Compare and Contrast

Memory Lane “Once More to the Lake” written by E.B White and “An American Childhood” by Annie Dillard are both essays that reminisce about both authors’ childhood experiences. In the novel “Once More to the Lake”, White talks about his favorite spot during his childhood years where he would visit with his family once a month every year. In “An American Childhood” Dillard talks about growing up with her mother and the memories they shared together. Despite the differences between these two novels both authors talk about their childhood using symbolism, metaphors, personifications and many other literary devices. In “Once More to the Lake”, White uses a plethora of literary devices to describe his childhood. After taking his son to the spot that he goes visit often throughout his childhood years hit him waves of emotions. Missing his childhood was not the sole reason that hit him but looking at the things his son does reminds him so much of his childhood. White uses various themes and if one reads carefully the theme of Man versus Himself is vividly portrayed in the first paragraph of this essay. White has a conflict within himself when he’s fighting to not accept the fact that he is the father not the son. His denial of his own morality clearly shows his internal conflict. “You remember one thing, and that suddenly reminds you of another thing”(White 233). For him travelling back to the lake is the same as travelling back in time. While he walks along memory lane White keeps and keeps revealing more and more things from his past. The placidity of the lake, the smell of the lumber from the bed, the shadows of the pines along the shore and how he used to be the first person to woke up in the cabin and leaves silently to not wake the others up. The more white discovers the harder it his for him to accept the fact that he is now in the position of his father. He wants to deny the fact that now he is a father who’s bring his son to this lake. It was an emotional