T.C. Boyle’s “Greasy Lake” employs excellent use of setting to contextualize the events of the narrative. The characters, Digby, Jeff, and the narrator are teens in the peak of rebellion, three thrill seekers looking to break up the monotony of their lives with their misadventures at the “Greasy Lake”, a refuse filled pond that is a hub of drug use and crime. On one such excursion, the group encounters a man who typifies what they believe themselves to be, a “Bad greasy character”. Their altercation, set on the backdrop of Greasy Lake, and their actions, horrible as they are, make sense. This feeling is the result of Boyle’s incredible descriptive use of setting, it informs the actions of the character, while presenting the lake as the most
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The first sentence asserts that “It was good to be bad”, this is the appeal of the Greasy Lake, though once renowned for its cleanness, it has grown filthy and trash filled (Boyle 1). This transformation is not unlike the characters’, they are wealthy, highly educated, and, if they wanted to be, they could be respected citizens, however, they dress in torn clothes, drink excessively, and make every attempt at “badness”. The allure of the Lake is described reverently: “We went up to the lake because everyone went there, because we wanted to snuff the rich scent of possibility on the breeze...This was nature. (Boyle 2)” The narrator’s attraction to the lake is clear, despite describing it as “festering”, the lake represents the epitome of his desires. The description of the lake and their actions on it as “Nature” is telling, the lake excuses their misdeeds, by creating an accommodating …show more content…
During the fight with the stranger, the words “Bad” and “Greasy” take on a different meaning. The altercation terrifies the narrator, and even though they are able to incapacitate the “Bad greasy character”, they have lost any sense of control. In this moment, they exhibit extreme cruelty by trying to rape the woman, a truly “bad” action, “We were bad characters, scared and hot and three steps over the line”, but it is not depicted with the glamour that the early descriptions of “badness” (Boyle 4). Again, the narrator likens his actions to nature, calling the attempted rape “Primal” (4). Like the earlier reference, the environment of the moment is used to explain their crimes, but after the violence, the attitude is not hopeful and rebellious, it is fearful and
The first sentence asserts that “It was good to be bad”, this is the appeal of the Greasy Lake, though once renowned for its cleanness, it has grown filthy and trash filled (Boyle 1). This transformation is not unlike the characters’, they are wealthy, highly educated, and, if they wanted to be, they could be respected citizens, however, they dress in torn clothes, drink excessively, and make every attempt at “badness”. The allure of the Lake is described reverently: “We went up to the lake because everyone went there, because we wanted to snuff the rich scent of possibility on the breeze...This was nature. (Boyle 2)” The narrator’s attraction to the lake is clear, despite describing it as “festering”, the lake represents the epitome of his desires. The description of the lake and their actions on it as “Nature” is telling, the lake excuses their misdeeds, by creating an accommodating …show more content…
During the fight with the stranger, the words “Bad” and “Greasy” take on a different meaning. The altercation terrifies the narrator, and even though they are able to incapacitate the “Bad greasy character”, they have lost any sense of control. In this moment, they exhibit extreme cruelty by trying to rape the woman, a truly “bad” action, “We were bad characters, scared and hot and three steps over the line”, but it is not depicted with the glamour that the early descriptions of “badness” (Boyle 4). Again, the narrator likens his actions to nature, calling the attempted rape “Primal” (4). Like the earlier reference, the environment of the moment is used to explain their crimes, but after the violence, the attitude is not hopeful and rebellious, it is fearful and