Examples Of Foreshadowing In Once More To The Lake

We hear the expression “I wish I was your age again” from our parents all the time. Some young people ask themselves why their parents would even say this, as adults have so much freedom in terms of what they get to do. From teens’ perspective, we see being an adult as doing whatever we want, whenever we want without anyone telling us, “no.” That is not the case. From adults’ perspective, they see being a kid as not being bound by the chains of reality. The chains of reality being the actions of them having to go to work everyday, or even clean the house.There are no chains to imagination, a kids imagination is something that can shape and change. Then we realize that we stop using our imagination and then as we grow up, we start to realize the significance of that expression.Death is inevitable and we should always appreciate the good things in life. In the piece, “Once More To The Lake”, E.B

White ruminatively utilizes imagery, foreshadowing, and the duality of life and death to show that we should cherish the good memories in our lives.

Our best memories are engrained in our brains and never go away. E.B White's memories are sparked by religious imagery. “I wondered how time would have marred this unique, this holy spot--the coves and streams, the hills that the sun set behind, the camps and the paths behind the camps,”(1). As White is heading towards the lake, these memories emerge from his brain. He describes the lake as a “holy spot” and later on describes the place as a “cathedral.” “I remembered being very careful never to rub my paddle against the gunwale for fear of disturbing the stillness of the cathedral,” (1). Water is often used in religious imagery to symbolize birth or renewal. Religious imagery is so important because when we think about religion we think about morals. Our morals make us who we are and eventually what we become. Another image that sparks E.B. Whites memory is a fly. “It was the arrival of this fly that convinced me beyond any doubt that everything was as it always had been, that the years were a mirage and there had been no years (2).” The fly triggers a thought in White's mind that makes him think of the last years of his life are all as insignificant as fly. The contrast between the religious imagery which is sacred and peaceful and a fly, which is viewed as insignificant and an annoying thing, is striking.

We can’t escape death because it is imminent and nothing is permanent.

Anything that might reflect permanence is a mirage. The foreshadowing in this piece has an electric and chilling way of getting to E.B. White. The first example of foreshadowing is the storm.The thunderstorm represents death. Thunderstorms are usually a sign of a bad omen in literature. As White is describing the thunderstorm, the dynamic of being near the lake suddenly changes. “Then the kettle drum, then the snare, then the bass drum and cymbals, then crackling light against the dark, and the gods grinning and licking their chops in the hills,”(#4). The musical imagery reflect a symphony of sound. When the storm is finally over, White's son decides to go swimming.“ As he buckled the swollen belt suddenly my groin felt the chill of death,” (4). The chill that White gets is the realization of death. He realizes then and there that death is inevitable and accepts his mortality, but looking back on the lake he finds joy and hope. The lake is where his memories were made and they cleanse and heal

him.

The duality of life and death in this piece really shows that reason why people need to appreciate everything in life more. E.B. White, when he comes back to this lake, sees himself as his son throughout the piece, showing how life continues despite storms and obstacles. “I began to sustain the illusion that he was I, and therefore, by simple transposition, that I was my father. This sensation persisted, kept cropping up all the time we were there. It was not an entirely new feeling, but in this setting it grew much stronger. I seemed to be living a dual existence,” (1). When he is talking about living in a “dual existence”, this represents life’s cycle of birth, growth, death and life. He is visualizing the good times he had as a kid again full of life. He is in this fantasy throughout the whole text and then finally realizes that he is not his son and that death is a certainty. “ Languidly, and with no thought of going in, I watched him, his hard little body, skinny and bare, saw him wince slightly as he pulled up around his vitals the small, soggy, icy garment. As he buckled the swollen belt suddenly my groin felt the chill of death,” (4). The father-son relationship manifests the duality of life and death in this text.

Throughout the whole piece E.B. White is constantly looking back on those good days around the lake. These memories that make him feel like he is young again, not bound by the chains of reality. He is in his own world, in this so called “holy spot” of a lake. He is not bound by the chains of reality, but free because of imagination, seeing this place as a cathedral. Looking at a candy rapper and imagining the good times, but as these mirage of years past by he realizes death. This doesn't affect the way he sees his life and this lake. As an adult, he sees himself as his son and with experienced eyes, only then does he appreciate the good things in life and the memories he had at his adolescent age.