In Whites essay “Once More to the Lake,” the narrator ends with a chilling sensation. As White watches his son hop out of the lake, he has an epiphany concerning his old age. “As he buckled the swollen belt suddenly my groin felt the chill of death.” the concluding sentence is not only effective, but also perceives the purpose of the entire essay. With a little attention, it’s easy to see how the essay leads naturally to a sense of death’s approach or inevitability. White initial purpose of ending his essay was mainly to show his true feeling about life and death.
As white watches his son grow up, he knows he’s getting older as well. As White watches his son pull off his bathing suit after the thunderstorm. White had the feeling of regret of going to the lake. Through out the essay White is almost selfish in bringing his kid to the lake just for his own benefit. Trying to relive his experience and unknowingly finding out he was reliving his father’s experiences, and his son had taken his place. When ending his essay with the metaphor “ the chill of death:” shows that when he sees his son is growing up fast. He feels misplaced. As White watches his son relive his past, all of the sudden his past memories fill his head. Seeing this take place makes him sick to his stomach, and his “groin felt the chill of death.” This feeling took place when White finally realizes that he can never relive the past. When he realizes that he can never relive the past, all he sees is death in his future. For white nothing lives out side the lake and he feels that since he can’t experience the lake the same. He feels dead.
Whites wording is almost depressing through out the ending of the essay. It transforms from his amazing memories, to how depressing it is to live in the future when having his father’s shoes to fill. The feeling of his son being able to experience his memories should be fulfilling to him. Instead he feels depressed.