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Touching Bottom Jack Canfield Analysis

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“Everything you want is on the other side of fear.” This quote by Jack Canfield portrays the idea that you will never get what you want until you face your fears to get it. This is clearly shown through the narrator in the short story “Touching Bottom” when she faces her fears of losing her way in the world. In the short story “Touching Bottom” the narrator looked to her father for guidance, looked to the clear water and the bottom lines for safety, and in the end she finally looked to herself and found her inner strength to be independent. The narrator looked to her father to guide her through everything because she was too scared to face things on her own. This was because he gave her a sense of protection. When …show more content…

This feeling finally came to her after she was swept away by the current in the ocean. This was because she had to figure out her own way out of the situation, even though she looked back in her memories to what her father told her, she had to do it because it was just her life on the line anymore. After this horrible circumstance she found the courage to stand on her own. This decision led her to divorcing her husband and moving back home to live on her own. She was finally strong enough after seeing her stepson years later to go back to the pool and swim. Her getting back to swimming wasn't the thing that showed us as the readers that she was a strong independent women, it was the fact that she got back in the pool when it had been filled with salt water and it was no longer clear and the lines on the bottom of the pool were blurry. This showed us that she no longer needed something to guide her through her life and she was truly strong and independent. The narrator leaned on her father for protection and guidance, she looked too the clear water and lines on the bottom of the pool for security, and in the end she finally found her inner strength and the ability to be independent without anyones guidance. The narrator struggle with looking to something to guide her through her life, until she realized that she had the strength that she needed

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