E. B. White wrote this essay, “Once More to the Lake”, in 1941. In this essay, White mainly discuss about the power of memory and mortality by telling his experiences with his son and father. White’s father took his family to lake Maine for the month of August in 1904, and they went there summer after summer. “A few weeks ago this feeling got so strong I bought myself a couple of bass hooks and a spinner and returned to the lake where we used to go, for a week 's fishing and to revisit old haunts,” White said. He took along his son, who was far from nature, to his memorable place. They went fishing in the morning same as when White was young. He kept comparing the atmosphere and sought the difference between past and present but he found similarities …show more content…
He pulled his dripping trunks from the line where they had hung all through the shower, and wrung them out. 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.” According to the White’s mention, he feels that the death is close to him and when his son will be adult, he recalls that moment same as White. White realizes that he is in father’s position, not in son’s position anymore, and he will die like his …show more content…
When I was young, my grandmother and grandfather raised me up. I have so many memories about them and especially I love my grandfather since I always played with my grandfather and slept with him. When I was in America, my grandfather passed away and I could not go his funeral. Until now, I feel guilty because he is my special and valuable to me. After I went back to Korea, I visited my grandmother and grandfather’s house. At the time, I could not do anything and cried a lot because his home brought back my youth memory, which was with him. He played, talked, and ate with me at his home and we did everything at his home. Even though I do not have a son, I totally sympathize White’s mind and thinking. My youth memory is precious to me same as White. White can feel his father, when he is at the lake, and I can feel my grandfather, when I am at his home. If I am married and have babies, my babies will remember and recall my parents like
Nature has a powerful way of portraying good vs. bad, which parallels to the same concept intertwined with human nature. In the story “Greasy Lake” by T. Coraghessan Boyle, the author portrays this through the use of a lake by demonstrating its significance and relationship to the characters. At one time, the Greasy Lake was something of beauty and cleanliness, but then came to be the exact opposite. Through his writing, Boyle demonstrates how the setting can be a direct reflection of the characters and the experiences they encounter.
The story describes the protagonist who is coming of age as torn between the two worlds which he loves equally, represented by his mother and his father. He is now mature and is reflecting on his life and the difficulty of his childhood as a fisherman. Despite becoming a university professor and achieving his father’s dream, he feels lonely and regretful since, “No one waits at the base of the stairs and no boat rides restlessly in the waters of the pier” (MacLeod 261). Like his father, the narrator thinks about what his life could have been like if he had chosen another path. Now, with the wisdom and experience that comes from aging and the passing of time, he is trying to make sense of his own life and accept that he could not please everyone. The turmoil in his mind makes the narrator say, “I wished that the two things I loved so dearly did not exclude each other in a manner that was so blunt and too clear” (MacLeod 273). Once a decision is made, it is sometimes better to leave the past and focus on the present and future. The memories of the narrator’s family, the boat and the rural community in which he spent the beginning of his life made the narrator the person who he is today, but it is just a part of him, and should not consume his present.
Throughout T. C. Boyle’s work, “Greasy Lake”, a young man’s intrepid night leads him to discover how close death is to life. This realization causes a sombre awakening for the narrator as he falls in the midst of fatality; and practically becomes a casualty himself. Following each traumatic event, the narrator’s innocence disappears and morality is called into question. When death fast approaches, and the grim reaper is breathing down his neck, the narrator subsequently realizes his mistakes, but not before it’s almost too late.
---. “Take Me to the Water.” 1972. James Baldwin: Collected Essays. Ed. Toni Morrison. New York: Library of America, 1998: 353-403.
"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.
James Baldwin had a talent of being able to tell a personal story and relate it to world events. His analysis is a rare capability that one can only acquire over an extensive lifetime. James Baldwin not only has that ability, but also the ability to write as if he is conversing with the reader. One of his most famous essays, “Notes of a Native Son,” is about his father’s death. It includes the events that happened prior to and following his father’s death. Throughout this essay, he brings his audience into the time in which he wrote and explains what is going on by portraying the senses and emotions of not only himself, but as well as the people involved. This essay has a very personal feeling mixed with public views. Baldwin is able to take one small event or idea and shows its place within the “bigger picture.” Not only does he illustrate public experiences, but he will also give his own personal opinion about those events. Throughout “Notes of a Native Son” Baldwin uses the binary of life versus death to expand on the private versus public binary that he also creates. These two binaries show up several times together showing how much they relate to each other.
I would have to choose the essay of Once More to the lake by E.B. White. The essay engages readers in a relatable story that is easy to comprehend and read. Many of us can relate to a summer fishing trip with our fathers or even family and this essay encaptures that very essence. “I wondered how time would have marred this unique, this holy spot-the caves and streams, the hills that the sun set behind.” The author goes to explain the wondrous beauty of the lake and its surrounding areas engaging the reader visually. The thesis of Once More to the lake is also much more simplistic and easier to understand. In the first paragraph we know and can understand that this essay is going to be about the reliving of past memories returning to a
Metaphor is an underlying element used in this memoir to depict the relationship between family and nature, and the profound understanding of oneself, through the sequence of life and death, and the rebirth that proceeds. Using metaphoric references, Williams explores the continual unpredictab...
---. “Take Me to the Water.” 1960. James Baldwin: Collected Essays. Ed. Toni Morrison. New York: Library of America, 1998: 353-403.
Coming home from the grueling experience of being a soldier in World War I, he felt ecstatic when he saw a trout swimming in the stream. The perils of war took a devastating toll on Nick, as he suffered from a physical wound while in action. The camping trip here is like an oasis, which will let Nick to recover from all the distress. “Nick looked down into the pool from the bridge. It was a hot day. A kingfisher flew up from the stream. It was a long time since Nick had looked into a stream and seen trout. They were very satisfactory...Nick’s heart tightened as the trout moved. He felt all the old feeling.” (178) The healing process begins here with Nick re-acclimating himself with one of his favorite hobbies: fishing. “He started down to the stream, holding his rod...Nick felt awkward and professionally happy with all the equipment hanging from him...His mouth dry, his heart down...Holding the rod far out toward the uprooted tree and sloshing backward in the current, Nick worked the trout, plunging, the rod bending alive, out of the danger of the weeds into the open river. Holding the rod, pumping alive against the current, Nick brought the trout in...” (190,193,195) Nick finally reels in a trout after the big one got away, getting to the feeling of relaxation and washing away the horrors of war. By pitching his tent out in the forest and being able to function by himself so smoothly, Nick shows how he represents the trait of stoicism. He did not complain or stop living, coming back with the trauma of war. Going camping, he is able to relieve himself through using all the nature around him, showcasing his
I do not have any memories of my own father as a child. I met him when I was about fourteen years old. My mother and grandmother, with the help of my uncles and aunt, raised me. Although I had strong positive male role models in my life, there was always the void of my father that I dealt with on a daily basis. I can remember at a young age, before blowing out the candles on my birthday cake, I would wish that my father would show up to my party. I had elaborate daydreams of him coming back into my life and doing things with me like I saw on television. It never happened. While walking to the train station one evening my uncle casually said to me “there’s your father” as if I saw him on an everyday basis. I didn’t...
In Coraghessan Boyle “Greasy Lake” the narrator goes through some wild adventures. He considers himself as a tough guy. Not knowing the obstacles he’s about to take will change the way he thinks of himself. In the story three teenage boys who think as themselves as bad boys, make a number of mistakes and at the end suffer the consequences.
I wasn’t even outside but I could feel the warm glow the sun was projecting all across the campsite. It seemed as if the first three days were gloomy and dreary, but when the sun on the fourth day arose, it washed away the heartache I had felt. I headed out of the trailer and went straight to the river. I walked to the edge, where my feet barely touched the icy water, and I felt a sense of tranquility emanate from the river. I felt as if the whole place had transformed and was back to being the place I loved the most. That day, when we went out on the boat, I went wakeboarding for the first time without my grandma. While I was up on the board and cutting through the wake of the boat, it didn’t feel like the boat was the one pulling and guiding me, it felt like the river was pushing and leading me. It was always nice to receive the reassurance from my grandma after wakeboarding, but this time I received it from my surroundings. The trees that were already three times the size of me, seemed to stand even taller as I glided past them on the river. The sun encouraged me with its brightness and warmth, and the River revitalized me with its powerful currents. The next three days passed by with ease, I no longer needed to reminisce of what my trips used to be like. Instead, I could be present in the moment, surrounded by the beautiful natural
they wish their son back to life. Mr. White wishes his son back to life, but
Crow Lake is Canadian author Mary Lawson's first novel，which is narrated by Kate Morrison, the second child in the Morrison family. A serious car accident left seven-year-old Kate, her one and half year old sister, Bo, and her two older brothers, Luke and Matt, orphans. Rather than live with relatives separately, they chose to live together and grow up. Luke and Matt made many sacrifices to support their family and they also got many helps from their community. The story took place in Crow Lake, a remote small farming community in northen Ontario.