Deep Water Class 12 Explanation in English | Flamingo

Deep Water Class 12 Explanation in English

Original Paragraph 1

It had happened when I was ten or eleven years old. I had decided to learn to swim. There was a pool at the Y.M.C.A. in Yakima that offered exactly the opportunity. The Yakima River was treacherous. Mother continually warned against it, and kept fresh in my mind the details of each drowning in the river. But the Y.M.C.A. pool was safe. It was only two or three feet deep at the shallow end; and while it was nine feet deep at the other, the drop was gradual. I got a pair of water wings and went to the pool. I hated to walk naked into it and show my skinny legs. But I subdued my pride and did it. From the beginning, however, I had an aversion to the water when I was in it. This started when I was three or four years old

Deep Water Class 12 Explanation in English

The incident happened when Douglas was 10 or 11 years old. He wanted to learn swimming and found a good opportunity at the Y.M.C.A. pool in Yakima. His mother had warned him about the treacherous Yakima River, where many had drowned.
The Y.M.C.A. pool was safer, so he decided to go there. The pool had a shallow end (2–3 feet deep) and a deep end (9 feet deep), but the slope was gradual. Though he felt shy about showing his thin legs in swimming gear, he controlled his embarrassment and went into the pool.

Original Paragraph 2

Father took me to the beach in California. He and I stood together in the surf. I hung on to him, yet the waves knocked me down and swept over me. I was buried in water. My breath was gone. I was frightened. Father laughed, but there was terror in my heart at the overpowering force of the waves.

Deep Water Class 12 Explanation in English

When the author was a small child, his father took him to a beach in California. Although he was holding tightly to his father, the strong ocean waves knocked him down and flowed over him. He went underwater, couldn’t breathe, and felt extremely scared. Even though his father laughed, Douglas felt deep fear inside because of the powerful force of the waves.

Original Paragraph 3

I went to the pool when no one else was there. The place was quiet. The water was still, and the tiled bottom was as white and clean as a bathtub. I was timid about going in alone, so I sat on the side of the pool to wait for others.

Deep Water Class 12 Explanation in English

One day, Douglas went to the swimming pool when it was completely empty. Everything was calm — the water was still, and the pool’s bottom tiles looked clean and white like a bathtub. Since he was afraid to enter alone, he decided to sit on the edge of the pool and wait for others to arrive.

Original Paragraph 4

I had not been there long when in came a big bruiser of a boy, probably eighteen years old. He had thick hair on his chest. He was a beautiful physical specimen, with legs and arms that showed rippling muscles. He yelled, “Hi, Skinny! How’d you like to be ducked?”

Deep Water Class 12 Explanation in English

Soon after Douglas sat by the pool, a strong and muscular 18-year-old boy entered. He had a well-built body with chest hair and visible muscles. Looking at Douglas’s thin body, he teased him by calling him “skinny” and asked jokingly if he wanted to be pushed underwater

Original Paragraph 5

With that he picked me up and tossed me into the deep end. I landed in a sitting position, swallowed water, and went at once to the bottom. I was frightened, but not yet frightened out of my wits.

Deep Water Class 12 Explanation in English

Without waiting, the boy grabbed Douglas and threw him into the deep part of the pool. Douglas fell down in a sitting position, swallowed some water, and sank quickly. He was very scared, but he still had enough presence of mind to think about what to do next.

Original Paragraph 6

On the way down I planned: When my feet hit the bottom, I would make a big jump, come to the surface, lie flat on it, and paddle to the edge of the pool.

Deep Water Class 12 Explanation in English

As he was sinking, Douglas made a plan in his mind. He thought that when his feet touched the bottom of the pool, he would push himself upward, float on the water, lie flat, and swim to the edge of the pool.

Original Paragraph 7

 

It seemed a long way down. Those nine feet were more like ninety, and before I touched bottom my lungs were ready to burst. But when my feet hit bottom I summoned all my strength and made what I thought was a great spring upwards.

Deep Water Class 12 Explanation in English

This passage describes the intense panic the author felt when he sank into the deep end of the pool. Even though the pool was only nine feet deep, it felt like ninety feet to him due to fear. He was underwater so long that his lungs were about to burst from holding his breath. When he finally touched the bottom of the pool, he used all his remaining energy and strength to push himself upwards, hoping to come out of the water.

Original Paragraph 8

I imagined I would bob to the surface like a cork. Instead, I came up slowly. I opened my eyes and saw nothing but water — water that had a dirty yellow tinge to it. I grew panicky. I reached up as if to grab a rope and my hands clutched only at water. I was suffocating. I tried to yell but no sound came out. Then my eyes and nose came out of the water — but not my mouth.

Deep Water Class 12 Explanation in English

Douglas expected to float up quickly like a cork, but he rose slowly. When he opened his eyes, he saw only dirty water. He panicked, tried to grab onto something like a rope, but there was nothing. He was suffocating and couldn’t shout for help. Only his eyes and nose came above the water, but not his mouth, so he still couldn’t breathe.

Original Passage:9

I flailed at the surface of the water, swallowed and choked.
I tried to bring my legs up, but they hung as dead weights, paralysed and rigid. A great force was pulling me under.
I screamed, but only the water heard me. I had started on the long journey back to the bottom of the pool.
I struck at the water as I went down, expending my strength as one in a nightmare fights an irresistible force.
I had lost all my breath. My lungs ached. My head throbbed. I was getting dizzy.

Deep Water Class 12 Explanation in English

The narrator desperately struggled at the surface, flailing his arms and gasping for air. But instead of staying afloat, he swallowed water and began choking. His legs felt lifeless and stiff, and a strong unseen force seemed to pull him down again.
Even though he tried to scream for help, no one could hear him—it was as if only the water responded. Once again, he started sinking to the bottom. While going down, he continued to fight helplessly, but his strength was fading. He had no air left in his lungs, his chest ached, and he felt dizzy from exhaustion and lack of oxygen.

Original Passage:10

But I remembered the strategy — I would spring from the bottom of the pool and come like a cork to the surface.
I would lie flat on the water, strike out with my arms, and thrash with my legs. Then I would get to the edge of the pool and be safe.
I went down, down, endlessly. I opened my eyes. Nothing but water with a yellow glow — dark water that one could not see through.
And then sheer, stark terror seized me, terror that knows no understanding, terror that knows no control, terror that no one can understand who has not experienced it.
I was shrieking under water. I was paralyzed under water — stiff, rigid with fear. Even the screams in my throat were frozen.
Only my heart and the pounding in my head said that I was still alive.

Deep Water Class 12 Explanation in English

As Douglas kept sinking deeper into the pool, he kept struggling, like in a bad dream where someone tries to fight an unbeatable force.
He had no breath left, his lungs were aching, and his head was pounding. Despite this, he remembered his plan — push off from the bottom, float like a cork, and reach the edge.

But he sank deeper and deeper. When he opened his eyes, all he could see was dark yellowish water. It was terrifying.

A sudden, uncontrollable fear overtook him — a kind of fear that no one can understand unless they’ve experienced it themselves.
He was screaming underwater, but nothing came out. He was frozen, paralyzed by fear.
Only his heartbeat and throbbing head reminded him that he was still alive.

Original Passage:11

And then in the midst of the terror came a touch of reason. I must remember to jump when I hit the bottom.
At last, I felt the tiles under me. My toes reached out as if to grab them.
I jumped with everything I had.
But the jump made no difference. The water was still around me.
I looked for ropes, ladders, water wings. Nothing but water. A mass of yellow water held me.
Stark terror took an even deeper hold on me, like a great charge of electricity.
I shook and trembled with fright. My arms wouldn’t move. My legs wouldn’t move.
I tried to call for help, to call for mother. Nothing happened.

Deep Water Class 12 Explanation in English

Amidst the overwhelming fear, Douglas had a moment of rational thinking. He reminded himself of his strategy — to jump when his feet touched the bottom of the pool.

Finally, he felt the tiled floor under his feet and tried to push himself upward with all his energy.

But it didn’t help. He remained trapped in the water, surrounded on all sides.

He looked around desperately for anything to hold on to — a rope, a ladder, water wings — but there was nothing, just yellowish water all around.

The fear became even stronger — like being shocked by electricity.
He started shaking uncontrollably.
His limbs wouldn’t respond, and he couldn’t even shout for help or call his mother.

Original Passage:12

And then — strangely — there was light.
I was coming out of the awful yellow water.
At least my eyes were.
My nose was almost out too.
Then I started down a third time.
I sucked for air and got water.
The yellowish light was going out.
Then all effort ceased.
I relaxed. Even my legs felt limp; and a blackness swept over my brain.
It wiped out fear; it wiped out terror.
There was no more panic.
It was quiet and peaceful.
Nothing to be afraid of.
This is nice… to be drowsy… to go to sleep… no need to jump… too tired to jump…
It’s nice to be carried gently… to float along in space… tender arms around me…
tender arms like Mother’s… now I must go to sleep…
I crossed to oblivion, and the curtain of life fell.

Deep Water Class 12 Explanation in English

Douglas suddenly experienced a strange moment where light broke through the water, and he seemed to be rising above the surface — at least his eyes and nose were emerging.

But then he sank for the third time.
He tried to breathe but swallowed more water.

The dim yellowish light started fading, and finally, he gave up.
All his strength left him.
His body went limp, and darkness engulfed his mind.

Interestingly, with the coming of unconsciousness, all fear and panic disappeared.
He felt calm and peaceful — as if he was drifting off to sleep.
It felt comforting, like being held in gentle arms — perhaps reminding him of his mother.
He surrendered completely, like crossing into oblivion (unconsciousness or near death), and it was as if life’s curtain had fallen.

Original Passage:13

The next I remember I was lying on my stomach beside the pool, vomiting.
The chap that threw me in was saying, “But I was only fooling.”
Someone said, “The kid nearly died. Be all right now. Let’s carry him to the locker room.”
Several hours later, I walked home.
I was weak and trembling.
I shook and cried when I lay on my bed.
I couldn’t eat that night.
For days a haunting fear was in my heart.
The slightest exertion upset me, making me wobbly in the knees and sick to my stomach.

Deep Water Class 12 Explanation in English

Douglas next remembers regaining consciousness beside the pool. He was lying on his stomach and vomiting, which suggests he had taken in a lot of water and was close to drowning.

The boy who had pushed him into the pool dismissed it by saying he was only joking. Another person realized the seriousness of the situation and noted that Douglas had nearly died.

Later, Douglas walked home, but he was extremely weak, both physically and emotionally. The shock and fear had shaken him deeply.

He cried when lying in bed and couldn’t eat that night. The traumatic experience left a lasting fear in him — even small physical effort would make him feel sick and unstable.

Original Passage:14

I never went back to the pool.
I feared water.
I avoided it whenever I could.
A few years later when I came to know the waters of the Cascades, I wanted to get into them.
And whenever I did — whether I was wading the Tieton or Bumping River or bathing in Warm Lake of the Goat Rocks — the terror that had seized me in the pool would come back.
It would take possession of me completely.
My legs would become paralyzed.
Icy horror would grab my heart.
This handicap stayed with me as the years rolled by.
In canoes on Maine lakes, fishing for landlocked salmon, bass fishing in New Hampshire, trout fishing on the Deschutes and Metolius in Oregon, fishing in the Warm Lake of Idaho — in every trip, in every pursuit of water, the haunting fear of the water followed me.
It ruined my fishing trips, deprived me of the joy of canoeing, boating and swimming.

Deep Water Class 12 Explanation in English

After the traumatic incident, Douglas completely avoided water. He didn’t return to the Y.M.C.A. pool and started fearing any body of water.

Even when he visited beautiful places like the Cascades or Warm Lake, or while fishing or boating, the same fear gripped him again. His legs would freeze, and he would feel deep, cold terror in his heart.

This fear stayed with him for years and ruined his opportunities to enjoy life near water — like swimming, canoeing, or fishing.

The deep psychological impact of that childhood experience haunted him everywhere water was involved.

Original Passage15

 

I used every way I knew to overcome this fear, but it held me firmly in its grip.
Finally, one October, I decided to get an instructor and learn to swim.
I went to a pool and practiced five days a week, an hour each day.
The instructor put a belt around me.
A rope attached to the belt went through a pulley that ran on an overhead cable.
He held on to the end of the rope, and we went back and forth, back and forth across the pool, hour after hour, day after day, week after week.
On each trip across the pool a bit of the panic seized me.
Each time the instructor relaxed his hold on the rope and I went under, some of the old terror returned and my legs froze.
It was three months before the tension began to slack.
Then he taught me to put my face under water and exhale, and to raise my nose and inhale.
I repeated the exercise hundreds of times.

Deep Water Class 12 Explanation in English

Douglas tried everything he could to get over his fear of water, but nothing worked. Finally, he hired a swimming instructor in October to help him face and defeat the fear.

The instructor used a belt-and-rope system attached to a pulley to ensure Douglas’s safety during practice. Every day, they went back and forth across the pool.

Still, the fear didn’t leave him easily. Whenever he was left alone for a moment or went underwater, panic gripped him again.

It took about three months for his fear to start easing. Then the instructor trained him in breathing techniques — how to exhale underwater and inhale above. This was repeated many times to help build his confidence.

Original Passage:16

Bit by bit, I shed part of the panic that seized me when my head went under water.
Next, he held me at the side of the pool and had me kick with my legs.
For weeks I did just that.
At first, my legs refused to work. But they gradually relaxed; and finally, I could command them.
Thus, piece by piece, he built a swimmer.
And when he had perfected each piece, he put them together into an integrated whole.
In April, he said, “Now you can swim. Dive off and swim the length of the pool, crawl stroke.”
I did. The instructor was finished.
But I was not finished.
I still wondered if I would be terror-stricken when I was alone in the pool.
I tried it.
I swam the length up and down. Tiny vestiges of the old terror would return.
But now I could frown and say to that terror, “Trying to scare me, eh? Well, here’s to you! Look!”
And off I’d go for another length of the pool.

Deep Water Class 12 Explanation in English

Douglas slowly overcame his panic. His instructor helped him focus on one skill at a time — first breathing, then leg movement. In the beginning, even his legs wouldn’t respond, but with practice they became flexible, and he could control them.

The instructor gradually taught all parts of swimming and finally combined them. By April, Douglas could swim a full length of the pool using the crawl stroke.

Although the instructor had completed his job, Douglas still wasn’t fully confident. He tested himself by swimming alone. A little fear would return, but he could now fight it off with confidence and even challenge it.

Original Passage:17

This went on until July. But I was still not satisfied. I was not sure that all the terror had left. So I went to Lake Wentworth in New Hampshire, dived off a dock at Triggs Island, and swam two miles across the lake to Stamp Act Island.
I swam the crawl, breast stroke, side stroke, and back stroke.
Only once did the terror return. When I was in the middle of the lake, I put my face under and saw nothing but bottomless water.
The old sensation returned in miniature.

Deep Water Class 12 Explanation in English

Douglas had trained for months, but even after all that practice, he still wasn’t confident. He felt some of the fear might still remain hidden inside.
So, he decided to go to Lake Wentworth to challenge himself.
There, he dived from a dock and swam a long distance — two miles — to another island.
He used every swimming stroke he knew: crawl, breaststroke, sidestroke, and backstroke.
During this swim, he felt fear just once — when he looked down and saw nothing but deep, dark water.
This brought back a little of the old fear, but it was very small and momentary.

Original Passage:18

I laughed and said, “Well, Mr Terror, what do you think you can do to me?” It fled and I swam on.
Yet I had residual doubts.
At my first opportunity I hurried west, went up the Tieton to Conrad Meadows, up the Conrad Creek Trail to Meade Glacier, and camped in the high meadow by the side of Warm Lake.
The next morning I stripped, dived into the lake, and swam across to the other shore and back — just as Doug Corpron used to do.
I shouted with joy, and Gilbert Peak returned the echo.
I had conquered my fear of water.

Deep Water Class 12 Explanation in English

Douglas expresses how confident he now feels. He mockingly talks to his fear, calling it “Mr. Terror”, and says, “What can you do to me now?”
This shows his victory and courage. The fear disappears, and he continues swimming.
Still, deep inside, he wasn’t fully sure the fear was completely gone.
So, when he got the chance, he traveled west — to a remote place in nature — to test himself again.
He went through forests and trails until he reached a high-altitude lake called Warm Lake, where he camped. Next morning, he dived into the cold water, swam to the other side of the lake, and returned — just like a friend named Doug Corpron used to do.
He shouted in joy, and the surrounding peak (Gilbert Peak) echoed his voice.
At this moment, he knew: he had finally defeated his fear of water completely.

Original Passage:19

The experience had a deep meaning for me, as only those who have known stark terror and conquered it can appreciate.
In death there is peace. There is terror only in the fear of death, as Roosevelt knew when he said,
“All we have to fear is fear itself.”
Because I had experienced both the sensation of dying and the terror that fear of it can produce,
the will to live somehow grew in intensity.
At last I felt released — free to walk the trails and climb the peaks and to brush aside fear.

Deep Water Class 12 Explanation in English

Douglas reflects deeply on what the experience meant to him.
He says that such a terrifying experience (and overcoming it) carries a special meaning — one that only those who’ve faced and conquered real fear can understand.
He compares death to peace and explains that the real terror is not in death itself but in the fear of dying.
He quotes Franklin D. Roosevelt: “All we have to fear is fear itself,” meaning fear is the only true enemy.
Since Douglas had experienced both the feeling of almost dying and the fear that comes with it, his desire to live became even stronger.
Finally, he felt completely free — able to live life without fear, walk trails, climb mountains, and enjoy the world with courage.

End

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