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.


Douglas makes clear to the reader the sense of panic that gripped him as he almost drowned. He had a ‘misadventure’ when He was learning to swim at the Y.M.C.A. pool. He was thrown into the pool by a well-built boy. Douglas was confident that He would come out of the pool despite being frightened. He planned to make a big jump the moment his feet would touch the bottom and come to the surface and paddle to the edge of the pool. The pool was only 9 feet but Douglas felt it to be 90 feet deep. When his feet hit the bottom, he tried to jump with all his strength but the effort made little difference. He started looking for rope, ladder and water wings. He could find nothing but only yellowish water all around him. He was suffocating. He tried to yell but no sound came out. His eyes and nose came out of the water but not his mouth. Douglas flailed at the surface of water. His legs became rigid and paralysed. He had started on the long journey back to the bottom of the pool. His lungs and legs were throbbing. He was getting dizzy. His legs and arms couldn’t move. He was trembling with fright. He wanted to call for help but he couldn’t.


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