We were not born to initially understand the responsibilities of adulthood. Everything after birth is a learned behavior, we either visually or physically learn something; we are taught how to walk, how to run, and how to write are own name. As we grow older we are more aware of our surroundings, so we are able to choose from what we find an interest in. Figuring out what we like helps in deciding what we want to learn and what we want to become, all of this is based off the actions we see in other individuals and our surroundings. The narrator in “Greasy Lake” by T. Coraghessan Boyle, has altered his characteristics throughout the story, but by the end he comes to the realization of who he wants to be, by accepting and acknowledging his faults, being aware of who is around, and choosing to let go of negative events that occurred in his life, due to this the narrator has become mature.
As the narrator was turning nineteen, an age that is considered to be an adult, change was occurring around him which caused him to lack the maturity needed to take the responsibilities of an adult. “There was a time when courtesy and winning went out of style, when it was good to be bad, when you cultivated decadence like a taste.”(687). The quote in the previous sentence shows a change that occurred in a society and its views, which states that it is good to create or be involved with corruption. The change caused the narrator to try and fit in with the new “cool”, since he was young and naïve, it was easier for the narrator to go along with what everybody else was doing because he lacked awareness in his surroundings and what he was getting involved with. Due to the lack of maturity in the narrator, he is not capable of making his own decisions or is able to show that he is the leader of his actions. “We were all dangerous characters then. We wore torn-up leather jackets, slouched around with toothpicks in our mouths, sniffed glue and ether and what somebody claimed was cocaine. …. We were nineteen. We were bad.”(687). The diction in the beginning of the short story shows the narrator’s lack of leadership, words such as “We” and “our”, are words that are used to describe a group, in other words the group he followed. The importance of this quote not only shows how the narrator followed the young guys, but it also shows the confidence they had when acting in a way that was considered “cool”. The attire and physical appearance described in the quote shows how masculine and tough the guys in the group thought they were, “torn-up leather jackets, slouched around with toothpicks in our mouths.”(687), this is significant because it shows their demeanor, and where their focus was at. Although I do agree with Dennis Vannatta that the narrator became more mature after experiencing certain events, Dominick Grace does prove that even though the narrator and his “friends” believed they were “bad characters” they were not. Dominick Grace states that “The youths in this story are clearly rebels without much cause and without much real need for rebellion. They are clearly not the genuinely bad characters they think they are”(Grace). “I was there one night, late, in the company of two bad characters.”(688). Already the narrator is convinced that the two guys he was hanging out with, were the true definition of bad characters. The narrator continues by describing the actions and appearance of the two guys, “Digby wore a gold star in his right ear and allowed his father to pay his tuition at Cornell;” (688). Grace asserts that “Digby’s gold star in his right ear is calculated to irritate a parent, perhaps, but is hardly a major symbol of rebellion, and his rebellion is largely subverted by …show more content…
I though escape. […] I was gone.” The narrator took off and ran, he kept running, and running until he was waist deep in the “Greasy Lake”, “The water lapped at my waist […] I paused. Listened. […] there were male voices, angry, excited, and the high-pitched ticking of the second car’s engine. I waded deeper, […] As I was about to take the plunge – at the very instant I dropped my shoulder for the first slashing stroke-I blundered into
As the narrator was turning nineteen, an age that is considered to be an adult, change was occurring around him which caused him to lack the maturity needed to take the responsibilities of an adult. “There was a time when courtesy and winning went out of style, when it was good to be bad, when you cultivated decadence like a taste.”(687). The quote in the previous sentence shows a change that occurred in a society and its views, which states that it is good to create or be involved with corruption. The change caused the narrator to try and fit in with the new “cool”, since he was young and naïve, it was easier for the narrator to go along with what everybody else was doing because he lacked awareness in his surroundings and what he was getting involved with. Due to the lack of maturity in the narrator, he is not capable of making his own decisions or is able to show that he is the leader of his actions. “We were all dangerous characters then. We wore torn-up leather jackets, slouched around with toothpicks in our mouths, sniffed glue and ether and what somebody claimed was cocaine. …. We were nineteen. We were bad.”(687). The diction in the beginning of the short story shows the narrator’s lack of leadership, words such as “We” and “our”, are words that are used to describe a group, in other words the group he followed. The importance of this quote not only shows how the narrator followed the young guys, but it also shows the confidence they had when acting in a way that was considered “cool”. The attire and physical appearance described in the quote shows how masculine and tough the guys in the group thought they were, “torn-up leather jackets, slouched around with toothpicks in our mouths.”(687), this is significant because it shows their demeanor, and where their focus was at. Although I do agree with Dennis Vannatta that the narrator became more mature after experiencing certain events, Dominick Grace does prove that even though the narrator and his “friends” believed they were “bad characters” they were not. Dominick Grace states that “The youths in this story are clearly rebels without much cause and without much real need for rebellion. They are clearly not the genuinely bad characters they think they are”(Grace). “I was there one night, late, in the company of two bad characters.”(688). Already the narrator is convinced that the two guys he was hanging out with, were the true definition of bad characters. The narrator continues by describing the actions and appearance of the two guys, “Digby wore a gold star in his right ear and allowed his father to pay his tuition at Cornell;” (688). Grace asserts that “Digby’s gold star in his right ear is calculated to irritate a parent, perhaps, but is hardly a major symbol of rebellion, and his rebellion is largely subverted by …show more content…
I though escape. […] I was gone.” The narrator took off and ran, he kept running, and running until he was waist deep in the “Greasy Lake”, “The water lapped at my waist […] I paused. Listened. […] there were male voices, angry, excited, and the high-pitched ticking of the second car’s engine. I waded deeper, […] As I was about to take the plunge – at the very instant I dropped my shoulder for the first slashing stroke-I blundered into