Question:
Answer any one of the following in about 80 words:
(a) What incident did Douglas face at the pool? What was its effect on his life?
Answer any one of the following in about 80 words:
(a) What incident did Douglas face at the pool? What was its effect on his life?
(a) What incident did Douglas face at the pool? What was its effect on his life?
Updated On: Sep 24, 2026
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Solution and Explanation
Step 1: The incident:
In William Douglas's 'Deep Water', as a boy of ten or eleven, Douglas was learning to swim at the YMCA pool in Yakima. One day, a big, heavy boy knocked him into the deep end as a prank. Douglas sank to the bottom, terrified, swallowed water repeatedly, and each time he tried to push himself up for air he sank again before finally losing consciousness; he was rescued only at the last moment by a lifeguard/another swimmer.
Step 2: Its effect:
The near-drowning left Douglas with an intense, long-lasting fear of water, which haunted him for years and affected his enjoyment of swimming, boating, and fishing. It was only much later, as an adult, that he consciously and systematically overcame this fear by hiring an instructor and training rigorously, eventually swimming across Lake Wentworth to fully conquer his terror — a triumph that taught him fear itself, more than any real danger, is what must be overcome.
In William Douglas's 'Deep Water', as a boy of ten or eleven, Douglas was learning to swim at the YMCA pool in Yakima. One day, a big, heavy boy knocked him into the deep end as a prank. Douglas sank to the bottom, terrified, swallowed water repeatedly, and each time he tried to push himself up for air he sank again before finally losing consciousness; he was rescued only at the last moment by a lifeguard/another swimmer.
Step 2: Its effect:
The near-drowning left Douglas with an intense, long-lasting fear of water, which haunted him for years and affected his enjoyment of swimming, boating, and fishing. It was only much later, as an adult, that he consciously and systematically overcame this fear by hiring an instructor and training rigorously, eventually swimming across Lake Wentworth to fully conquer his terror — a triumph that taught him fear itself, more than any real danger, is what must be overcome.
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