Analysis of Once More to the Lake and Inheritance of Tools Essay

Memories Bridge the Past with the Present

Memories are precious and unique to everyone. Memories remind individuals of who they are and where they came from. The senses, whether it is taste, touch, sight, hearing, or smell, can physically bring back memories. E. B. White, the author of Once More to the Lake, and Scott Russell Sanders, the author of Inheritance of Tools, recall their memories through the senses. In each essay, both authors are struggling with the present, but look back on the past to help cope with their difficulties. White and Sanders remembrance of the past gives each of them a sense of stability for the present. Memories are a reminiscence of the past and tools to live the present. Although E. B. White and Scott Russell Sanders experienced their memories differently, the two authors both use their recollections of the past as tools to help cope with the present.

E. B. Whites return to his childhood vacation spot in Once More to the Lake, tells how his trip sent his imagination back in time. As a boy, White and his family would vacation to the lake for the month of August. He and his family would depart from the complexity of everyday life and enjoy the simple life by the lake. Despite getting ringworm from some kittens, they returned summer after summer because none of them thought there was any place in the world like that lake in Maine. White could intensely remember how the bedroom smelled of the lumber it was made of and the sight of the cool and motionless lake on a clear morning. The lake gave White a sense of security and stability in his life when he was young because year after year it remained the same.

Years after his last visit, longing for the security of his lake, White returned with his son. White was struggling with letting go of his child inside of him, and he wanted to experience the unchanging lake once more before he let go. Before arriving at the lake, he wondered if time had changed the beautiful camp he remembered. White could remember the lake as if he had seen it just yesterday. He thought about the hills that the sun set behind and the sweet outdoors. He recalled how he would sneak out to the lake before anyone else awoke; he could picture himself canoeing along the shore in the early morning. As soon as White and his son arrived at the lake, White noticed that his childhood vacation spot had hardly changed. The lake remained exactly how he remembered it; it had the same smell and the same view. The only difference now was transportation; boats on the lake ran with a loud motor, and campers arrived in their own cars instead of a wagon. The technology had revolutionized, but the simplicity of life by the lake remained the same as it had years earlier.

While revisiting the lake with his son, White continually confused the past with the present. His memories gave him the feeling that his son was he, and he was his father. He experienced his memories from a new and different perspective. His memories disoriented him and confused him with his past; he actually felt like he was the young boy he used to be through the actions of his son. It was as if White could not continue with the present until he was reassured by the past. He needed to be reminded of something that use to make sense to him, and the lake, with its static characteristics, made sense to him when he was younger. The times had changed, yet he had not moved on. White returned to the lake to confront lifes changes, and to hopefully accept what life had brought him and continue with his life. While at the lake, White relived his memories, but when the trip ended, the child inside of him had moved on. The chill of death that White refers to indicates that he had accepted and embraced his adulthood. Reliving his memories years later helped White deal with his present struggles of accepting that he was no longer a child.

Although Sanders does not feel as if he is his children, as White does in his essay, constructing woodwork reminds him of his father when he was a child. Scott Russell Sanders Inheritance of Tools is an essay in which tools and carpentry projects remind him of his father and grandfather. The tools that he uses are not power tools or machines as he called them, but rather simple tools that have been in his family for generations. Each task that he begins is special to him because it requires the skills and tools passed down to him through generations. Watching his children working with the tools reminds him of his childhood. The good memories he shared with his father when he was younger help him cope with his fathers death.

Sanders was working on putting up a wall in his basement to make a bedroom for his daughter when he banged his thumb with a hammer. He remembered back on his childhood and thought of what his father would say, If youd try hitting the nail it would go in a whole lot faster. Moments later, his wife told him the heartbreaking news of his fathers death. The only things left for Sanders to remember his father by are the memories he has and the tools he inherited. His father was not an admirable man. He was an alcoholic, and the better memories he had of his father were those when he was working side-by-side with him. Sanders struggles with his emotions over his fathers death, but the past memories help him handle the present.

Sanders remembers his memories when he watches his children work with the tools, especially the hammer. The hammer he inherited from his father is much more than a simple tool. It possesses the values in which his family holds such as hard work. Sanders learned the mystical virtue in right angles from his father. He refers to the right angles as a symbol of stability; a box will not stand up and a frame will not hang straight if the ends are not square. A stable home is essential, and the underlying value that has been taught through the tools for generations. His father taught him, and Sanders will teach his own children, that each task deserves the same amount of hard work and dedication. Sanders inherits not only the tools and skills needed to create wooden masterpieces, but also lifelong values such as dedication and determination. Working with his father and learning his family values when he was younger helped Sanders see past his fathers repulsive drinking habits. Sanders did not relive his memories as White did; instead, he simply recalls his past when he works with the tools he inherited from his father.

Memories represent much more than a vivid memory of the past. They help us cope with the past and live out the present. E. B. White and Scott Russell Sanders both relied on their memories to help deal with their present life issues. In order to move on with their lives, both authors needed to confront their past face-to-face. Their memories helped them understand their past when their present did not make sense, allowing them to fully live the present and anticipate the future. Memories are the tools that help to link the past with the present.