Through the Tunnel

British Zimbabwean novelist Doris Lessing (1919-2013) published a wide variety of works, including the novel The Grass Is Singing (1950) and the series Children of Violence (1952-1969). She received many awards, including the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize in Literature, and was ranked as one of the top 50 greatest British writers according to The Times. In 1995, she received an honorary degree from Harvard University.

Her work is widely considered difficult to categorize and is known for experimenting with various ideologies, including communism and Sufism. Though she was hailed as a feminist writer, she often pushed back against that label. Despite this, her feminist thinking echoes in the short story “Through the tunnel,” specifically in the mother’s thoughts about raising Jerry. She does not want to be a stereotypically overbearing mother and allows Jerry to explore and grow independent. Moreover, the story was published in 1955, when Lessing was in the middle of writing her semi-autobiographical series Children of Violence, which was informed by her (temporary) interest in communism and her critical view of traditional female domesticity. The series protagonist, Martha Quest, grows disillusioned with marriage and ultimately rejects it; Jerry’s mother, too, has left marriage behind—though involuntarily, as a widow—and she is presumably the head of her household. A single mother was much less common, and therefore much more remarkable, in the decade the story was written. Though the short story is not politically didactic, it indirectly reflects the political tenor of the author’s work at the time.

Lessing’s writing is frequently lauded for its empathy and grace. “Through The Tunnel” displays her ability to take on a perspective much different than her own as she explores what it means to be a boy on the cusp of manhood. Lessing spent much of her childhood in nature, which is reflected in some of her works, including “Through The Tunnel.” Additionally, because she abandoned the Southern African high school her mother made her attend, she was largely self-educated, and she left home when she was only 15. The experience of early self-reliance likely gave her insight into her story’s coming-of-age psychology and Jerry’s fierce desire for independence.