Greasy Lake Essay

1256 Words6 Pages
Our Face: In The Face Of Death Personal desire will ultimately supersede the desire to conform when faced with a life changing or life threatening situation. In T. Coraghessan Boyle’s short story “Greasy Lake”, this idea is best represented by the narrator and the characters of Digby and Jeff. They prove this point by their acts of conforming to fit in with each other, denying to conform with their parents, making the same mistakes as each other, and ultimately deciding on the lifestyle they want to live. In “Greasy Lake”, the protagonist character known only as the narrator presents a detailed account of the lifestyle he lives alongside his two friends: Digby and Jeff. Initially, he describes the three of them as “bad” characters, while giving an ironically un-bad description of the activities that entice them. The narrator considers their exploits of “drinking gin and grape juice”, wearing “ripped up leather jackets” and wheeling “our parent’s whining station wagons onto the street” as being “bad”. The narrator does not take into account the possibility that their exploits may not in fact be all that bad. The concept of them being bad yet they use their parent’s vehicles is a complete contradiction that I think none of the characters realize simply due to the fact that they fit in with each other and there is no reason to question it. All three of them, especially the narrator want nothing more than to fit in with the others. None of them seem to question whether the way they spend their time is what they want or not. They don’t consider that the lifestyle they live may not actually be the lifestyle they want to live. As long as their parents are defied and they’re fitting in, they don’t question what may be a want and what is simply them conforming. The parents of Digby, Jeff and the narrator play an important role in the story as well, although none of
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