An Unwanted Transformation in E.B. White's "Once More to the Lake"

528 Words2 Pages

An Unwanted Transformation in E.B. White's "Once More to the Lake" "Once More to the Lake," by E.B. White is a short story in which White recalls his annual summer vacations to the lake, and in turn develops a conflict within himself regarding the static and dynamic characteristics of this lake, and their relation to the changes that White himself is experiencing as he is growing older. When White takes his son to the lake, he comes to the sharp realization that certain aspects of both the lake and himself are different, and with a sense of reminiscence, White takes us from the time his father first took him to the lake, and tells the new story of his most recent visit when he is no longer a boy, but a father, showing his son this "holy place" for the very first time. Throughout the story, White comments on how many of the elements of the lake have changed, and how other things have stayed constant with the passage of time. When White arrives at the lake, he finds that many of the characteristics of the lake that he had once held so dear have ch...

Open Document