Essay On Once More To The Lake By E. B. White

1199 Words3 Pages

Father-son relationships are a blend of love, guidance, and conflict. While fathers offer wisdom, sons must navigate their own paths. These relationships may either showcase the enduring strength of family bonds and the journey of mutual growth, or the struggles of unstable relationships and unmet expectations. In E.B. White’s “Once More to the Lake,” the father and son are linked by nostalgia and a desire to live vicariously through the son, fostering an unbreakable bond of understanding: though they may be at different points in their lives, father and son are united by shared experiences. However, in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, the same emotions create conflict. Willy sees Biff as his second chance at greatness, pursuing materialistic …show more content…

However, in Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman’s nostalgia separates him from his son, Biff, as he seeks refuge from his failure in his glamorized past. Struggling both as a salesman and a father, Willy’s present situation is overwhelmingly negative. He returns to the safety of his idealized past, a curated gallery of his pride and successes. Unlike White’s acceptance of both past and present, Willy’s journey to the past is an effort to forget the struggles of the present. In one such instance, Willy finds out he is being fired and escapes to the past, finding himself headed to Biff’s football game at Ebbets Field (Miller, Death, 86). By covering his problems with positive memories, Willy avoids the truth of his failures and struggles to acknowledge any issues with finances or family. Unable to face his problems, Willy alienates his son for refusing to conform to his delusion. Biff, who had previously accepted Willy’s nostalgic reality as his own, exclaims, “I realized what a ridiculous lie my whole life has been! We’ve been talking about dreams for fifteen years!” (Miller, Death,

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