On Greasy Lake - Research Paper Example

Evidence of being wealthy is because firstly, Digby’s parents pay his tuition at Cornell. Secondly, the narrator’s parents bought him a nice car. Thirdly, the boys live in a town with “housing developments, shopping malls and street lights, (Boyle, 396). Lastly they abuse drugs like coke and cocaine which are not cheap. The boys being nineteen years old think they are now adults and can do whatever they want, and they choose to be known as horrific boys in the small town (Youngs, 23). In my view, the boys option of being dreadful may have been brought about by the fact that they were living in a wealthy neighborhood where nothing much happens so they were bored (McDowell & Hostetler, 24).

The narrator describes himself and his friends as appallingly awful characters. Their outrageous reputation is revealed by their clothes, the narrator says, “we wore torn up leather jackets, slouched around with toothpicks in our mouths, sniffed glue and ether and what somebody claimed was cocaine (Boyle, 125).” Parents want their young children to be clean shaven, but in this case, “…Digby wore a gold star in his right ear”. To further characterize their gross character the narrator describes the manner in which the three boys lived their daily lives.

He says “.Able to mange a ford with lousy shocks over a rutted and gutted blacktop road at 85 while rolling a joint (Boyle, 124).” This illustrates how the boys were living recklessly and dangerously, but they are not terrible as they try to prove. This is evidenced when Digby allows his parents to pay his tuition fees to Cornell because he wants to go to school. These actions get the boys think they are the toughest boys around. In my judgment, I reckon the boys to be small adults who are rebellious and aggressive (McDowell & Hostetler, 25).

This is a stage of life that everybody has to go through just like the three teenagers were experiencing. The boys in Greasy Lake situation are made worse because of boredom and resources they can afford to spend around. The night the reality of the consequences of being horrible dawns on them is when they run into much trouble than they anticipated. The boys are troublesome as well as naughty; thus they decide to play a grim trick on their friend. It is three days after the summer break and the boys go “in search of thrills…” (Boyle, 120).

They go into their usual place where a majority of people like to hang out during the day, but they go at night. The boys are soon to realize that bad boys are those born in the streets and who fend for themselves on the streets. As for me, I think the boys are not that tough they are just naive. This is because they are still young and have no clue as to the realities of life (Youngs, 24). Furthermore, they own nothing as they drive their mother’s cars and use their dad’s money. They are just trying to prove what they are not.

Greasy Lake was once a clear and magnificent water body, but time has deteriorated it the author describes the river as “. Now it was fetid and murky, the mud banks glittering with broken glass and strewn beer cans and the charred remains of bonfires. .. So stripped of vegetation, it looked like the air force had strafed it” (Boyle, 125). The place is just awful, but I can relate the symbolism depicted by the author. Just like the boys were courteous sometime before, as one confesses that he has never had to fight since sixth grade, they are now filthy, just