E.B. White's "Once More to the Lake"

With a heart yearning to revisit his past, a father takes his son on a trip to a lake that he frequently visited as a child. While on the trip, the father struggles to balance his past memories at the lake with the present moments occurring at the lake with his son. He recalls actions that he did himself as a child with the actions of his son. When he and his son go out fishing, the lines between the past and present begin to blur, for as he looked at his son, he “felt dizzy and didn’t know which rod I [he] was at the end of” (181). As he continues his trip with his son, the father meets other aspects that are the same as his past. This comes to show that despite the father’s aging, the nature and beauty of the lake is timeless. Written as a personal narrative by E.B. White, this essay comes to show that while nature and memories are timeless, growing up is an inevitable fate that everyone must come to terms with. White uses juxtaposition between himself and his son, Joel, to show that his past self and Joel in the present are the same, the only difference being age and time. He shows that everything--from dragonflies to waitresses to fishing--stayed the same when he is with Joel from when he was a child. However, as the narrative progresses, White comes to realize that even though the lake stayed the same, he has not. He comes to terms that he is in fact growing up, feeling “the chill of death” as he watches his son going out for a swim (185). White registers the fact that his memories are just memories, and that he must accept his growing up and the idea that morality is inevitable. By using a narrative to share his personal experience in realizing the bitter truth of growing up, White successfully portrays his message that morality is something that cannot be avoided, as much as people try to cover it up with memories.

This image reveals a picture of the Piccadilly Circus juxtaposed with what it looks like current day. Similar to the nature of the lake, this image portrays that even though time goes by, memories and the beauty of an environment stay constant.