Reflection Of Greasy Lake

Words: 469
Pages: 2

Throughout life we are given obstacles which make us who we are, yet we only learn from these lessons once we fully grasp what the consequences are. In “Greasy Lake” by T.C. Boyle, it focuses on three nineteen year olds, Digby, Jeff and the main character whose name is not mention think being bad is the new black. Throughout the story they desire the adrenaline that comes with seeking adventure, so they choose to seek adventure at greasy lake and eventually run into trouble. The characters in “Greasy Lake” had opportunities to make better decisions throughout the entire story because they knew they were just trying to look the part of being bad. In the next book, “A&P” by John Updike, it focuses on a cashier named Sammy who is in his late …show more content…
Boyle’s, “Greasy Lake” it shows how three young adults want to be perceived as “bad” but do not fully understand what realities come along with that title. The story centers itself on “social rewards”, which is being acceptance and respected from peers. In the beginning of the story, the main character describes both of his friends as “bad”, but before he says that he states that Digby allows his father to pay for his tuition at Cornell, and Jeff was thinking about quitting school to become head-shop proprietor. Instantly the reader, can tell that they are in a phase where they are confused about whom they are in society. Digby is enrolled in an Ivy League University which his father pays for, with that being said we can automatically assumed that he is intelligent and spoiled. Then we have Jeff, who is perceived as troublesome, he is thinking about quitting school to open a drug store, we can assume that he is the closes thing to being bad that there is for them. In “What is wrong with the Teenage Mind” it states, “ There is the graver case of children who are faced with the uncompromising reality of the drive for sex, power and respect, without the expertise and impulse control it takes to ward off unwanted pregnancy or violence”. Since the story has these three young adult seeking respect and acceptance, they choose violence as the answer when they feel