing, when Jerry's mother ask him if he wants to go somewhere else, Jerry denies and rather says that he wants to explore 'wild and rocky bay'.  He wants to swim there because he wants to show his mother that he is mature and grown-up now, and doesn't need his mother to accompany him everywhere.

When Jerry goes through rite of passage which the big boys have made, the story classified that it is a bildungsroman short story or a coming of age story.

So, The correct option is 1.  

Answer 2

Jerry goes through a rite of passage in Through the tunnel, therefore it is is a coming of age story.

A coming of age genre in literature focuses on the growth and development of an individual from youth to adulthood. That is the idea of a coming of age. Coming-of-age stories usually highlight dialogue or internal monologue over action, and are often set in the past

In the story "Through the tunnel," Jerry has to swim through the long passage of the rock tunnel in an attempt to prove that he is no longer a child but a fearless man, who has all the qualities expected of a mature man.