[2] The writing techniques used by Yasunari Kawabata in this narrative of The Lake are similar to those of Japanese associative poetry, with each chapter having coherence and fluidity between them.

The novel then explores his connection to a woman who loses a purse full of several years' worth of money earned as a lover to an older man as well as a relationship with a student, Hisako, when Momoi is a teacher, a relationship that begins with a somewhat odd-request for a good cure for a foot condition Momoi suffers from and then examines the circumstances of Hisako's family, who are well-off in the immediate post-war era.

Finally, the now middle-aged Momoi follows a young girl during a summer period leading up to a festival and crosses paths with a woman closer to his age.

The characters are cruel and cold, but Yasunari Kawabata's writing draws the reader into a dream-like feeling.

The Lake is not only about the male protagonist's journey of self-awareness, but also about the struggle of women to awaken to themselves as subjects and not necessarily as objects of gaze and desire.