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Analysis Of T. Coraghessan Boyle's Short Story Greasy Lake

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Can an experience change a person’s outlook on life? One might think that are the toughest person, but eventually they will realize they are not the only one. The exact same idea is shown in T. Coraghessan Boyle’s short story “Greasy Lake.” The short story “Greasy Lake” is about three friends, the narrator, Digby and Jeff. One night the narrator and his friends go to Greasy Lake in the narrator’s mother’s car. Later, they encounter a man they refer to as a bad character and his girlfriend. The narrator knocks out the bad character and sexually assault the girlfriend. After, they see people coming towards them. They begin to hide. The narrator jumps in Greasy Lake and finds a dead body. In the short story “Greasy Lake” the narrator’s Thoughts, …show more content…

When the narrator is describing him and his friends, the narrator mentions that “We were all dangerous characters then. We wore torn-up leather jackets, slouched around with toothpicks in our mouths, sniffed glue and what somebody claimed was cocaine” (687). So, the narrator’s idea of a tough person is dressing like rebels and doing drugs. Latter, the narrator also mentions that “We drank gin and grape juice, Tango, Thunder-bird, and Bali Hai. We were nineteen. We were Bad” then “At night, we went up to the Greasy Lake” (684). The narrator is considering themselves as bad people because they are nineteen and drink alcohol. Also, the narrator’s thoughts reveal that to him he and his friends are the toughest …show more content…

While the group of people are chasing him, the narrator jumps in Greasy lake to hide. Then, in Greasy lake the narrator screams, “AAAAArrrgh! I shot from the water like a torpedo, the dead man rotating to expose a mossy beard and eyes cold as the moon” (691). The narrator is not expecting to find a dead body in Greasy Lake. Therefore, the narrator is terrified and is starting to realize he could get in huge trouble. Then, the narrator starts to think about the consequences of his actions. He says that “Perhaps other possibilities occurred to them a well—police, jail cells, justice of the peace, …” (693). The narrator now knows that he is not tough because he is now afraid of going to jail for sexually assaulting a girl and attacking the bad

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