Once More at the Lake

Once More to the Lake The essay “Once More to the Lake” by E.B. White was about a man who had a great sense of nostalgia after he reminisces old childhood memories of a lake in Maine. The author begins to feel a sense of immortality and is in denial of the fact that he’s not a child anymore. He begins to realize that we cannot relive or recreate our childhood, only visit the locations it took place. Throughout White’s essay, he begins to convey his confused and deniable emotional roller coaster towards mortality.
White calls the lake his “holy place” and “as still as a cathedral” because the lake is his safe haven and gives him a sense of salvation. I believe this is true because he is an adult and his memories seem to be of a careless child. He wants to go back to that time where there was no worry in the world. I also believe he was longing for a sense of serenity and peace. He needed a place where he could go and be at peace at least for a short period of time. This lake gave him a sense that at least part of his past has remained untouched and holy.
When he begins to convince himself that he is living a “dual existence” proves that he is in denial of his life. He states that he is his father and he is his son too. He also states that it was not an entirely new feeling so I believe he was in denial of mortality even before he got to the lake. He is very much confused at this point and is not trying to accept the fact that he is no longer a child, but a grown man. It may also be that his father has passed away and the feeling that he is his father might mortify him and give him a chilly sensation.
[Restate thesis statement] The reason why White has written this essay is to make people realize that life does not stop when you want it to and that eventually everyone has to grow