A Brief Comparison Of Greasy Lake And Battle Royal

The Art of Maturing: A Comparison of “Greasy Lake” and “Battle Royal”
As we grow and mature as people, we begin to see the errors in our ways. Whether it is as small as being late for class or as huge as being arrested, everyone has made a mistake. Hopefully, we can learn from this experience and continue growing up. In “Battle Royal and “Greasy Lake” the narrators find themselves growing up from a mistake that teaches them a life-changing lesson. “Battle Royal” follows the experience of an African American boy who is blindfolded and forced to fight other boys like himself solely for the entertainment of rich white men. He ultimately listens to advice given to him by his grandfather and pretends to be on the white man’s side in order to win.

In “Battle Royal”, the narrator says, “I was naïve. I was looking for myself” (Ellison 1). Similarly, in “Greasy Lake”, the narrator states, “We struck elaborate poses to show that we didn’t give a shit about anything’’(Boyle …). These two quotes explicitly show how the narrators perceive themselves; both of them lacked identity which additionally shows a lack a maturity. As each story progresses the two narrators have an epiphany about their own identity. These epiphanies demonstrate the newfound maturity in the boys. In “Greasy Lake” the boys learn that they should always be happy to be alive. This shows their new maturity through their appreciation and contentment. Alternatively, in “Battle Royal”, the narrator grows to listen to the advice his grandfather gave him and outsmart those who keep him down. He matures in the sense that his pride does not prevent him from getting something he

In “Battle Royal”, the narrator realizes the aristocratic men only want to hear about topics they agree with, while in “Greasy Lake” the boys understand they are not the bad boys they want to appear as. In his final speech towards the white men, the narrator of “Battle Royal” says, “We of the younger generation extol the wisdom of that great leader and educator who first spoke these flaming words of wisdom” (Ellison 10). This quote shows how the narrator is lying about how he feels to deceive the people around him. He realizes he can escape from the world he is trapped in by giving them what they want. On the other hand, the narrator in “Greasy Lake” says, "I looked back. The girl was still standing there, watching us, her shoulders slumped, hands outstretched’’ (Boyle …). The final line of this short story shows how although the girls are still hoping the boys will be their typical bad-boy personas, they decided that they do not need drugs for the rush of