What are the motifs in Through the Tunnel by Doris Lessing?

Alienation and loneliness are recurring ideas in the short story. This tension between independence and dependence parallels the stress of alienation and loneliness in the story. At first, Jerry is so desperately lonely that his desire to play with the local boys is a "craving that fill[s] his whole body." Although they beckon him closer, he is separated by language, age, and nationality. The boys eventually shun him in light of his immature antics. Jerry seems desperate for attention, yet he leaves the beach where his mother and the other tourists can be found.