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Class 12 - English Notes
Book Name - Flamingo
Chapter – 3
Deep Water by William Douglas
Title Analysis

...
The title here symbolizes the great trouble which the author has faced in his
childhood
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Therefore, the title “Deep Water” conveys the severity of
trouble that the author faced for years
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The whole chapter revolves around the author’s childhood fear associated with water
and the chapter also focuses on the author’s struggle which helped him to overcome his fear
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The chapter also shows
the determination and immense hard work of author which helped him out of his fear
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Summary
The chapter “Deep Water” is taken from William Douglas’s autobiographical book “Of Men and
Mountain”
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When the author was 3 or 4 years old, he used to go to the beach with his father
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After few years he was pushed in a swimming pool by his friend and he experienced death closely
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A few years later Douglas wished to explore the rivers but his
terror didn’t let him do so, all water connected activities were nearly wiped out of his life
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He worked hard and
learned swimming
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But sometimes Douglas still feared of swimming in deep water
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Douglas wanted to conquer his fear, so he started challenging himself to swim larger water bodies
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He experienced
that death is peaceful and it is the fear of death that was terrorizing
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His mother always warned him about the river and reminded him that many
had drowned in that river
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Thus, he enrolled himself for swimming class in
Y
...
C
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Recalling of Incident at California Beach
The swimming lessons at Y
...
C
...
(Young Men’s Christian Association) pool made the author
remember of the incident when he was only three or four years old
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As a result, he was terrified because he
couldn’t breathe properly
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Unexpected Incident (Douglas Struggles for Life Underwater)
The author was slowly overcoming his fear and felt little comfortable in swimming, unfortunately
an incident took place
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At first he thought that he would hit the bottom of the pool and then he
will push himself to the surface but that didn’t happened
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He struggled a lot to come to the surface but all his
attempts were in vain and finally he stopped struggling, he was lost his consciousness
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When he gained consciousness, he was lying beside the pool and was
vomiting
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He was then
taken to the locker room and after few hours he went home
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During the next few days, he kept on crying, he felt very weak and was unable to eat anything
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Pool Incident Leaves a Deep Impact on Douglas
After few years Douglas went to waterfalls as he wished to explore the water of waterfalls
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In the following years Douglas realized that the pool incident had a deep impact on him
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He was unable to enjoy boating trips, fishing trips and
swimming due to his fear
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Douglas Struggles to Overcome His Fear
Douglas tried several times to overcome his fear but was unable to get rid of it
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He practiced for an hour each day, five days a week
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The instructor put a belt around William’s waist, attached to a
thick rope
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It ensured
that in case William drowned, the instructor would pull him out
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He taught him to put his face under the water and exhale his breathe
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The instructor also taught William to kick
the water surface with his leg
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After three months of practice
William got comfortable, he got rid of the panic that paralyzed him under the water
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The instructor made Douglas dive into the pool and swim the length of the pool
without any help
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The instructor had done his job but
Douglas was still not satisfied, he was still afraid of swimming alone
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Douglas became more and more confident and
overcame his fear
...
This experience had a great importance in
his life
...
Because
of his experience he was able to face his fear, fight against it confidently and overcome out of it
...
M
...
A
...
M
...
A
...
Once
he was thrown into the deep end of the pool by an elder boy
...
He was rescued but the fear of death left a deep impression on his mind
...
He was so scared of water that
he began to avoid all the water associated activities
...
M
...
A
...
He
attempted thrice to reach the surface but he failed
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He was trying to grab something in order to come
out of water
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He had a strong feeling of unease as if

his lungs were about to burst
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Finally,
he became unconscious in the water
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The
waves swept over him knocking him down
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The fear of water
sized him and developed aversion to water
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Comment on the
statement with reference to the chapter
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Douglas practiced swimming every day
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He swam across the bigger water
bodies, and gradually he overcame his fear
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Q5) Getting rid of fear is an extremely difficult task
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Ans- In order to get rid of fear one has to face his/her fear with great determination
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Douglas was haunted by his childhood fear of water
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But in spite of running away from water which
scared Douglas, he decided to fight against his fear and overcome it at any cost
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After practicing continuously for months, he
swam across different water bodies and finally overcame his fear
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Q6) “I crossed to oblivion and the curtain of life fell
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M
...
A
...
He
tried to shout for help
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At that point he had experienced the fear of death and to express his experience he has said the
given line
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Ans- William Douglas felt the terror whenever he tried to swim, this terror haunted him since his
childhood as he had faced an unfortunate incident when he was ten years old
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All the water associated activities was almost wiped out of his life because his fear of water
...
He hired an instructor who helped him
in swimming
...
He
learnt how to inhale and exhale underwater, he learnt how to push water with his legs
...

During his practice he had faced the similar childhood fear but never gave up and continued his
practice with great determination
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He began to challenge himself and swam across several water bodies
...
Therefore, we saw that William’s determination and perseverance helped him
a lot in his fight to get rid of the terror he felt while swimming
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Elaborate on this statement with reference to William Douglas
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It’s not only about facing the challenges but it’s also about the actions taken by the
one
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There are many such examples which proves that
self-motivation with determination and hard work is the only key to success
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He was afraid of water but his determination of getting rid of that fear
motivated him in seeking an instructor who helped him in overcoming his fear
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Several
times he felt the terror of drowning, but his determination and self-motivation never let him give
up
...
His story reflects that the hidden potential of
one comes out when barriers and hurdles come along one’s way to success
...
”
How did this realization help him brush aside his fear and become an expert swimmer?
Ans- The chapter “Deep Water” reflects the fact that fear is a crippling emotion which haunts for
a long period of time wiping out all the creativity from life
...
In the chapter the author has
given an account of his triumph over his fear
...
He
feared water because he had experienced the fear of death in his childhood
...
He decided to overcome his fear and practiced swimming under the guidance of an
instructor
...
Then he challenged
himself and swam across many different water bodies
...
Therefore,
Douglas realized that the greatest fear is fear itself , once we are determined then we can get rid
of this fear

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