I remember once studying this story in high school and
being given the assignment of having to draw a map of the tunnel! You might actually
find this a helpful exercise to do in order to familiarise yourself with the tunnel and
its various dangers. We know that there is a rockface in the middle of which the tunnel
begins. When Jerry finally enters the tunnel, he finds himself "in a small rock-bound
hole filled with yellowish-grey water." The roof of this tunnel is sharp. The width is
obviously not that big, as Jerry has to pull himself along with his hands. His lack of
vision reveals the darkness inside the tunnel.
After a
while, we are told that the hole widens out, and he comes across crack running through
the roof of the tunnel which allows sunlight in so that he can see the "clear
jewel-green" colour of the water and the darkness of the tunnel ahead. The way that he
is running out of breath in the final section means that we are not given an accurate
account of the final stretch of the tunnel, but we know that the tunnel carries on in
darkness until Jerry finally leaves it and is in the open sea.
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