Supposed Badness

     T. Coraghessan Boyle's short story "Greasy Lake" is a well constructed piece of fiction with tells about the dangers of being bad. I liked this story a lot because it was well written and it is still very pertinent because we still live in a culture where being bad is considered cool. The audience sees the story through the eyes of an unnamed narrator who characterizes himself and his friends as being "dangerous characters". The story contrasts the narrators supposed badness with the actual badness he and his friends come across while at Greasy Lake all while giving descriptions of the nature around them and their skewed views of what is natural.

     First of all, the narrator and his two friends, Digby and Jeff, are clearly not as bad as they would present themselves to be. They drive their parents cars and live in some sort of suburban area. They present themselves as being bad, and mostly compare themselves to pop culture characters. It is clear that their experience with badness is limited to the world fiction. When the characters are faced with real badness, they are no match for it. The "bad greasy character" beats them until the narrator takes out a tire iron he says he has used "exactly twice before, to change tires" (Boyle). The narrator believes he has killed the bad greasy character and imagines going to prison. This shows that the characters have absolutely no experience with being actually bad and doing illegal things. 

    Then, the girlfriend of the bad greasy character comes out of the car and screams, calling them animals. Ironically, the narrator calls her a "fox," implying that she is also an animal. The men attempt to rape her and almost don't even acknowledge the crime. The narrator says that "in the space of five minutes [he had] struck down one greasy character and blundered into the waterlogged carcass of a second" (Boyle). He says this without even acknowledging that within those five minutes, he attempts to rape a woman. This shows the narrator's skewed sense of what is natural. He describes his lust for the woman as the "purest primal badness," not even taking responsibility for the fact that he tried to rape someone.

     The imagery of nature is conflicting. At some points, there are very beautiful, natural pictures painted for us, showing the way nature is indifferent to the struggles of humans. This contrasts with the images of filth and destruction in some parts of nature. The lake is described as "fetid and murky, the mud banks glittering with broken glass and strewn with beer cans," (Boyle). This shows the destruction people can bring with them to natural places.

     This story is very well written, giving the audience subtle messages along with larger ones. The primary message is that while supposed "badness" may be desirable, actual badness is terrifying and harrowing. The author also sends a subtle message about the way women are viewed in society and how the men in the story have a very skewed idea of what is "natural" in that situation. Lastly, the conflicting descriptions of nature as both beautiful and corrupted reflects the characters in the story. They are not inherently bad, but society and other forces have helped them along their way there. I like this story because there is ambiguity about the characters. They are neither good or bad, they are just people.