Significance of The Lake

The portion of the Great Lakes that is near Westish takes on a few different significances as the novel moves along: The campus "lake" begins as reminder of Affenlight's love of water; it then transforms into the site of Henry's spiritual crisis and eventual sense of release: "He treaded water for a long long while, feeling an endless spontaneous power unspooling from his limbs" (346). Finally, the lake becomes the site of Affenlight's re-burial and repose. In a large novel such as The Art of Fielding, which is premised on the considerable changes in its characters, it is natural that some of the main symbols will also change radically.