Question

”I was frightened but not yet frightened out of my wits.” said Douglas. Which qualities of the speaker are highlighted and how?

Answer 1

Hint: The context of the above question is given in the chapter ‘ Deep water’. It is written by William Douglas. It is an excerpt taken from ‘Of Men and Mountains’. It is about William as a young boy when he nearly drowned in the swimming pool. He discusses his fear of water and how he overcame it.

Complete answer:
“ I was frightened but not yet frightened out of my wits. “ This line was said during the speaker's experience at the YMCA pool where a big boy had pushed Douglas into the deep waters of the pool. The speaker landed at the bottom and swallowed some water. This frightened him but yet he felt he had the capability to fight it.

It shows that Douglas had great self-control and the spirit of not giving up within him. It is so because despite being afraid of water due to his bad experience with it in childhood, he was able to think that he could still overcome it. When he was young he went to the California beach with his father. There the big, huge, forceful waves buried him in the ground and since then he developed a fear of water.

Later when he grew up, he learnt how to swim from an instructor. He practised again and again until he became good at swimming. Thereafter, in order to test himself, he went to Lake Wentworth in New Hampshire. He swam back and forth to the shore to learn that his fear of water had significantly diminished after the training.

Note: The moral of the chapter is that through practice we can overcome the worst of our fears. As per the author, those who overcome their fears will be able to appreciate the fact that ‘In death there is peace. There is terror only in the fear of death’.