Ch.
3 DEEP WATER by William Douglas
Short answer questions—
1. Why did William Douglas have an aversion to water?
Ans. When Douglas was 3 or 4 years old, he had gone to California beach with his father.
There he was knocked down by the waves and buried in water, his breath was gone. He was
terrified, so from then he had an aversion to water.
2. What is the ‘misadventure’ that William Douglas speaks about?
Ans. When Douglas was 10 or 11 years old, he began to learn to swim at the Y.M.C.A. pool.
One morning while he was sitting alone at the edge of the pool, a strong young man threw
him into the deepest part of the pool. He was almost drowned and had a near death
experience. This is the misadventure that he talks about.
3. How did the ‘misadventure’ affect him?
Ans. After the misadventure, he couldn’t eat or sleep that night and cried on his bed. For
days, he was haunted by the incident. Slightest exertion would make him upset and tremble.
He was terrified even by the thought of going in water. So he avoided water whenever
possible.
4. Why was Douglas determined to get over his fear of water?
Ans. After the misadventure in the pool, Douglas would be filled with icy terror whenever
he was near water. This deprived him of the joy of fishing, canoeing, boating, swimming and
other water related activities with his friends. So, he decided to get rid of his fear and learn
to swim.
5. How did the instructor ‘build a swimmer’ out of him?
Ans. Douglas went to a pool and practiced five days a week, an hour each day. The instructor
put a belt around Douglas and attached a rope to it that went through a pulley on an
overhead cable. The instructor held one end of the rope, so, Douglas was assured that he
wouldn’t drown. He taught him to put his face under water and exhale and raise his nose
and inhale. He practised for hours and learned all the strokes.
6. How did Douglas make sure that he conquered his old terror?
Ans. Though Douglas could swim well, yet he had some doubts because a bit of fear
returned whenever he looked under water while swimming alone. To make sure that no fear
is left in him, he swam alone, even in Lake Wentworth. Lastly, he swam across the Warm
Lake and returned without a bit of fear. Then he was confident that he had conquered his
fear.
Long answer questions—
1. How did Douglas overcome his fear of water?
Ans. After the misadventure of drowning, he feared to go near water. When he grew
up, the fear deprived him of the joy of canoeing, boating, fishing and swimming with his
friends. So, he decided to get an instructor and learn to swim. The instructor taught him
all the lessons and he practised for hours day after day.
The instructor completed his lessons after some time but the fear still remained in
his heart. Whenever he swam alone, the fear returned but he did not surrender before it
and always fought. To make sure that his fear is gone, he went to Lake Wentworth in
New Hampshire and swam two miles across the lake. When he was in the middle of the
lake, he put his face under water and old terror returned in a miniature form. He
laughed and rebuked it and swam on. To further clear his doubts, he went to the Warm
Lake and swam across to the other shore and back. This time the fear did not return and
he shouted with joy that he had conquered his fear of water.