Character analysis of unnamed character in greasy lake by T. Coraghassan Boyle

The Character of the Unnamed Narrator in “Greasy Lake”
by T. Coraghassan Boyle



Bad Characters or Bad Character Wanna-be’s? “Greasy Lake” is the story of the unnamed narrator and his two friends who are bad characters until they run into a situation where they question just how bad they are. Just because they act badly and look bad does not mean they are bad. They are teenagers in a period, “when courtesy and winning ways are out of style when it is good to be bad, when they cultivate decadence like a taste.” (paragraph 1) They look bad, wearing torn-up leather jackets, slouching around with toothpicks in their mouths and wearing their shades morning, noon, and night. They have the attitude. They drive their parents’ cars fast and burn rubber as they pull out of the driveway. They have the bad habits. They drink “gin and grape juice, Tango, Thunderbird, and Bali Hai, sniff glue, and ether and what somebody claims is cocaine.” (paragraph 3) What...