The Desire for the Past

E. B. White wrote the book in the year 1948, and the reader can see that there are many things about the city that White seems to miss. Things that were once there and now gone. His stepson, Roger Angell, notes in the book that if White were still alive today, he believes White would not like what has become of New York.

There is something to be said for the change that has to happen in society. But no matter what it is that changes, there will be memories of the past that for some reason one will miss. Even if it has nothing to do with our lives. White makes a note in the story referring to an "old-timer". It is possible that he was simply using a metaphor, but it seems that White may have been alluding to the fact that there...