“Greasy Lake” Response

In T.C. Boyle’s short story, “Greasy Lake,” tells of three teenage boys who try to be “bad” yet end up in a dangerous and traumatic situation.  From the first paragraph, Boyle makes it clear that the narrator, Digby and Jeff are not really “bad” but young boys, just trying on a new persona.  They want to be “dangerous characters” but don't really know what being a dangerous character entails.   They've tried snorted “what someone claimed was cocaine” and raced around in their parent’s station wagons.  Although they tried, none of the boys were truly “bad” in any sense of the word.  Despite his ear piercing, Digby is a student at Cornell, still supported by his father, and although Jeff is contemplating dropping out, he also appears to be a college student.  These Ivy League, suburban boys are a far cry from a real shifty character, their “bad boy” personas can be read as false and inauthentic.

Nevertheless, the three friends stay out late into the night, driving around, eating fast food and drinking fruity liquor.  Very late at night they decide to go up to one of their favorite haunts, Greasy Lake, and then the trouble begins as the situation gets out of hand.  After misidentifying their friend’s car, they are forced into an altercation with a true “bad greasy character.”  The narrator claims he “was terrified,” showing he is not really the tough, dangerous character he claims to be.  In the fight that follows, the man is knocked unconscious and then, overcome with lust, the boys attempt to rape his girlfriend.  However, another car soon approaches and the frightened boys bolt.  As the narrator lays in the mud while the angry boyfriend and other men trash his car, harass and throw rocks at him, he reflects on his situation, even contemplating suicide for fear of repercussions from his parents for wrecking their Bel Air and decides the only person in the world worse off than he, is the dead man they found there.

However, this is also a story of reform.   As the boys are leaving, they see two girls searching the dead man’s motorcycle, clearly looking for someone.  They yell for “Al” but the narrator, Jeff and Digby know no one will answer.  One of the girls, when she goes over their car to ask if they’d seen Al, invites them “party” with her and her friend.  However, traumatized by their experiences and possibly seeing the error of their ways, the Digby answers “No thanks, some other time.”  It seems as though Digby, and possibly the other boys, have realized that although they may try, they are far from the “bad” boys or “dangerous characters” they fancy themselves to be.  The incident at Greasy Lake seems to be the catalyst for friends to reform their ways and stop playing the phony “bad boy” character.