​DEEP WATER

↓
WILLIAM DOUGLAS
↓
TIME SPAN 1898-1980
↓
WRITER’S BIRTH PLACE - MAINE, USA
↓
DOUGLAS STRESSED ON INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS
↓
THE LESSON HAS BEEN PICKED UP FROM ----- ​‘OF
MEN AND MOUNTAINS
↓
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL LESSON
↓
AGE AT WHICH HE DECIDED TO LEARN TO SWIM - ​10
OR 11 YEARS
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NAME OF THE POOL - ​YMCA POOL IN YAKIMA
FULL FORM OF YMCA - ​YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN
ASSOCIATION
↓
REASONS WHY YAKIMA RIVER WAS TREACHEROUS
( DANGEROUS)
> THERE WERE MANY INCIDENTS OF DROWNING
> A CONSTANT REMINDER GIVEN TO HIM BY HIS
MOTHER
↓
REASONS WHY THE YMCA POOL WAS SAFE -
> SHALLOW END - 2 TO 3 FEET DEEP
> OPPOSITE END - 9 FEET DEEP
> DEPTH WAS GRADUAL ( SLOW )
↓
BOUGHT WATER WINGS
↓
WRITER HAD SKINNY ( VERY THIN ) LEGS, HE WAS
SHY OF SHOWING HIS LEGS
↓
WRITER’S AVERSION ( A STRONG DISLIKE ) TO
WATER -​ ​THE CHILDHOOD INCIDENT
> WRITER’S AGE - 3 OR 4 YEARS
> HIS FATHER TOOK HIM TO A BEACH IN
CALIFORNIA
> WERE SURFING IN WATER
> THE WAVES KNOCKED HIM DOWN AND SWEPT
OVER HIM
> DOUGLAS WAS BURIED IN WATER
> BREATH ALMOST GONE
> DOUGLAS VERY FRIGHTENED, TERRORISED
↓
FATHER’S REACTION
> LAUGHED AND TOOK THE INCIDENT LIGHTLY
↓
REVIVAL OF MEMORIES TOOK PLACE IN YMCA
POOL
> UNPLEASANT MEMORIES
> CHILDISH FEAR
↓
LONGING TO LEARN SWIMMING
> GATHERED COURAGE
> TOOK HIS WATER WINGS FOR SUPPORT

> LOOKED AT OTHER BOYS, TRIED TO APE ( COPY )

THEM
↓
DOUGLAS REACHED THE POOL
-no one was around
-the place was quiet
-the water was still
-the tiled bottom was clearly visible
-Douglas waited for someone to come
-he was fearful to enter the pool all alone
↓
REFERENCE TO A BIG BRUISER​ (a person who is
tough and aggressive )
- Age probably 18
 - Had thick hair on his chest
- A beautiful physical specimen
- Arms and legs showed rippling (swell) muscles
↓
Referred to William Douglas as skinny (very thin)
- Said, How’d you like to be ducked?
- Immediately tossed him into the deeper side of
the pool
↓
SECOND INCIDENT OF MISADVENTURE
- Douglas landed in a sitting position
- Swallowed water
- Reached the bottom
- Was very frightened
- But brave and courageous
- Made a plan
. decided to make a big jump when his feet would
touch the bottom
. come to the surface
. lie flat on it and paddle to the edge of the pool
- Nine feet seemed like ninety
Physical and mental torture of William Douglas

PHYSICAL TORTURE MENTAL TORTURE

Lungs were ready to Nine feet seemed like

burst ninety
Summoned all his
strength
He was suffocating Tried to jump upward

Swallowed water and Thought he would float

choked like a cork
Legs seemed paralysed
and rigid
He was being pulled
down due to a great force
Lost all his breath
His lungs ached
His head throbbed
(severe pain)

Was getting dizzy, Came up slowly

fainting
Became stiff and rigid Saw nothing but water

Screams were frozen, Yellow dirty tinge (colour)

could not shout
Arms and legs did not Grew panicky
move
All effort ceased Tried to yell (shout) but
Legs felt limp no sound came out
Was becoming Eyes and nose came out
unconscious of water but mouth still
under water

Was too tired to jump the Screamed but no one

third time heard him
Everything became Started drowning once
oblivion (forgetful) again
He was almost dead It was a nightmare (an
In an unconscious state unpleasant dream)
Tried the same strategy
once again on reaching
down
Was terrorised,started
shrieking

Looked for ropes, ladders

and water wings
Shook and trembled with
fright
Tried to call for mother,
but no one heard him
Started sinking the third
time
No more panic,gave up
hope

DOUGLAS WAS SAVED

- The big bruiser remarks - ‘But I was only fooling’
- They carried him to the locker room

-
- After several hours Douglas returned home
Douglas’ return journey home
- Felt very weak, he was trembling
- He shook and cried on his bed
- He was totally shattered
- He was unable to eat that night
- He was haunted (tormented) by fear all the time
- Had water phobia (fear of water)
- Became upset on slightest exertion,making him
feel wobbly (shaky) in his knees
- Never went to pool or water bod
- DESIRE OF WILLIAM DOUGLAS
- Decided to learn swimming
- Wanted to enjoy the water sports
- Wanted to enter the waters of the Cascades,
Tieton, Bumping River, Warm Lake
 - Wanted to go in for fishing
- Wanted to go in for
canoeing,boating,swimming

CANOEING
FEELINGS OF WILLIAM DOUGLAS WHEN HE WENT
NEAR A WATER BODY
> he was terrorised
> his legs would be paralysed
> icy horror would grab his heart
> he felt handicapped
> fear of water haunted him for years
> the fear ruined his fishing trips
> it also deprived him of the joy of canoeing, boating
and swimming
NAMES OF VARIOUS TYPES OF FISH AS MENTIONED
. salmon
. trout
. bass
NAMES OF WATER BODIES
> Maine Lake in New Hampshire
> Deschutes and Metolius in Oregon and in Columbia
> Bumping Lake in the Cascades
DECISION MADE BY DOUGLAS ON OCTOBER 1
AND THE WAY IN WHICH THE INSTRUCTOR TAUGHT
HIM THE ART OF SWIMMING
> decided to hire an instructor to teach him swimming
> went to the pool and practised ​five days a week, an
hour each day
> the instructor tied a belt around him
> there was a rope attached to the belt and the other
end was tied to a pulley which ran on an overhead
cable
> held on to the rope and went back and forth
> practised hour after hour, day after day and week
after week.
> the instructor relaxed his hold on the rope each time
and he went under water
> sometimes panic seized him, the old terror returned,
his legs froze
> it took nearly three months when the tension began
to slack
> the instructor then taught him the technique of
exhaling underwater and to raise his nose and inhale
> he repeated the exercise hundreds of times
> bit by bit the instructor taught him to kick his legs
and move his arms
> initially it was difficult but slowly he learnt the art of
swimming
> thus, the instructor was successful in teaching him
the art of swimming piece by piece, bit by bit.
> when he had perfected each art, he put them
together into an integrated whole
> by then it was ​April, nearly six months
THE INSTRUCTOR WAS FINISHED BUT I WAS NOT
FINISHED, GRIT AND COURAGE OF WILLIAM
DOUGLAS
> when he swam alone in the pool, tiny vestiges ( a
trace or remnant of something that is disappearing or
no longer exists) of the old terror would return
> this continued till July
> to ascertain himself he went to Lake Wentworth in
New Hampshire,dived at Triggs Island, swam 2 miles
to Stamp Act Island
> tried different strokes - backstroke, sidestroke,
breaststroke
> the terror returned, old sensation returned in
miniature, had residual doubts
> he camped in the high meadow near the Warm Lake,
swam in it the next day
> finally he was able to conquer his fear, he was able
to swim
> shouted with joy and the Gilbert Peak returned the
echo, he had conquered his fear of water
IN DEATH THERE IS PEACE. THERE IS TERROR
ONLY IN THE FEAR OF DEATH /ALL WE HAVE TO
FEAR IS FEAR ITSELF - AS SAID BY ROOSEVELT (
32nd President of US)
> Douglas had experienced death very closely
> the sensation of dying and the terror, fear grew in
intensity
> death brings an end to all the sufferings but fear
sounds more dangerous, people die each and every
moment due to fear
> lesson of courage optimism,determination, strong
will power, hard labour, toil, honest labour
> all our fears are psychological, they can be won over