Preview

Greasy Lake Analysis

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
271 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Greasy Lake Analysis
“Greasy Lake” is a story about catastrophic mistakes that affect young adult lives. The story is about three boys who think highly of themselves. The narrator tells about how he and his friends, Digby and Jeff, drink, smoke, and stay out late. It is obvious that the narrator and his friends are immature and simply do not care about the consequences of their actions. The boys find themselves in a brawl with some men at the lake. The narrator separates from his friends to order to protect himself. Trying to hide, the narrator has no choice but to plunge into the murky water. While hiding underwater, he bumps into a corpse. Scared and upset, the narrator gets out of the lake just in time to watch his mother’s car being destroyed. This is when

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    The narrator, Digby and Jeff all in their late teen are out on a summer night looking for something to do and they end up at the “cool” spot known as “Greasy Lake.” When they arrive to greasy lake, the young men think they see one of their friends’ car parked and they decide to tease him: quickly realizing that whoever is in the car isn’t their friend.…

    • 95 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Reelfoot Lake Analysis

    • 494 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In 1908 there was a controversy over Reelfoot lake, a dispute about who had rights to develop or fish in the lake. Before this, in 1899, a man by the name of James Harris announced he had bought the lake and planned to drain it, which upset the residents. These shaken residents banded together and sought out to sue Harris. The real question was if the lake was navigable or not. If so then the lake was public property and could not be drained. The Tennessee State Supreme Court ruled that the lake was too shallow to be navigable, but Harris died soon after. James Harris had a son, Judge Harris, who formed the West Tennessee Land Company in 1907, and planned to develop this land that was previously being fought over. They tried to force the farmers working off this land to pay them rent which, in turn, made them feel cheated. The judge did not allow them to fish in Reelfoot Lake, and some of the residents turned to…

    • 494 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Chevy owner is a tough muscular character. The biker, whom is regarded as a bad older character, is said to be dangerous. The vehicles are a representation of the individuals who drive them. Another symbol of danger the young men face is Greasy Lake itself. The lake is described as being "fetid and murky, the mud banks glittering with broken glass and strewn with beer cans" (Boyle 189). It is a sign that nothing good lies within. Several times throughout the story, Boyle refers to not only the main characters as being greasy, but also describes a variety of other people in the same way. This ties the lake and the greasy characters together. It is ironic that not only is the lake named Greasy Lake, but the individuals who hang out there are also referred to as being greasy characters as well. This led to violent subsequent events later on in the story, as the narrator gets chased and beaten up, and during these events, the narrator realizes he was indeed a bad kid, but learns through the tough way that there are even worse people in this…

    • 1350 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Greasy Lake Setting

    • 196 Words
    • 1 Page

    In “Greasy Lake” the story begins with “…when it was good to be bad…”pg. (189) lines (2-3) then the story goes on to describe what classifies them as “dangerous characters” line(4) the paragraph ends with “At night, we went up to “Greasy Lake” lines (13-14). Usually in stories night symbolizes something bad, sinister, or something generally accepted…

    • 196 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    If bicycling is one of your passions and you long to do it on your next trip, Lake Chelan, WA, is the perfect place. No matter what your style of cycling, you can be sure to find something that you love here! Whether you're a hardcore or a more casual cycler, there are many trails and events to choose from to get the most out of your trip!…

    • 416 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Greasy Lake by T. Coraghesan Boyle’s is the story of a group of adolescents, searching for the one situation that will proclaim them as bad boys and how their minds change. The greasy lake is a short story which the narrator uses details, imagination and language to describe and represent the moral condition of each character. Also, during the story the narrator shows us how each character becomes closer to maturity after facing a crazy and unexpected night in a local lake, where we are all witness to and extreme change in their lives causes by immature action.…

    • 930 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Thomas John Boyle’s short story “Greasy Lake” is about a troubled, rebellious, out of control teen that learns that being “bad” is not at all what it cuts out to be. Through the gloomy narrative the protagonist goes from having a pleasurable worry free time into a horrific night that will be forever haunting to him and his juvenile friends Digby and Jeff. In this complicated story these “bad” characters nearly took a man’s life away, all from an easy joke they thought they were performing on their pal Tony Lovett. Little did they know this prank they were playing on Tony Lovett was inaccurate; reality set in and they established they were performing a prank on another “bad” character that banged these immature kids up. The most important theme to this story is living worry free, dangerous, and carelessly will escort an individual to a life they do not want, or willing to live. This paper will elucidate how epiphany, dynamic character and foreshadowing ties into the theme of the story.…

    • 901 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The short story “Greasy Lake" by Thomas Coraghessan Boyle reveals a moment of enlightened transformation in three young men as they go through a series of mistakes, consequences, and reaffirmation. Greasy Lake is a short story that traces the events leading up to the young men’s revelatory moments. This short story can easily be applied to similar stories of young men all over the world as a well-remembered turning point on the road to the maturity. For the characters of this story, one mistake follows another, revealing potential and actual consequences leading up to their revelatory moment. The young men in the story see themselves as tough characters: The narrator even explains how they wore torn-up leather jackets, slouched around with…

    • 416 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Greasy Lake

    • 592 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Walker, Michael. "Boyle 's `Greasy Lake ' And The Moral Failure Of Postmodernism." Studies In Short Fiction 31.2 (1994): 247. Academic Search Complete. Web. 28 Mar. 2012. This article talks about how Boyle is a somewhat a dark writer and how he is great at setting the mood by using certain words metaphors and similes. The writer talks about how in “Grease Lake” Boyle denies his characters the possibility of learning anything from the situations they are in.…

    • 592 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    The third night of summer the narrator and three boys take off looking for adventure in their “parents whining station wagon”(S1) (Boyle 77). The narrator characterizes himself as a “dangerous character” (Boyle 77) although driving his parent’s station wagon hardly counts as being dangerous. The narrator and two of his friends drive up to “Greasy Lake” looking for something to do. “The Indians had called it Wakan a reference to the clarity of its waters” (Boyle 77) (S2). The once clear waters refers to the current state of the boys and the lake described now as “fetid and murky” (Boyle 77) (S3) refers…

    • 740 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The unnamed narrator and protagonist from the short story, “Greasy Lake,” by T.C. Boyle makes a shocking display of immaturity in youth. The protagonist is introduced as an upper-middle class male with lower class intentions. In pursuit of some late-night fun at the local hangout, he and his two comrades encounter a little more mischief than they were hoping for. Quickly, his rebellion against society leaves him in a dangerous and unforgiving position that causes him to rethink his outlook on life.…

    • 581 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Outsiders Book Report

    • 1321 Words
    • 6 Pages

    This story is about a group of kids that are called Greasers, because they live on the East side of town, which is the lower income part of the city. They all slick back their hair with grease, and that's where the name Greasers came from. Ponyboy Curtis is the main character in this story, and he has 2 brothers, one named Darry, and the other named Sodapop. One night Johnny and Ponyboy are out at the park, and a group of Socs, the nickname for Rich Kids, came by and started beating them up. One of them stuffed Ponyboy's face into the fountain and tried to drown him, so Johnny stabbed him before he killed Ponyboy. The boy that he stabbed died, and so they went to a friend who gave them money and a gun to run away with. They ran away to an abandoned church, and one day Dallas, the friend who gave them the supplies came by and took them out to lunch, and when they returned the church was one fire. Johnny and Pony saved the kids inside, and a piece of wood fell on Johnny and he broke his back. He died in the hospital a few days later, and Dallas couldn't take it so he robbed a grocery store and took out an unloaded gun when the police came, so they shot and killed him. Exposition: The gang is introduced and the…

    • 1321 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Grease Lake Lessons

    • 1628 Words
    • 7 Pages

    There comes a time in many kids life where they want to be bad. They don’t want to be bad to get in trouble and face consequences. They want to be bad because it appears cool. The cool kids sat in the back of class and talked while the teacher was teaching. The cool kids went to parties where there was underage drinking and drugs. The cool kids walked around wearing cool clothes and sunglasses as if they answered to no one and had no care in the world. The cool kids acted out in ways considered bad, and it was cool to be bad. Eventual this fantastical idea of being bad is usual outgrown by progressive steps, or important events that help shape young adults morals. However, Boyle’s characters in in this fiction had a much harsher consequences then drinking underage or taking drugs could provide. Grease Lake is a sordid coming of morals short fiction. Written by T. Coraghessan Boyle, it follows three main characters that thought they were cool, because they think they were bad. The three characters in the story experienced a change in morality, realizing that wanting to be bad by their actions, and the actual acts associated with being 'real' bad boys are two different things. Their road to moral maturity literally ended at Grease Lake, and by the time the night was through, they had each experienced the tangible dangers and realization of the unexpected consequences from trying to be bad.…

    • 1628 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Greasy Lake

    • 290 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the Greasy Lake, the lake was once described by the narrator as a place that at one time would be described as Wakan. Wakan is the term the narrator tells us the Indians had used to describe the lake. The narrator tells us that the Indians used the term to describe “the clarity of its waters” pg 77. The now noticeable change of the water from what the Indians considered as “Wakan” to being “fetid and murky” shows the significant change in the way society had felt to keep the lake. The dramatic turn is implied when the lake is described to be a place of where I stated above that of “breath of decay.” Also showing a change in society the narrator focuses on the use of drugs, violence, alcohol, and rape as to be reasons why the lake is the way it…

    • 290 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World tells the tale of a small fishing village. It’s a coastal, cliff-side town, a desert-like cape with no flowers, and so little land that the residents have to throw their dead over the cliffs and into the sea rather than bury them in the ground. The residents are a simple group of people, who believe in myths as strongly as what they see with their eyes. It's such a small village, that the all the men combined fit into seven boats, and there are only about twenty houses among them all. The village was interrupted by the arrival of a dead body washed up by the waves. This drowned man has a huge impact on the village, which is changed forever by his arrival.…

    • 433 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays