Summer Entry 1

Once More to the Lake

by E.B. White

Pages 179-185

E.B. White is the author of several children’s classics, contributed to The New Yorker, co-edited The Elements of Style, and wrote numerous essays and poems.  He is a father to both a son and a stepson.  One of his most well-known essays is Once More to the Lake, in which White narrates his vacation with his son to the same lake that he and his family used to visit.  His return evokes nostalgic memories that force him to reflect on his current place in life.  White writes this essay as a reminder of mortality to fathers, and he argues for living in the present.  

Initially, the author repeats the phrase, “there had been no years” (White 181) to show his denial of the passage of time.  However, as White explores camp with his son, he comes to realize that much has changed: arriving in cars instead of the farm wagon (White 182); the annoying sound of outboard motors (White 183); and the store having more Coca-Cola rather than Moxie, root beer, birch beer, and sarsaparilla (White 184).

Throughout the essay, there is also a theme of duality.  White frequently confuses himself to be both the son and the father: sneaking out in the morning (White 180); going fishing (White 181); and thinking about girls at the store (White 184).  White also infuses duality into his environment when he compares himself to a minnow and its shadow: “each minnow with its small individual shadow, doubling the attendance” (White 181).  Through this metaphor, White acknowledges that the past will continue to accumulate new memories and shadow him through life.  

In the end, during the rainstorm, White describes, “Suddenly my groin felt the chill of death” (White 185).  The rain symbolizes rebirth, representing White’s return to the present, his acceptance of his mortality, and his recognition that he is his father to his son now.  Even though White reminisces of past summers, the essay primarily focuses on his current relationship with his son and surroundings, successfully emphasizing to fathers the importance of appreciating the present and that nothing is unchanging or immortal.  

(349 words)

Follow the Road
Change is the only constant in life.

Source: Nicholas Hennell-Foley's Rural to Urban