Once More to the Lake

Although the scope of White’s narrative is rather narrow as he recounts a summer vacation with his son, he employs the trip as a framing narrative that supports a complex commentary regarding the passage of time. Throughout the essay, White attempts to balance the sensation of timelessness he experiences upon returning to his childhood vacation spot. His own passage to adulthood took place alongside the sweeping technological and cultural changes across America during the first half of the 20th century. To this end, White goes to great lengths to assure himself that the lake is “pretty much the same as it had been before” (2) even as he catalogues the changes that have occurred since his last visit, which took place when he was a child. These changes include the paved road leading up to camp, the outboard motorboats on the lake, and the general store situated close to camp, which now has “more Coca Cola and not so much Moxie and root beer” (5) as it used to.

White insists that the lake is the same even as he freely notes the ways in which it is not, and this overarching inconsistency sets up a broader tension regarding the passage of time.