Greasy lake by t. c. boyle

First of all, the narrator describes this place as being mysterious, a place where rebellion occurs. The narrator describes “Greasy Lake” as, “fetid and murky, …[its] mud banks glittering with broken glass and strewn with beer cans and the charred remains of bonfires” (129). He describes the lake as rotten, stinky, and putrid, although makes it sound like a good thing. The bad qualities in his eyes are superior because they support his “bad” image, which is independent and nonsocial. The narrator even describes the grass as, “dark, rank, and my

In two parts of the story, the narrator repeats himself when describing Greasy Lake by saying, “This was nature.” In the first statement he was referring to how the lake represented the qualities of rottenness and badness and called it “nature” because of those awful reasons. In the second statement he was basing his own positive opinion on the beautiful, calm morning’s sounds and smells. He talks about, “[the] smell in the air, raw and sweet at the same time, [and] the smell of the sun firing buds and opening blossoms (135). The sweet smell gives a sense of purity, and signifies the improved morality changes of the narrator. He has learned to appreciate convention and realized he is reliant on others. His opinion of “nature” was changed from rotten being good to rotten being bad.

The lake’s characteristics change when the narrator refers to the “greasy character” from being a place of approval to a place of fear because for the first time he encounters “badder” characters. The term “greasy” is used to describe the lake and the guy that the narrator knocks out. In both cases, its use is ironic because they are both portrayed as mysterious and unknown. Both the “Greasy Lake” and the “greasy character” are used as images against the narrator, which the narrator has to fight against. They seem to be bigger and more powerful then the narrator alone. The narrator is scared and is not able to be in the lake for that long because he cannot face the dead body in the lake, so he gets out. The narrator also cannot fight against the man either; he needs his friends to help out. Now, the lake and the man are thought as being “bad” in the narrator’s mind, which makes him realize that he is not as independent and “bad” as he though

Some topics in this essay:
Coraghessan Boyle, Greasy Lake, Lake” Boyle, “greasy lake”, “greasy character”, narrator describes, escape fear lake, , lake represents, dead body, narrator narrator, narrator scared, frogs crickets, able lake, story narrator,