Exploring the Thematic Link Between the Epigraph and the Greasy Lake Essay

The †Greasy Lake† seems to be influence by Bruce Springsteen †Spirit in the Night†. It is like used an epigraph from his song even though its not about the characters of the story. The characters and actions are completely made up. The †Greasy Lake† seemed to just imitate the song and take on its a free spirit. The â€Å"Bad boy† image in the â€Å"Greasy Lake† was admired and planned as the boys days continued, it was not original. We can just think about when the â€Å"Greasy Lake† was set not only the epigraph but also the title of the story was inspired by Bruce Springsteen †Spirit in the Night†. Think about it, are these boys really â€Å"bad†? No, they are just acting out the kind of behavior they think is â€Å"bad†,†cool† or expected of them. They read books to learn the â€Å"Bad boy† ways, drink cheap non- bad boy drinks and came from high class families. The nature of life was shown through the bad things that took place such as beating the guy and disrespecting the girl and being bad in order to be looked at as bad or cool. This is the narrator learned his lesson all from his actiions. The narrator, in the beginning of the story, believed himself and his friends were these tough guys but the events trhoughout the night reveals to the narrator that there is a price to be paid when trying to be bad. It was the third night of summer vacation and the narrator and his two friends, Digby and Jeff, wanted to prove they were misfits. That they were ready to be reckless and became reck. On that night they wanted to be semi- rebels, their rebellion explodes in their faces. Their actions brings them into a tougher world than they had arranged for. They beat the goy up and was about to rape his girl friend. The guy friends pulled up and the tables had turned. They ran through the woods, dived and poluted waters and floated with the real tough guy who was dead in the waters. They hid from the real tough guys because they were scared and weren’t bad at all. The layed low till the early morning and then the three boys started to feel a bunch of hatred or repugnance for the â€Å"Bad boy† life. As the end it is clear that they have had enough of being â€Å"bad. † The narrator of â€Å"Greasy Lake† matures during his risky adventure because he has different views of nature. Earlier in the story they wanted to destroy the smell of possibility and interact in all these crazy moments such as watch the girl take their clothes off, drink, smoke and listen to Rock & Roll. At the end of the story these cruel likings loses their request or want for these â€Å"Bad† guy qualities and aspects of life. When morning arrived the narrator experienced the beauty of the natural world like it was his first time. He has a epiphany or proclamation that this was nature and in the beginning it was just a dirty, rundown lake.? This was not just for him but for his friends also. When the girls approached them at the end his friend stepped up and trned down the girls offer. The three friends had the experience of a life time that changed thm for the better.