Greasy Lake & Other Stories

In “Greasy Lake”, by T. Coraghessan Boyle, a group of “bad characters” get into some trouble after cruising out at night. Dominick Grace asserts that “The youths in the story are clearly rebels without much cause and without much real need for rebellion. They are clearly not the genuinely bad characters they think they are.” (Grace 2). Throughout the story they try to show that they don’t care about anything through what they wear and through their actions, but that quickly changes after they…

Perfectly captured in the title, the character being the unnamed narrator of this short story “Greasy Lake” by T. Coraghessan Boyle. This story follows the narrator though a series of unfortunate events where He and his friends Digby and Jeff attempt to exemplify the persona that they believe would be considered in accordance with a bad or “Greasy Character”. These three boys at their last teenage year as they spin there wheels in a June summer of 1960’s suburbia. Just as many small towns there…

there was no feeling like this, no triumph, no high--it was like being immortal and unconquerable, like gloating. And a hundred times a day she said it too. (613)" the two decide to take a trip and go camping after graduation. At this point in the story we are focusing on Jeremy and China's relationship and how strong it seems. We do however notice their naivety in there actions, particularly after they run out of condoms and still choose to have unprotected sex without thinking of what may…

Greasy Lake was a short story written by T.C. Boyle with a deeper meaning in it rather than just being a good read. The short story shows an idea of coming of age. Coming of age means to mature through events and have a different mindset. The characters go from bad boys to wanting to be good. This is due to the behavior changes of the narrator and his friends before the night, through the night, and in the morning. In the beginning of Greasy Lake, the 3 guys, Digby, Jeff, and the narrator had…

plain white t-shirt, tight blue jeans, and a greased up hairstyle. In Tom Coraghessan Boyle’s story “Greasy Lake”, he tells us the story of three 19 year olds trying to spend a summer night living a “Greaser” lifestyle and getting into any trouble they can find. Through series of events we see how the narrator and his two friends end up with a different mindset of how he changes towards the end of the story. When we first begin reading what the narrator is doing it makes it seems like he is…

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…

Throughout the stories of “The Monkey” by Stephen King and Dracula by Bram Stoker it is seen how there is an element of the uncanny at work. As each of these narratives is read, what we have become familiarized with as human beings becomes foreign and unsettling to us. What we thought we understood has been changed and has now become frightening. To better understand the uncanny I will first summarize how Sigmund Freud describes it, then I will argue that there is an element of the uncanny in…

strange supernatural occurrences, yet for all of his encounters, he seems to do away with them, and not pay enough attention to them as he should. Due to his lack of attention, he is murdered in the end. The Judge’s House falls under Gothic Horror, a story having to do with an element of fear, gloom and/or death. Malcolm does not pay attention to the rats, the rope hanging from the alarm bell, and the creepy picture of the Judge. If he had payed attention, he would have not been killed in the…

when comparing closely to each of the short story works. Oscar Wilde lived and published many of his works late into the 1800’s. During this time period, America was just beginning to become a fully developed nation, and Europe was a very large, respectable country. His stories take place at the present time that he was writing them, and he used what was considered modern day terms and references between Europe and America at the time to tell each story. Lord Arthur, in “Lord Arthur Savile’s…

In reading. “Greasy Lake” there are several sequences of events that makes up the plot of the entire short story. The events are organized and ensure that the short story is properly structured. In the beginning, the author tells a story about himself and two other friends when they were young men who considered themselves “ bad characters”. Most of the story takes place in 1985 at a town lake referred to as “Greasy Lake”. The author states that after cruising around the town with nothing to do;…