Compiled by Philmon Sir, AECS Jaduguda, for personal use only

William Douglas

Q1. How does Douglas make clear to the reader the sense of panic that gripped him as he
almost drowned? Describe the details that have made the description vivid.
William describes his experience where he had a close brush with death at the Y.M.C.A. Swimming
pool. As it is a first-person account, he has described it deeply. The emotional, mental and physical
struggle and the paralyzing fear of drowning have been discussed in detail. He says that he retained
his intelligence and had a plan to come to the surface. He tried it but I did not work and after a few
trials to save his life, death dawned upon him. All these details make the description vivid.

He uses literary devices to make the description graphic and vivid. For example,
‘Those nine feet were more like ninety’, ‘My lungs were ready to burst.’ ‘I came up slowly,
I opened my eyes and saw nothing but water….. I grew panicky1 ‘I was suffocating. I
tried to yell, but no sound came out!’

Q2. How did Douglas overcome his fear of water?

When Douglas grew up, he hired an instructor to learn swimming. His training went on from
October to April. For three months he was taken across the pool with the help of a rope. As he
went under, terror filled him and his legs froze. The instructor taught him to exhale under water
and inhale through raised nose. He made him kick his legs to make them relax. Then he asked him
to swim. He continued swimming from April to July. Still all terror had not left. He swam two
miles across Lake Wentworth and the whole length to the shore and back of Warm Lake. Then he
overcame his fear of water.

Q3. Why does Douglas as an adult recount a childhood experience of terror and his
conquering of it? What larger meaning does he draw from this experience?

William Douglas gives a detailed description of his childhood experience so that the reader gets
familiar with the kind of fear that he had as a child. When he quotes Roosevelt ““All we have to
fear is fear itself” he tries to draw a larger meaning from this experience. He wants to highlight the
fact that life became meaningful and the desire to live grew intense once he (man) had conquered
his fear.

He also draws another larger meaning from this experience. “In death there is peace.” “There is
terror only in the fear of death.”

Questions from Previous Years Question Papers

Q1. How did Douglas finally get rid of the fear he had of water? (Delhi 2009)
The terror that gripped Douglas as a result of his two mishaps with water was so intense that he
sought professional help to overcome it. He hired a swimming instructor for six months of
intensive training to ensure he overcame his fear of water, which he eventually did.

Q2. How did the incident at the YMCA pool affect Douglas? (All India 2009)
Douglas, a ten-year-old boy, was standing alone at the YMCA pool when a big bully of a boy
picked him up and tossed him into the deep end, and he was instantly at the bottom. Even though
he managed to escape with great difficulty, he could never return to the pool. He began to be
afraid of and avoid water. When he was near water, a haunting terror gripped him.
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Compiled by Philmon Sir, AECS Jaduguda, for personal use only

Q3. When Douglas realized that he was sinking, how did he plan to save himself? (Delhi
2010)
Douglas was terrified when he realized he was sinking, and it was then that he decided to make a
big jump to the surface. He considered lying flat on the water for a while and then paddling to
the pool’s edge.

Q4. What did Douglas experience as he went down to the bottom of the pool for the first
time? (Delhi 2010)
When Douglas is pushed into the pool, he immediately sinks to the bottom. To him, the nine-foot-
deep pool appears to be ninety feet deep. He has a strong feeling of unease and as if his lungs
are about to burst. Despite feeling completely suffocated, he makes desperate attempts to
survive.

Q5. What sort of terror seized Douglas as he went down the water with a yellow glow? How
could he feel that he was still alive? (Delhi 2010)
It was like a nightmare for Douglas when he went down the water with a yellow glow. His legs
were nearly paralyzed, his lungs ached, and his head throbbed. The thumping of his heart and the
pounding in his head reminded him that he was still alive.

Q6. Why did William Douglas develop aversion to the water when he was three or four
years old? (Comptt. Delhi 2010)
When William Douglas was three or four years old, he developed a phobia of water. He was
standing with his father on a beach when a wave swept over him and knocked him down. He
became breathless after being submerged in water. He was terrified and developed a lifelong
aversion to water.

Q7. What misadventure did William Douglas experience at the YMCA pool? (Comptt. All
India 2010)
Douglas became afraid of water after an incident at the YMCA pool in which he was thrown into
the deeper end of the pool by a big boy. He went down into the water three times but never
came back up. Though he was eventually saved, he developed a fear of water as his lungs filled
with water. His head throbbed and his legs felt paralyzed, making him fear water for the rest of his
life.

Q8. Why did Douglas go to Lake Wentworth in New Hampshire? (Delhi 2011)
Douglas went to Lake Wentworth in New Hampshire to see if he still feared water. He wasn’t
sure if his fear of water had gone away despite his rigorous swimming practice. So he decided
to test his swimming abilities at Lake Wentworth. He dove into the lake, and it wasn’t until he’d
swum across the shore and back that he knew his fear of water was gone.

Q9. What did Douglas learn from his experience at the YMCA pool? (Comptt. Delhi 2011)
Douglas was deeply affected by his drowning experience at the YMCA pool. He became terrified
and terrified of death. He had felt both the sensation of death and the terror that fear of death
can cause. As a result, his desire to live grew stronger. He gradually overcame his fear of
swimming and learned to swim.

Q10. Which two frightening experiences did Douglas have in water in his childhood?
(Comptt. Delhi 2012)
Douglas’ first terrifying experience with water occurred when he was three or four years old.
While surfing at a California beach, he was knocked down by the waves. He had been terrified at
the time. Years later, when he was 10 or 11, his experience at the YMCA pool brought back

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Compiled by Philmon Sir, AECS Jaduguda, for personal use only

unpleasant memories of being thrown into the deep end of the pool by an eighteen-year-old
boy. Douglas developed a fear of water as a result of both of these experiences.

Q11. In Deep Water, which qualities of the swimming instructor played a role in helping
Douglas overcome his fear? (CBSE Sample Paper 2022)
The instructor’s ability to empathise with Douglas and understand his fear played a role in
helping Douglas overcome his fear. He decided to teach him to swim by putting a belt around
his waist. This instilled confidence in Douglas. The instructor’s patience was crucial as he held on
to the rope and walked the length of the pool to help Douglas swim day after day.

Board Questions

Q1: Answer the following question in 120 – 150 words: (6)

[CBSE paper, 2012]

How did Douglas develop an aversion to water?

OR

Q2: Answer the following question in 120 – 150 words: (6)

[CBSE paper, 2015]

What happened at the YMCA swimming pool which instilled fear of water in Douglas’
mind?

Since the age of three or four, when the author accompanied his father to the California beach, a
traumatizing incident happened. Consequently, he realized that he disliked water. He would get
frightened by the power of the waves which threw him, swept over and he was buried in water.

Later, at the age of ten-eleven years, he decided to learn swimming. He joined swimming classes
at a swimming pool at the Y.M.C.A. He felt that the swimming pool was safe. Also, the pair of
water wings would help him stay on the surface but more, they instilled a sense of confidence in
him.

It was just when he had started feeling comfortable that an incident took place. A big boy (bruiser)
picked up the author and threw him in the pool at the deep end (9 ft). He got water in his mouth and
sank to the bottom. He was frightened but kept his mind working and devised a way out but
things did not turn out as planned. His lungs felt as if they would burst, he was overpowered by
fear, reached out, as if to grab something, but could only get his hands on the water. He got
suffocated due to lack of air, could not scream, moved his arms desperately but all his efforts failed
and he once again sank to the bottom of the pool. An unexplainable terror seized him. His limbs
were lifeless, rigid due to fear and he could not even scream, the only sign of life was his heart beat.
He sucked in water and then suddenly all his efforts to save himself stopped. He was relaxed,
peaceful, fearless and sleepy, almost dead.

It was due to these experiences that the author developed an aversion to water.

Q3: Answer in 30 – 40 words: (2)

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Compiled by Philmon Sir, AECS Jaduguda, for personal use only

[CBSE paper, 2013]

How did the instructor turn Douglas into a swimmer?

The instructor made him practice swimming step by step and gradually, piece by piece, turned him
into a swimmer. When he had perfected each piece, he put them together into an integrated whole.

Q4: Answer the following question in 120 – 150 words: (6)

[CBSE paper, 2015]

Describe the efforts made by Douglas to overcome his fear of water.

Douglas was in the tight grip of a fear of swimming in water bodies and finally decided to get rid
of it.

He hired an instructor who taught him swimming piece by piece and when he had learnt it all, he
combined all the pieces together and made Douglas a swimmer. Still, he was not confident, and the
terror would seize him time and again. Douglas wanted to get rid of all the fear, he wanted to
conquer it. So, he went to various lakes, dived and swam across them. He reverted sarcastically
to the tiny vestiges of fear (quote it) that would grip him time and again until all of it vanished
away. Douglas realized that fear was merely a crop of the mind and once he had conquered it, he
felt released, free to walk arduous terrains, climb peaks and brush aside fear. Douglas had faced
stark terror and then by conquering it his desire to live life grew intensely.

Q5: Answer the following question in 30 – 40 words: (2)

[CBSE paper, 2016]

How did his experience at the YMCA swimming pool affect Douglas?
Douglas’ experience of drowning and almost being dead instilled a fear of water in him. He shook
and cried when he lay on his bed, couldn’t eat that night. For several days a haunting fear engulfed
him. The slightest exertion upset him making him wobbly in the knees and sick to his stomach. He
never went back to the pool, feared water and avoided it whenever he could.

THINK AS YOU READ

Q1. What is the “misadventure” that William Douglas speaks about?
William O. Douglas had just learnt swimming. One day, an eighteen-year-old big bruiser picked
him up and tossed him into the nine feet deep end of the Y.M.C.A. pool. He hit the water surface
in a sitting position. He swallowed water and went at once to the bottom. He nearly died in this
misadventure.

Q2. What were the series of emotions and fears that Douglas experienced when he was
thrown into the pool? What plans did he make to come to the surface?
Douglas was frightened when he was thrown into the pool. However, he was not frightened out
of his wits. While sinking down he made a plan. He would make a big jump when his feet hit the
bottom. He would come to the surface like a cork, lie flat on it, and paddle to the edge of the pool.

Q3. How did this experience affect him?

This experience revived his aversion to water that had started with the California beach
experience. He shook and cried when he lay on his bed. He couldn’t eat that night. For many

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Compiled by Philmon Sir, AECS Jaduguda, for personal use only

days, there was a haunting fear in his heart. The slightest exertion upset him, making him
wobbly in the knees and sick to his stomach. He never went back to the pool. He feared water
and avoided it whenever he could.

Q4. “The only thing we to fear is fear itself.” What is meant by this statement?

The phrase, “The only thing we to fear is fear itself,” was famously uttered by Franklin D.
Roosevelt, the former President of USA in his inaugural address in 1933. The meaning of this phrase
is that the greatest obstacle to overcoming challenges in life and achieving progress is not the
challenges themselves, but rather the fear of ‘HAVING FEAR OF NOT ACHIEVING’ our
progress. In essence, he was trying to inspire confidence and courage in Americans during the great
Depression by suggesting that their own fear (of failure, of not trying…) was a bigger enemy than
the economic hardships they faced. By first overcoming their fear, they will be able to address their
the problems.

THINK AS YOU READ

Q1. Why was Douglas determined to get over his fear of water?
His fear of water ruined his fishing trips. It deprived him of the joy of canoeing, boating, and
swimming. Douglas used every way he knew to overcome this fear he had developed since
childhood. Even as an adult, it held him firmly in its grip. He determined to get an instructor and
learn swimming to get over this fear of water.

Q2. How did the instructor “build a swimmer” out of Douglas?

The instructor built a swimmer out of Douglas piece by piece. For three months he held him high
on a rope attached to his belt. He went back and forth across the pool. Panic seized the author
everytime. The instructor taught Douglas to put his face under water and exhale and to raise his
nose and inhale. Then Douglas had to kick with his legs for many weeks till these relaxed. After
seven months the instructor told him to swim the length of the pool.

Q3. How did Douglas make sure that he conquered the old terror?
Douglas still felt terror-stricken when he was alone in the pool. The remnants of the old terror
would return, but he would rebuke it and go for another length of the pool. He was still not
satisfied. So, he went to Lake Wentworth in New Hampshire, dived off a dock at Triggs Island
and swam two miles across the lake. He had his residual doubts. So, he went to Meade Glacier,
dived into Warm Lake and swam across to the other shore and back. Thus, he made sure that he
had conquered the old terror.

Probable long answer questions

Q1. With the help of courage one can achieve a lot. How did Douglas overcome his fear of
water? (Comptt. Delhi 2016)
Yes, with the help of courage one can achieve a lot. Douglas was terrified of water from a
young age. His mishap at the YMCA pool exacerbated his fear of water. He was unable to
participate in fishing and boating trips. He finally decided that he had to overcome his fear. His
courage helped him overcome the fear.

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Compiled by Philmon Sir, AECS Jaduguda, for personal use only

He couldn’t do it without professional assistance, so he hired a coach who gradually turned him into
an excellent swimmer. Douglas was still unsatisfied. He took advantage of every opportunity to
swim and dive in water, thereby confronting his fear. He was able to completely overcome his fear,
prompting him to state that what one is afraid of is fear itself, and that if we can overcome that fear,
we can achieve anything in life.

His qualities of determination, will-power and courage helped him overcome the painful fear of
water.

Q2. Desire, determination and diligence lead to success. Explain the value of these qualities
in the light of Douglas’ experience in “Deep Water”. (Comptt. All India 2014)
Determination and perseverance are a set of characteristics and abilities that motivate people to
set goals for themselves and then take action to achieve those goals. Douglas was able to
overcome his fear of water by focusing on the values of positivity, will-power, courage and
determination.

He was initially afraid of water, but his tenacity (will-power) and determination led him to
seek out an instructor and overcome his apprehension. Today’s determination leads to tomorrow’s
success. It is that innate quality in our soul that comes to the surface when something irritates it. It
reflects the values instilled in us by society and circumstance and enables us to overcome all
obstacles.
There is always admiration for heroes like William Douglas who face challenges bravely and
eventually triumph. For years, he was plagued by a fear of water. It took away his enjoyment of
canoeing, swimming, fishing, and boating. Douglas was able to overcome his fear thanks to
deliberate, planned, and consistent efforts. He was dead set on overcoming his fear, and it was
only through his perseverance and tenacity that he triumphed.

Q3. Describe the efforts made by Douglas to save himself from drowning in the YMCA
swimming pool. (Comptt. All India 2013)
Douglas was dragged into the deep end of the YMCA swimming pool. Those nine feet seemed a
long way down at the time. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he gathered all of his strength
and sprung upward. He slowly arose, opened his eyes, and saw only water. He reached up as if
for a rope, but his hands only clutched at water. He flailed at the water’s surface, swallowed,
and choked. He attempted to raise his legs, but they hung as if paralyzed. He began his journey
back to the pool’s bottom once more.

Then he remembered the plan: he would spring from the bottom of the pool and float to the
surface like a cork. He’d lie flat on the water and thrash around with his arms and legs. Then
he’d get to the pool’s edge and be safe. The jump made no difference yet again, and Douglas
eventually gave up and relaxed as blackness swept over his brain.