From Fox to Female An Analysis of Male Behavior Towards the Women of T. Coraghessan Boyle’s “Greasy Lake”
From Fox to Female
An Analysis of Male Behavior Towards the Women of T. Coraghessan Boyle’s “Greasy Lake”
Written as part of a short story collection, author T. Coraghessan Boyle’s “Greasy Lake” is a climactic account of one night in a less than savory young man’s life. Upon closer inspection “Greasy Lake” reveals a complex series of foreboding events that incorporate the innocence and ignorance of males when they are presented with different social scenarios and the female gender. Through his masterful use of the protagonists internal dialogue, Boyle’s artistry shows an evolving dynamic of indifference, aggression, and intimidation towards and by the women of “Greasy Lake”.
Boyle introduces females and their relative insignificance during the narrator’s exposition on what he, Jeff, and Digby are looking for when they travel to the lake. “We went up to the lake because everyone went there, because we wanted to snuff the rich scent of possibility on the breeze, watch a girl take off her clothes and plunge into the festering murk, drink beer, smoke pot, howl at the stars, savor the incongruous full-throated roar of rock and roll against the primeval susurrus of frogs and crickets” (Boyle 294). By grouping his objectification of females with other relatively mundane aspects of why the boys travel to the lake, Boyle makes the prospect of the female as irrelevant and routine as crickets chirping. Through the use of a recurring theme, another haphazard mention of females is made by the narrator when he explains they “debated going to a party of a girl Jeff’s sister knew” (Boyle 295). The young men opted to throw eggs at mailboxes and hitchhikers rather than meet up with the females, once again articulating the lack of importance of females to the raucous youths. Such a variety of indifference is a mild assurance that trouble with females is not what the boys are after. However, that does not remain the case for long. Later in the evening upon arriving at their
An Analysis of Male Behavior Towards the Women of T. Coraghessan Boyle’s “Greasy Lake”
Written as part of a short story collection, author T. Coraghessan Boyle’s “Greasy Lake” is a climactic account of one night in a less than savory young man’s life. Upon closer inspection “Greasy Lake” reveals a complex series of foreboding events that incorporate the innocence and ignorance of males when they are presented with different social scenarios and the female gender. Through his masterful use of the protagonists internal dialogue, Boyle’s artistry shows an evolving dynamic of indifference, aggression, and intimidation towards and by the women of “Greasy Lake”.
Boyle introduces females and their relative insignificance during the narrator’s exposition on what he, Jeff, and Digby are looking for when they travel to the lake. “We went up to the lake because everyone went there, because we wanted to snuff the rich scent of possibility on the breeze, watch a girl take off her clothes and plunge into the festering murk, drink beer, smoke pot, howl at the stars, savor the incongruous full-throated roar of rock and roll against the primeval susurrus of frogs and crickets” (Boyle 294). By grouping his objectification of females with other relatively mundane aspects of why the boys travel to the lake, Boyle makes the prospect of the female as irrelevant and routine as crickets chirping. Through the use of a recurring theme, another haphazard mention of females is made by the narrator when he explains they “debated going to a party of a girl Jeff’s sister knew” (Boyle 295). The young men opted to throw eggs at mailboxes and hitchhikers rather than meet up with the females, once again articulating the lack of importance of females to the raucous youths. Such a variety of indifference is a mild assurance that trouble with females is not what the boys are after. However, that does not remain the case for long. Later in the evening upon arriving at their
Cited: Boyle, T. Coraghessan. "Greasy Lake." X. J. Kennedy, Dana Gioia. Backpack Literature An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Ed. Joe Terry. Pearson, 2012. Text. 28 January 2014.