T. Coraghessan Boyle

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 was a shortage of social activities especially for teenagers so they fill there down time with sneaking around drinking and smoking. Succumbed by boredom the narrator decides to round up his gang and hop in the family station wagon and set off in search…

In “Greasy Lake” T. Coraghessan Boyle tells a story of a late night with three boys. The narrator, Digby, and Jeff headed out to Greasy Lake after a long night of going in and out of every bar in town. The narrator, who remains nameless, tells the story. The narration of this story gives the reader a certain insight to the story. In Boyle’s “Greasy Lake”, the first person narration provides insight for the reader to experience things as the narrator does. The narration in “Greasy Lake”…

The setting in T. Coraghessan Boyle’s “Greasy Lake” shows powerful symbols that can help the reader understand certain aspects of story. Greasy lake is a story, where the narrator, who represents Boyle due to his rebellious childhood, goes out with his also “independent friends” to a hang out spot to party and maybe meet women. Little did they know that the lake itself is “fetid and murky” and the surrounding are “mud banks with glittering with broken glass and strewn with beer cans and the…

In his short story “Greasy Lake,” T. Coraghessan Boyle uses setting to show corruption of a today’s youth, created desirable atmosphere, and really show the inner character. He does this by centering the story at the Greasy Lake and using the Lake as both a setting and character. Greasy Lake is described by the narrator in very blunt terms and tells you what to expect. However, the narrator see’s the lake as the cool place to hang out and forget about there boring college life. The lake is…

known by wearing a leather jacket, 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…

surroundings, or may become the exact opposite. People are easily victimized by their habitat. In T. Coraghessan Boyle’s short story, “Greasy Lake,” the setting of this foul lake plays a crucial role in developing the climax of the story and ultimately leads to the narrator’s realization that he is wasting his teenaged life. In a cross match twist; Boyle, Digby, and Jeff became themselves when they laid eyes on the greasy lake, and it’s cons. Struggling to control his urges of following his…

There are responsibilities and there are consequences of actions just as in the short story analyzed in this essay. Greasy Lake, a short story written by T. Coraghessan Boyle illustrates the state of being good and then becoming bad. The story depicts the decisions of average teenagers abandoning their morals to explore the unclean way of life. This story portrays the life of three nineteen-year-old teenagers and their quest at becoming immoral and corrupt characters. The story sets in the late…

T. Coraghessan Boyle’s short story, “Greasy Lake,” is a work of fiction that is meant to display the absurdities of the American teenage experience. Published in 1985, Boyle is quick to contextualize the work within an 80s teenager’s frame of reference; he opens the story with a lyric from a Bruce Springsteen song, “Sprit of the Night,” which acts as Boyle’s first symbol in the story, a tribute to the teenagers of the decade in which the story is published. But, from the content, it can be…

spiraled down to the depths of evil completely, rising back up would still be achievable. A trio of teenagers in T. Coraghessan Boyle’s “Greasy Lake” is starting off their summer by pulling off seemingly harmless pranks until they come faced with a dispute with the wrong kind of people. Through a series of actions these boys have shown murderous intent, an attempted rape scene, and are able to walk away scot free of any dire consequences. Throughout the story there are numerous symbols that show…

Short Story Epiphanies There is a theme of epiphanies in “Greasy Lake” written by T. Coraghessan Boyle and “Cons” written by Jess Walter. The theme is very strong and prevalent in each story in their own way. In the story “Greasy Lake” there are epiphanies when the characters that they are not as bad as they would like to believe themselves be. The last short story “Cons” the main character has a very strong epiphany at the end. All the stories have strong epiphanies in all of them will be…