Summary Of The Lake By E. B White

In this essay the author E. B. White tells a story about a moment in his life where he realized how valuable time is. When he was younger his father would rent a camp “summer after summer” on a lake in Maine where he spent his month of August. (E.B. White 81). Now that he is older and a father he takes his son, “who had never had any flesh water up his nose” to that same location, and reflects back to his experience. (E. B. White 81). The author contemplates how time has transformed the nature throughout the years. Through his imagery and vivid language, the readers further understand the meaning and purpose of his essay. The unification between the past and the present is exaggerated by E.B. Whites very detailed description of the setting.

In the beginning of the essay the author reminisces back to the time he visited the camp with his father and how “the vacation was a success and… there was any place in the world like that lake in Maine.” (E.B. White 81). Through his use of imagery, the underlying assumption that nature has withstood time can be evident. E.B White makes it clear that nature has changed little to none while he has evolved. His mortality is evident in his vivid descriptions of nature. He describes “the fade proof lake, the woods unshatterable, the pasture with the sweetfern and the juniper forever and ever.” (E.B White 83). This imagery supports the idea that he values the environment and has a deeper meaning to him. When he visits the camp now that he is older and a father he has a felling of nostalgia. Certain things remind him of his childhood and has

This shift of tone supports the idea that the purpose of the essay is to show how time doesn’t stop for anyone, especially White. On his way to the lake with his son he begins “to wonder how what it would be like… how time would have married this unique, this holy spot – the coves and streams, the hills that the sun set behind, the camps and the paths behind the camp.” (E.B White 81-82). White nostalgic about the setting and reflects back to how he remembers the camp to be. His feelings then begin to change at the end of the essay to a dull depressing one. “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.” (E.B White 85). Whites vivid description of his son getting in the lake shows that death is all around them and his mortality is exaggerated. Now that White is older reality hits him and he begins to realize he isn’t in the past anymore. He begins to understand that he is no longer that boy who would visit the camp every August with his family. White comprehends that he is closer to death then he