Response to “Once More to the Lake”
In most cases people try to retrieve the childhood memories when they have grown old. Revisiting places they used to go to, seeing themselves through children acting the same way they used to act in their child hood are ways of remembering their child hood life. E. B White, the author of Once More to the Lake remembers his childhood life by revisiting the places he used to go by his parents.
After replacing his father’s position as a father and his son replacing his position as the son, he takes his son to Lake. Although we know everything gradually changes with time, he got around the lake and found everything is the same (white 180). First is the lake itself, small waves and water, green grass, the boat and farm houses looked to have not changed? He describes everything as they were since he was very familiar to this place.
Second, he looked at the behavior of his son which was just like his at the time he was a small boy.
“ I knew it, lying in bed the first morning, smelling the bedroom and hearing the boy sneak quietly out and go off along the shore in a boat”(white, 187-188).
His son’s attitude is a reminder of his past life since he says, “I began to sustain the illusion he was I, and I was my father” he says that change is changeless since past memories still remain with us. Last example is frequent feeling of seeing the lake through his son’s eye.
In conclusion, everything to him remain the same, the lake , motors sound, gives him a sense of boyhood., however things did not really change but the role he played. Therefore, the past cannot be erased since the memory can be recovered like what happened to white. He says “outside, the road was starred and cars were in the front side of the store. Other things were usual as they always had inside.” This basically means we could notice variations outside, but inside, things we had to stays.
Work Cited
Natalina Sogang. Response to E.B White “Once More to the Lake” (2012)
