Greasy Lake
When a person undergoes an epiphany, or experiences a "spiritual flash", it changes his perspectives about life. A person's attitudes and opinions are directly and indirectly related to their emotions. In Boyle's story "Greasy Lake", we will witness quick and abrupt changes in the lives of the main characters caused by a senseless and immature act. Innocence and freedoms are almost lost during the characters needs to be non-conformists. At the beginning of the story, the narrator makes an effort to depict himself and his two friends (Digby and Jeff) as hard-hitting characters. He says, "We wore torn up leather jackets, slouched around with toothpicks in our mouths, sniffed glue and ether and what somebody claimed was cocaine. When we wheeled our parents whining station wagons out on to the street we left a patch of rubber half a block long" (page 129). In addition, the narrator went on to say Digby wore a gold star in his ear and Jeff was thinking about quitting school in order to sell drugs. The narrator is trying to flaunt a "bad boy" image for himself and his two friends. Although the narrator is trying to describe their lifestyles as wreck less and carefree, they are simply acting like ordinary 19 year old rebellious teenag
The narrator hit the greasy character over the head knocking him unconscious into the lake. After the narrator realizes the greasy character is not dead, it is almost like he breathed a sigh of relief. There was a smell in the air, raw and sweet at the same tine, the smell of the sun firing bud and opening blossoms" (page 135). This is evident when he says, "Even before the very bad character in greasy jeans and engineer boots ripped out of the driver's door, I began to realize that this chrome blue was much lighter than the robin's-egg of Tony's car, and that Tony's car didn't have rear mounted speakers. All of these examples are proving the narrator and his friends' true essences. Judging from their expressions, Digby and Jeff were privately groping toward the same inevitable and unsettling conclusion as I was" (page 131). The characters in Boyle's "Greasy Lake" learn some of life's most import lessons the hard way. This to me signifies a complete transformation from boyhood in to manhood. when suddenly a raw torn shriek cut through me like all the juice in all the electric chair in the county" (page 132). A drastic change in a person's life, whether it is positive or negative, affects the way he views his current situations. He began by saying, "We were all standing over him in a circle, gritting our teeth, jerking our neck, our limbs and hands and feet twitching with glandular discharges. The narrator and his friends experienced and array of emotions that most people will never have to undergo. These examples prove the characters have not developed a "positive intelligence". Upon entering the lake, the young men spotted a parked car that resembled Tony Lovett's.
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