On "Greasy Lake"

Boyle’s “Greasy Lake” is a narrative about three boys who desire to be bad. Ultimately they realize what that entails is more than just an image, but rather an unattractive lifestyle.

The tale begins with a comical tone. The boys are presented as being “bad,” yet they drive their “parents’ whining station wagons” and “struck elaborate poses to show that we didn’t give a shit about anything.” It is obvious that they do care a lot about the ways in which others perceive them, and they seemingly have unrealistic views of themselves. They “went up to the lake because everyone went there,” because they wanted to smell the “scent of possibility,” which reveals how much the boys just wanted to fit in by having a “bad” reputation.

The humor continues as the story progresses. The boy meets up with the “dangerous characters” of Digby and Jeff. As they are driving the boys spot what they believed to be their friend Tony Lovett’s car and decide to play a joke on him since they think he is with a girl. However it wasn’t their friend’s car and this is where their prank begins to go completely wrong. It is overwhelming apparent that they were “looking for something we never found.”

The boys thought that they would “go on to new heights of adventure and daring,” and they did just that. As their practical joke backfires on them, the boys find themselves in potentially dangerous situations.

After losing the car keys and misidentifying the car and its owner, the boys are encountered with a “bad greasy character” who was a “man of action.” Obviously upset by the boys flashing their brights at him the man goes on to kick the protagonist with his “steel-toed boots” and chips his tooth. The protagonist’s killer instincts kick in. He picks up his tire iron and he "went for it." Then he was just "terrified." His feelings and actions reveal that he is not at all a "bad boy" but rather a wannabe or a poser.

The boys later go on to attempt raping the girl who was the bad greasy character's passenger as well as encounter a dead body. At the end of the narrative a second girl approaches the group looking for Al (the body who they found prior.) She holds out her hand for them, and the story concludes.

Through the humor of the situations and the boys' unexpected adventures with danger it is apparent that the initial desire to be bad is no longer a wish for the boys.