The boy in "Greasy Lake" changes his outlook on life throughout the story. The way he viewed himself at the time of the events to the way he views himself after the story takes place.
The narrator in this story is well rounded. There are many parts in the text showing the reader this. The story is told in a first person participant point of view, which lets the reader see into the mind and thoughts of the narrator. In the case of "Greasy Lake" the narrator has many thoughts and emotions brought forth for the reader that would automatically rule out the fact that he would be a stock or flat character. He worries and he cares for his friends. He is not unlike any regular teen that just graduated high school. He likes to "drink gin and grape juice", and show the world that "we [narrator and friends] don't give a shit about anything". (112). Smoking pot, and cruising up and down the strip are fun times for the narrator just like our kids will do.
The view that the narrator has on himself the time the story is taking place is a bad dude. He states "We were bad". (112) I believe that the story takes place in the late 50's, and back then the word "bad" meant cool in certain social groups. Like in the movie "Grease" the greasers were bad and they often referred to themselves as bad. The narrator wore clothes with worn out knees and leather jackets. Most likely had slicked back hair and had breath that smelled like a brewery. At that time he thought it cool to be bad. Many other things came alone with being bad, most smoked pot, drank beer, loved many different girls and drove supped up cars. The narrator falls right into this category. I found only one thing to be missing from his whole make up of being bad. That would be his feelings about it all. I don't believe that he felt right doing a lot of the things that he did. I was under the impression that he was inexperienced with the actions he did.
