Once More to the Lake

In “Once More to the Lake,” White performs an act of extended act of self-examination that features very little interpersonal interaction with other individuals who feature in the essay. Although the essay is set in a bustling campsite and White describes several other people, the descriptions are ultimately reflections of White himself.

This phenomenon is most apparent in White’s descriptions of his son, in whom White literally, to the point of confusion, sees a younger version of himself: “Everywhere we [White and his son] went I had trouble making out which was I, the one walking at my side, the one walking in my pants” (5). At the same time, White feels as though he has taken on the role of his father, which he describes as “a creepy sensation” (2). By projecting himself on both his son and his father, White manages to capture the eternal quality of his childhood memories. White’s memories of his childhood vacations at the lake reveal the extent to which he is attached to a nostalgic sense of the past. This nostalgic attachment makes it possible for White to overcome the many changes he notes throughout the essay, including the paved road leading to the lake, the appearance of outboard motorboats, and the lake itself, which appears as “pretty much the same as it had been before” (2).