Once More to the Lake

E.B. White’s Once More to the Lake, is structured in the way of a reflection. White releases his memories about the lake he visited as a kid and currently as an adult. White’s love for the lake causes him to write Once More to the Lake, in the view of himself as a kid with his father and in the present as a father with his son. The first sentence of the story states “…my father rented a camp on a lake in Maine and took us there for the month of August…. We returned summer after summer.” This sentence is expressing how White loved going to the lake and after he went the first time, he never stopped going. Also, E.B. White stated; “My boy loved our rented outboard, and his great desire was to achieve single-handed mastery over it, and authority…” This quotation elaborates on the fact that like White himself, his son loves engines as well, and reflects on the fun he had discovering engines while he was a kid. Basically, White puts us in his shoes as himself as a kid on the lake, then puts us in his shoes as a father bringing his son to the lake to enjoy the summer.

E.B White is noticing his family is continuing a tradition that he started with his parents. He reflects on the moment when he states; “…the children screaming with delight at the new sensation of bathing in the rain, and the joke about getting drenched linking the generations in a strong indestructible chain.” He emphasizes on his generation of the family connecting with his son’s generation. By “a strong indestructible chain”, White means that the tradition of going to the lake will continue and nothing is stopping him from going to the lake every year. At the end, White is struggling to see his son jump into the water during the thunderstorm like White did as a kid. White was remembering when he was a kid and had fun while his father watched him. In this last paragraph, White is elaborating on the father like son characteristic and family traditions will always continue.