Columbus Day Wedding Ceremony Analysis

ceremonies and rituals are often unique, varying from every culture. The practice of people participating in rituals and ceremonies date back to the beginning of human civilization. Ceremonies and rituals are usually cultural traditions, but not all. The variations between every culture’s rituals and ceremonies are what gives a group or custom their identity and twist of uniqueness, often giving significance to their ceremonies or rituals. A ritual or ceremony could be as simple as a monthly meeting among co-workers at the nearest bar to gather in fellowship or as significant as a wedding ceremony that hopefully occurs only once in a lifetime. According to Merriam-Webster, a ritual is defined as a practice ‘‘done in accordance with social custom or normal protocol’’ whereas a ceremony is defined ’’an action performed only formally with no deep significance’’. Both going hand-in-hand, what is defined as a ritual or ceremony falls under a decently sized umbrella. T.C. Boyle’s nineteen years old, Andre Gide

Although Boyle never refers to the boys trip to Greasy Lake as a ritual or ceremony, it is clear that by definition, the boys ' routine gatherings at Greasy Lake serve as a ritual among the people within the characters’ community. As far as meaning goes, the boys’ trips to Greasy Lake contain deep significance to Digby, Jeff, and the unnamed narrator and it is expressed within the text. The narrator says ’’We went up to the lake because everyone went there because we wanted to snuff the rich scent of possibility on the breeze, watch a girl take off her clothes and plunge into the festering murk, drink beer, smoke pot, howl at the stars…This was nature.’’ The importance of the ritual trip to Greasy Lake stems from their love for nature, as defined by Thomas Hobbes. Based on Thomas Hobbes