What is the response elicited in the reader in "Through the Tunnel" by Doris Lessing?

I think it is clear that Lessing wants us to feel that
Jerry has been very brave and strong in terms of going through his own coming-of-age
initiation. He has proved to himself that he is no longer a child, dependent on his
mother, and has grown up. This response is of course linked to the central theme of the
story, which is the way that we all need some kind of coming-of-age initiation which
shows both ourselves and others that we are no longer children. At the end of the story,
we see the mother surprised at an easy victory as she expected a "battle of wills" with
her son. However, for Jerry, now that he has completed his own self-imposed task, we are
told that "it was no longer of the least importance to go down to the bay." We as
readers are left with the impression that now Jerry has done what he set himself to
complete, he does not need to exert his independence in the same way as he did, going by
himself to the "wild bay." We are left with an impression of a boy who has grown
up.