short story “Greasy Lake,” T. Coraghessan Boyle employs the setting to reflect the state of morality and corruption of a society’s youth, create an appropriate atmosphere, and better develop the characters of the story. Boyle is able to achieve this by centering the story at the Greasy Lake and utilizing the Lake as both a setting and character. Greasy Lake is described by the narrator in a deliberately appalling to the average reader. However, the narrator and his friends see the lake as the most
time in their lives where they desire to be defiant and unruly. However, this vision is often removed from their minds when they come into contact with a situation that changes their whole mindset on what it really means to be bad. “Greasy Lake” by T. Coraghessan Boyle is a coming of age story about an adolescent boy and his two friends on their journey to self-awareness The protagonist and his friends create a bad-boy facade in order to fit in, but as the story unravels, they begin to remove their
In the short story “Greasy Lake,” the author T. Coraghessan Boyle introduces us to the narrator and his group of friends who are going to Greasy Lake to have some fun like the rest of the kids their age. Although the author does not give us the name of the narrator, we learn that he is nineteen just like his other two friends. As the story progresses, we learn that after arriving at the lake, they confuse someone’s car for their friend Tony Lovett’s car, so they decide to play a little joke. They
"Greasy Lake," by T. Coraghessan Boyle, is a short story about three teenage boys seeking and finding trouble on a summer night. These boys wander around town and decide to go to Greasy Lake to drink some gin. While there, they see someone who they think is their friend and turn on the their brights and lay on the horn. Consequently, this is not their friend and the guy in the car is not happy. They all begin to fight and the guy from the cars winds up knocked out. Though the girl from the car still
Greasy Lake by T. Coraghessan Boyle Nature has a powerful way of portraying good vs. bad, which parallels to the same concept intertwined with human nature. In the story “Greasy Lake” by T. Coraghessan Boyle, the author portrays this through the use of a lake by demonstrating its significance and relationship to the characters. At one time, the Greasy Lake was something of beauty and cleanliness, but then came to be the exact opposite. Through his writing, Boyle demonstrates how the setting
There is a common theme in both “Cons” by Jess Walter and “Greasy Lake” by T. Coraghessan Boyle and that is death. In both stories, someone dies and there is guilt carried with them. In “Cons”, One man kills a young couple who his walking on the sidewalk. In the story “Greasty Lake”, the teenage boy sees a dead body floating in the lake and doesn’t tell anyone. They both now must go through life with this negative memory. In the story “Cons” the narrator Kyle was driving home while he was drunk
Written in 1985, author T. Coraghessan Boyle’s “Greasy Lake” is a short story retelling a catalyst incidence that led to a mental change in a group of rebellious youths. The most critical scene where this change is most apparent surfaces after the “bad” guys left and the narrator was left plunged in the muddy river, contemplating his life and that of the corpse beside him. Through this short but intense story, Boyle has successfully integrated the elements of characterisation and setting to vividly
In his short story “Greasy Lake,” the lake with the community teenagers create a stereotypical scene of current youth pop culture. Many youth who read this story can find the ironic references and similarities with their lifestyle in today’s world. T. Coraghessan Boyle uses the setting of the story to expose a world lacking self-discipline and showing immorality amongst a community youth, which can sometimes be rather common today. This also aids in creating an atmosphere that surrounds suspense
using drugs and alcohol. Learn to make the right choices and choose your friends carefully. Boyle, T.C. (1985). Greasy Lake, Greasy Lake begins by
Found Within T. Coraghessan Boyle’s Greasy Lake Adolescence is a terrifying ride that everyone experiences. Often times we butt heads with one another. We go to places that reflect on who we are or want to be. At the endo of it all the irony of it is palpable. T. Coraghessan Boyle’s Greasy Lake explores this theme. Boyle is known for his creative and compelling use of contemporary dialogue. (“Boyle, T. Coraghessan”) This fits in well with all of the talking amongst the teens. Boyle was born “in