An Analysis Of Under The Radar And T. C. Boyle's Greasy Lake

Smells like Teen Spirit and a Red Roof Suite
Unlike novels, short stories require an author to tell an interesting story with fleshed out characters. To create such a piece, the author must have a methodical approach to the words they choose. So how can the authors choice of words sharpen the devolvement of the story? Richard Ford's story, "Under the Radar," and T.C Boyle's, "Greasy Lake," are great examples of how astute word choice provide depth into establishing the setting, developing characters, and as a catalyst for how the events will unfold.
T.C Boyle's, "Greasy Lake," focuses on the conflicts of three 19-year olds, set in the 1960s, between their perceived self-image and the true self within. The story tells the tale of three

To convey the morals and ideas of the 1960's American youth, Boyle uses the rebellious attitude of "We're bad and we don't care for anything," and references to the war in Vietnam. The narrator often describes himself and his friends as being bad and dangerous characters, and this becomes more convincing as we read the events that unfolded in the lake. Boyle makes subtle, yet profound references to the war in Vietnam. For example, when describing the lake, he mentions "There was a single ravaged island a hundred miles from shore, so stripped of vegetation it looked as if the air force had strafed it" (168). Boyle references Vietnam again when describing the narrator's mistake of losing his keys "This was a tactical error, as damaging and irreversible in its way as Westmoreland's decision to dig in at Khe Sanh" (169). Most importantly, is Boyle's choice of words in detailing the Greasy Lake. The lake is described as once being sacred and clean, but now an image of filth and damage "The Indians called it Wakan, a reference to the clarity of its waters. Now it was fetid and murky, the mud banks glittering with broken glass and strewn with beer cans and the charred remains of bonfires" (168). The lake is used is described as having a “bad breath of decay,” (172) it is representative of the narrator and all of the youth at the lake and the decaying of their

Ford's depiction of the environment during the Reeves drive to the Nicholsons' house plays an acute role in developing the story. The strange, dimming spring twilight evening gives a mysterious and dangerous vibe. This is intentionally done to mirror the relationship between Marjorie and Steven. The Quaker Bridge Road is described as "dark and shadowy" while on the other hand, the woods are described as "[D]ense young timber, beech and alder saplings in pale leaf...Peepers were calling out from the watery lows" (20). I believe Quaker Bridge Road to be symbolic of Marjorie's personality, and nature to be of Steven. Further evidence of this is presented in Ford's description of the sky "Beyond the stand of saplings was the darkened trunks, the sky was still pale yellow with the day's light, through here on Quaker Bridge Road it was nearly dark" (20). Ford paints the scenery as a beautiful, sweet spring day, but the day is rapidly being devoured by the rising