Outlook on "Greasy Lake"

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“Outlook on Greasy Lake” In the story “Greasy Lake” Boyle paints a vivid picture of three young boys who were seeking trouble heading to greasy lake, in the trails of their adventure they take on a much stronger man and when the journey has come to an end they learn lessons about themselves. The young men went seeking adventure at a local hangout, the lake. After playing a practical joke on one of their friends at Greasy Lake, the three teens quickly realize that they are in for more adventure than they had aimed for. By the end of the night, the narrator matures remarkably after him and his friends, Digby and Jeff, run into some people more messed up than them. On a late night the young boys head to the lake with the wrong intentions, seeking trouble, and trouble is what they find. Typical of young teens that when young and naive, tend to make decisions which they think is right in order to gain their self-identity. They want to be popular and so they think that if they become bad, they will stand out from the crowd. They wanted to stand out and feel the experience of “being bad boys” (529). In order to achieve the feeling, they went ahead and befriended a bad boy; they almost raped a girl and murdered someone. As the young boys were arriving to the lake, they noticed there were symbols of danger everywhere. For example, early in the story, the narrator describes the car they drive to Greasy Lake as an old station wagon, clearly not the “ride” of a tough-guy. When the boys arrive at Greasy Lake, they see a “chopper, leaned against its kickstand” and next to it is a 57 Chevy parked on the shore (Boyle 530). Both of the vehicles are hotrods that indicate a greasy site to see. The Chevy owner is a tough muscular character who beats the stuff out of the narrator and his friends. The biker, whom is regarded as a

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