mnh /
Dec 8, 2014 #1
I had to write an essay about how the point of view affected the meaning of the story and I had to use three or more quotes to support it. I did is based on the short story "Greasy Lake" by T. Coraghessan Boyle. I don't think it's crucial that you actually know they story, I just need to know if the essay is okay and effective. Thank you. (:
Point of View in "Greasy Lake"
In "Greasy Lake," T. Coraghessan Boyle uses a first person point of view to illustrate a detailed encounter that taught him that pretending to be someone that you aren't, will inevitable affect your judgment and leave you facing major consequences. By using a first person point of view, the narrator is able to take the reader on a journey of a past experience that shaped his life in a major way. The point of view allowed the reader to experience the story through specific, first hand detail from the dropping of the keys to discovering the grimy body floating in Greasy Lake, and every thought and action in between.
Since the now adult narrator is telling a story of his youth, he is able to relay that he knew where he went wrong and how the events could have easily been avoided. For example, he addresses that his "first mistake," (59) the most crucial mistake, was dropping the keys in the dark night so they had no escape. He refers to this mistake as a "tactical error, as damaging and irreversible in its way as Westmoreland's decision to dig in at Khe Sanh" (62). Through this specific narration, the reader sees that there is certain (humorous) regret in his tone that shows he has grown from the situation and developed into a more mature character.
In a large majority of the story, there is an obvious tone of sarcasm that makes the serious events seem quite humorous. While the actual events took place during a time "when it was good to be bad," (1) the narrator lists several laughable characteristics that defined him and his friends, Digby and Jeff, as "dangerous characters" (22). They were "able to manage a ford with lousy shocks" (26), they could roll a joint that was "compact as a tootsie roll stick," (27) they could lounge on booming speakers, and they wore mirror shades almost everywhere they went, no matter how unnecessary (like the shower). Digby even allowed his dad to pay his tuition at Cornell. They were superficially bad.
This humor continues to surface throughout the story, even in the most serious moments. Instead of using a terrifying, masculine description, the narrator compares the non-negotiating, bad, greasy character's first kick to the kick of a "lusty rockette" (74). The sarcastic tone acts as evidence to the previous made statement that the story shows growth within the narrator who is able to joke about his mistakes and share the story as if he were re-living it.
By using a humorous first person point of view, the narrator was able to relay the point that he and his friends were not bad characters at all. They were well-educated (so we assume) boys who got caught up in a dangerous situation that left them face to face with a real bad character who displayed what they were ironically trying to imitate.
Point of View in "Greasy Lake"
In "Greasy Lake," T. Coraghessan Boyle uses a first person point of view to illustrate a detailed encounter that taught him that pretending to be someone that you aren't, will inevitable affect your judgment and leave you facing major consequences. By using a first person point of view, the narrator is able to take the reader on a journey of a past experience that shaped his life in a major way. The point of view allowed the reader to experience the story through specific, first hand detail from the dropping of the keys to discovering the grimy body floating in Greasy Lake, and every thought and action in between.
Since the now adult narrator is telling a story of his youth, he is able to relay that he knew where he went wrong and how the events could have easily been avoided. For example, he addresses that his "first mistake," (59) the most crucial mistake, was dropping the keys in the dark night so they had no escape. He refers to this mistake as a "tactical error, as damaging and irreversible in its way as Westmoreland's decision to dig in at Khe Sanh" (62). Through this specific narration, the reader sees that there is certain (humorous) regret in his tone that shows he has grown from the situation and developed into a more mature character.
In a large majority of the story, there is an obvious tone of sarcasm that makes the serious events seem quite humorous. While the actual events took place during a time "when it was good to be bad," (1) the narrator lists several laughable characteristics that defined him and his friends, Digby and Jeff, as "dangerous characters" (22). They were "able to manage a ford with lousy shocks" (26), they could roll a joint that was "compact as a tootsie roll stick," (27) they could lounge on booming speakers, and they wore mirror shades almost everywhere they went, no matter how unnecessary (like the shower). Digby even allowed his dad to pay his tuition at Cornell. They were superficially bad.
This humor continues to surface throughout the story, even in the most serious moments. Instead of using a terrifying, masculine description, the narrator compares the non-negotiating, bad, greasy character's first kick to the kick of a "lusty rockette" (74). The sarcastic tone acts as evidence to the previous made statement that the story shows growth within the narrator who is able to joke about his mistakes and share the story as if he were re-living it.
By using a humorous first person point of view, the narrator was able to relay the point that he and his friends were not bad characters at all. They were well-educated (so we assume) boys who got caught up in a dangerous situation that left them face to face with a real bad character who displayed what they were ironically trying to imitate.
