Greasy Lake Character Anaylsis
T.C. Boyle's "Greasy Lake" (1985), exposes the narrator to be the ultimate dissenter upon first glimpse. The anonymous main character goes beyond to appear rebellious to his friends, and anyone around him. Aside from the main character, two friends, Digby and Jeff, accompany the narrator on his journey to be bad on this “the third night of summer vacation” (Boyle, 1985, p. 615). The narrator explains that he and his friends were 19 years old, sported leather jackets, drank Tango and Thunderbird, and smoked marijuana, to produce the effect of being intimidating and cool to others. By the end of the story when the narrator has the chance to continue his false image of being a rebel, he decides to take another route, one that contradicts his initial image.
I wanted to write about the narrator in “Greasy Lake” because I found him to be exaggerated and concealed. The narrator’s image is portrayed when he states, “We struck elaborate poses to show that we didn't give a shit about anything" (Boyle, 1985, p. 615). The latter passage is also noteworthy because it encompasses his intentions by acting to be above the law, to the point of having to be intricate in getting the memo across. The narrator is encompassing because he does all these unusual things to appear rebellious, like sniffing glue and ether, and maybe even what was claimed to be cocaine (Boyle, 1985, p. 614). I would also suggest that the narrator of the story is categorized as dynamic, because by the end of the story he completely changes his attitude and image.
The first mark of the narrator's change comes into view when he notices the dead man’s body in the lake. Previous to this happening, Digby, the narrator, and Jeff were flashing the high beams of their car at a car (who they mistakenly thought was a friend’s) that was sitting in the dirt parking lot. This very quickly led to a fight with, as the narrator describes as a "very bad character in greasy jeans and engineer boots" (Boyle, 1985, p. 616).
I wanted to write about the narrator in “Greasy Lake” because I found him to be exaggerated and concealed. The narrator’s image is portrayed when he states, “We struck elaborate poses to show that we didn't give a shit about anything" (Boyle, 1985, p. 615). The latter passage is also noteworthy because it encompasses his intentions by acting to be above the law, to the point of having to be intricate in getting the memo across. The narrator is encompassing because he does all these unusual things to appear rebellious, like sniffing glue and ether, and maybe even what was claimed to be cocaine (Boyle, 1985, p. 614). I would also suggest that the narrator of the story is categorized as dynamic, because by the end of the story he completely changes his attitude and image.
The first mark of the narrator's change comes into view when he notices the dead man’s body in the lake. Previous to this happening, Digby, the narrator, and Jeff were flashing the high beams of their car at a car (who they mistakenly thought was a friend’s) that was sitting in the dirt parking lot. This very quickly led to a fight with, as the narrator describes as a "very bad character in greasy jeans and engineer boots" (Boyle, 1985, p. 616).
References: Boyle, T. C. (1985). Greasy lake. In L. Kirszner & S. Mandell (Eds.), Literature: Reading, reacting, writing (7th ed., p. 614). Boston: Wadsworth.