Once More to the Lake

The in the short story, Once more to the Lake, E.B White reminisces on his childhood memories with his father as he returns to the lake as an adult with his own son. Through his return, he expresses how nature, and the lake itself, remain to be the same, but life in general has changed. White also mentions how the lake has changed with society and that at the surface level, things seemed to remain the same, but little details from his childhood have been adapted.  As he reminisces, he takes note of every little detail from his past and relates it to the present, highlighting the key points of similarity and differences in the two. Through the text, it's obvious that White has this desire to live on but knows that just like his father, his time to pass will eventually come. White discusses his fear of mortality, which helps individuals relate to the text. Mortality is a major component of life itself and through this short story, we notice how short life really is. While reading this passage, it seems as if it's just a man talking about his past in relation to his present, but towards the end we realize the authors fear of not only death, but change in general. The story is quite depressing but helps teach us that although death is inevitable, our memories will forever hold us close to our past.