Deep Water

1. WILLIAM ORVILLE
DOUGLAS (1898-1980)
DEEP WATER

2. About the Author
 William Orville Douglas (1898-1980)
was one of the most liberal and activist
justices of the U.S. Supreme Court and a
vigorous and controversial writer.
 was born on October 16, 1898, in
Maine, Minnesota.
 When he was 6 his father died, leaving
his mother and the three children to
make their way on very little, so they
moved in with relatives in Yakima,
Washington.

3.  But Douglas's aim was the law. He arrived at
Columbia University Law School in 1922
almost penniless, and had to once again work
his way through school doing tutoring and
research for a law textbook.
 Douglas's life was transformed by President
Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, with its sense
of social urgency and unparalleled
opportunity for reform.
 An indomitable traveler, naturalist, mountain
climber, lecturer, and writer, as well as
teacher, administrator, and judge, Douglas
reasserted the possibility of a many-faceted
Renaissance existence as against a
specialized, limited life.

4.  He will be remembered as one of the few
public figures who dared challenge
convention and the Establishment during
the middle of the 20th century.

5. • by William O. Douglas
• Of Men and Moutains is a book of personal
adventure and discovery of William O. Douglas. It
is an account of the way Douglas and other men
found a richer life in the mountains and how they
found something else besides.
• In such country Douglas has noted, "Men can find
deep solitude and under conditions of grandeur
that are startling, he can come to know both
himself and God."

6.  https://youtu.be/kTlEgw2EHzU

7. • A real-life personal account of experiencing
fear and the steps taken to overcome it.
 Psychological analysis of fear

8.  1. The Introduction
 2. The Misadventure
 3. Overcoming Fear

9. • The ''Misadventure'' is an incident that took
place at the Y.M.C.A Swimming pool when the
Douglas was eleven years old. One day when
Douglas was waiting by the side of the pool
for company, a big bully picked him up and
tossed into the deep end which was nine feet
in depth. As he was not a good swimmer,
Douglas went at once at the bottom and he
had to undergo a long and intense suffering
during these moments, till he was saved.

10.  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. Bit by bit I
shed part of the panic that seized me when my head

11. 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.

12.  At last I felt released — free to walk the trails and climb
the peaks and to brush aside fear.

13. Conclusion:
 Roosevelt on FEAR “ All we have to fear is
fear itself”

14.  Fear is one of the most basic human emotions. It is
programmed into the nervous system and works like
an instinct. From the time we're infants, we are
equipped with the survival instincts necessary to
respond with fear when we sense danger or feel
unsafe.
 Fear helps protect us. It makes us alert to danger and
prepares us to deal with it. Feeling afraid is very
natural — and helpful — in some situations. Fear can
be like a warning, a signal that cautions us to be
careful.

15.  Like all emotions, fear can be mild, medium, or
intense, depending on the situation and the person.
A feeling of fear can be brief or it can last longer.

16. Fears People Have
 Fear is the word we use to describe our
emotional reaction to something that seems
dangerous. But the word "fear" is used in
another way, too: to name something a
person often feels afraid of.
 People fear things or situations that make
them feel unsafe or unsure. For instance,
someone who isn't a strong swimmer might
have a fear of deep water. In this case, the
fear is helpful because it cautions the person
to stay safe. Someone could overcome this
fear by learning how to swim safely.

17.  Many people have a fear of public speaking. Whether
it's giving a report in class, speaking at an assembly,
or reciting lines in the school play, speaking in front
of others is one of the most common fears people
have.
 People tend to avoid the situations or things they
fear. But this doesn't help them overcome fear — in
fact, it can be the reverse. Avoiding something scary
reinforces a fear and keeps it strong.

18.  People can overcome unnecessary fears by giving
themselves the chance to learn about and gradually
get used to the thing or situation they're afraid of.

19. Fears During Childhood
 Certain fears are normal during childhood. That's
because fear can be a natural reaction to feeling
unsure and vulnerable — and much of what children
experience is new and unfamiliar.
 Young kids often have fears of the dark, being alone,
strangers, and monsters or other scary imaginary
creatures. School-aged kids might be afraid when it's
stormy or at a first sleepover. As they grow and learn,
with the support of adults, most kids are able to
slowly conquer these fears and outgrow them.

20. PHOBIAS
A phobia is an intense fear reaction to a particular
thing or a situation. With a phobia, the fear is out of
proportion to the potential danger. But to the
person with the phobia, the danger feels real
because the fear is so very strong.

21.  Phobias cause people to worry about,
dread, feel upset by, and avoid the
things or situations they fear
because the physical sensations of
fear can be so intense. So having a
phobia can interfere with normal
activities. A person with a phobia of
dogs might feel afraid to walk to
school in case he or she sees a dog
on the way. Someone with an elevator
phobia might avoid a field trip if it
involves going on an elevator.

22.  Someone might develop a bee
phobia after being stung during a
particularly scary situation. For that
person, looking at a photograph of a
bee, seeing a bee from a distance, or
even walking near flowers where
there could be a bee can all trigger
the phobia.
 Having a phobia isn't a sign of
weakness or immaturity. It's a
response the brain has learned in an
attempt to protect the person

23.  People can learn to overcome phobias by
gradually facing their fears. This is not easy
at first. It takes willingness and bravery.
Sometimes people need the help of a
therapist to guide them through the process

24.  Often, the hardest part of overcoming a
phobia is getting started. Once a person
decides to go for it — and gets the right
coaching and support — it can be
surprising how quickly fear can melt
away.

27. QUESTIONS

28.  The ‘misadventure’ William Douglas speaks about
happened in the water-pool of Y.M.C.A. in Yakima. Douglas
was about ten or eleven old at the time. He was trying to
learn swimming with the help of his waterwings. One day
while he was sitting on the side of the pool, a big bruiser of
a boy suddenly picked him up and threw him into the nine
feet deep water. Douglas used all his mind and might to
come out on the surface and paddle to the edge of the
pool. However, all his attempts failed. In the end he was so
tired that he gave up all efforts to come out and lost
consciousness. It was them that someone picked him up
and brought him to the shore. He survived somehow but
the incident haunted him till many days afterwards. This is
the misadventure that William Douglas speaks about.
What is the “misadventure” that
William Douglas speaks about?

29.  After his near death experience at the
YMCA pool, Douglas started fearing
water. He could not enjoy any water
sports or go fishing. He decided to
overcome his fear and learnt swimming
again. He became confident and
understood that ‘all that we have to
fear is fear itself’.
What deep meaning did his experience at the
YMCA swimming pool have for Douglas?

30. When Douglas went down the
water for the first time, he was
afraid but confident with his mind
working over a plan that as his feet
will touch the floor, he will jump up
and pop up like a cork on top and
paddle to the edge of the pool.
What did Douglas experience when he
went down to the bottom of the pool for
the first time?

31.  The instructor adopted a systematic
method to turn Douglas into a
swimmer.The instructor put a belt around
him. A rope attached to the belt went
through a pulley then ran on an overhead
cable. Thus, he was made to go back and
forth across the pool hour after hour. Then
he taught Douglas to breathe while
swimming, and finally the leg movements
and other strokes.
How did the instructor turn Douglas
into a swimmer?

32.  Douglas took the help of an instructor. The
instructor made Douglas swim five days a week. He
was with Douglas for about six months when he
was sure Douglas was able to swim alone he left.
Finally, Douglas was able to swim the length of the
pool up and down but he was not sure he had
conquered his fear completely. He went to
Wentworth lake and dived off and finally he went to
Warm lake, dived and swam across to the other
shore and came back.
What efforts did Douglas make to get
over his fear of water?

33. Value based questions
 Desire, determination and diligence
lead to success. Explain the value of
these qualities in the light of Douglas’
experience in ‘Deep Water’.

34. 
 Douglas fully realised the truth of Roosevelt’s
statement ‘All we have to fear is fear itself’. How did
this realisation help him brush aside his fear and
become an expert swimmer?
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