Symbolism In The Greasy Lake Story
“Greasy Lake” by T.C. Boyle follows a group of well read college students desperate to portray themselves as hardened badasses by drinking cheap alcohol and cruising around town till the break of dawn. On the third night of summer vacation, the boys fid themselves at Greasy Lake going toe to toe with a shady character they mistakenly identified as a friend. The ever-worsening situation results in the shady individual collapsing from a tire iron to the head, sending the group of boys into a destructive fervor. The boys narrowly escape persecution from a group of true greasers by plunging into the woods and waters of Greasy Lake where the narrator brushes shoulders with a water logged carcass and emerges changed by his experience. “Greasy Lake’s”
He eventually moves to Alaska and wants to run the Iditarod. He tells his stories and explains his relationships with the dogs. He explains the struggles using the literary concepts of symbols, theme, and metaphors to expand the reader’s understanding or the text. Symbol is an object representing something else. It is a concept or idea that uses something else to show it.
The complexities and dark backgrounds of the core relationships experienced by John Wade in the text In the Lake of the Woods, parallels the structure and presentation of the plot line that warps the underlining truth understood by the readers. Understood by the readers as manipulative, John Wade’s persona has the potential to be altered in the face of each relationship he forges through the modification of information flow towards his audience. In a similar manner, the configuration of chapters through the text promotes the reader’s natural thought process through decision making to determine the guilt of John Wade. As the text advances repeatedly through background, evidence and finally hypothesis with new situations suggested, the information
“Deer peering from the fringe of trees” is one personification that Collins uses to put the driver and the deer on an equal emotional playing field (14).The reader feels like there are two people feeling the same way. Collins gives his driving situation the qualities of an arithmetic problem, stating that he has control of the “instruments of measuring motion, pressure, heat, the arcana of the engine” which are his known numbers, while his unknown variable is the deer lurking on the fringe of the woods (9-10). This personification creates a need for an analytical thought process of the unknown variable, or the unknown deer. The exaggeration of the motion of the deer, “locked in death-leaps in the sparkle of headlights” creates a slightly humorous effect of the severity of the deer in the headlights (24). The humorous effect helps the reader understand that the deer in headlights is a serious and dangerous incident, but does so in a way that keeps the reader at
The protagonist of In the Lake of the Woods, John Wade can attribute most of his traits to his experiences and choices that he has made in his life. Specifically, his childhood and fighting in Vietnam affected John immensely, in which shaped him into the secretive and murderous man he is today. While the events of his childhood laid the original framework for this instability, it was truly the war that ingrained it within John. The secretive and distrusting nature of John originates from his own father's secretiveness he witnessed as a child.
Symbolism shows up again later on in the book providing context/background information as they cross the Soldier’s Bridge. The symbolism that shows up here isn’t exactly the Soldier’s Bridge, but how people were identified based on if they had a car, what type of car they had, and what color they were. An example of this is the Soldier’s Bridge. “More than once when I had been in the wagon with Mama or Big Ma, we had to back off the bridge when a white family started across after we were already on it.” (pg 138)
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.
The most accurate representation of one’s character and morality is their actions. In the opulent neighborhoods of the East Egg and West Egg, the majority of characters act immorally and dishonestly, especially towards inferior counterparts living in the Valley of Ashes (Elmore 428). Characters in The Great Gatsby are defined by their actions behind the wheel; often, driving ability and cars indicate character's attitude towards life and their relationships. Fitzgerald often uses cars as a means of revealing “carelessness and materialism of his characters” (Lance 29). Fitzgerald consistently uses personification to link cars with the personality of its driver, further developing the connection between characters and their driving.
The narrator uses symbolism in many aspects of the story. The first and most noticeable symbols are the cars. Early on in the story we are told that the narrator drives his mother's Bel Air which
In the movie Big Fish water is an important symbol throughout the whole movie. Without water us humans cannot survive or live, it is a basic necessity for life, our bodies are 55-65% water. (water.usgs.gov) water is a symbol of life we need it to live. In the movie one example of water being used as a symbol for life is when Will had come home from Paris, Edward is laying in bed and on his table beside his bed is a big pitcher of water. At this point Edward looks very ill, he looks pale and clammy, he drink some water which could also be symbolizing that he is in want of health and life.
Another symbol is the road, which is a desolate, transient thing full of danger, the man refers to them as "blood cults". The director really emphasises the importance of the fire by the way it contrasts against the gloomy dark post apocalyptic
“Symbolism is the use of symbols to signify ideas and qualities by giving them symbolic meanings that are different from their literal sense.” Symbols can add a deeper meaning than just an object itself that the author is trying to make. Symbols can also foreshadow what is yet to come. The audience can interpret a symbol in many ways it depends on their experience. In Southside Chicago the Younger family is struggling to have hope as they are always facing society.
One of the most important symbols of this story is Harrison; he symbolizes the revolution that everyone wants ad needs, he also symbolizes independence and doing what you think is right. We know this because he is the only one in the story who at least tries to gain independence and freedom. Another important symbol are the handicaps; which symbolize the oppression, conformity and the false equality. The handicaps show this because they are the tools the government uses to oppress people and stop them from being themselves. Symbolism shows the tone of foreboding because every symbol relates to something that could happen like the handicaps are like chains that hold us back and Harrison is like the revolutionist with a new idea or
For example, he uses gothic imagery to describe the surroundings of the ravine. “Black crickets and dark green frogs and the black stream. The colours black and green can be associated with the atmosphere of the place, giving a scary ambience, making it more vulnerable. Bradbury also uses symbolism at the end of the story “She wished she were back in that time now, drinking from it, the night still young and not begun”. Here she is looking back at her life, wishing she could go back in time and redo the day.
It serves as a contrast between who Arnold is and who he is disguised as. The car symbolizes the fantasy and the reality aspect of Arnold. The new paint job on his car is used to symbolize Arnold’s fake disguise that he puts on to lure Connie in. Arnold’s car becomes a major example of his dark appearance and nature. The color of his car which is gold represents being flashy.
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