Symbolism In Dominick Grace's Greasy Lake

When reading the short story, the first symbol the reader acknowledges is the title and how it is used to draw the setting. “Greasy Lake” gives us the vibe of how “it may be a party site, but it is associated with decay and destruction” (Grace 3). As Dominick Grace states, “the title “Greasy Lake” gives Boyle the chance to create an unpredictable atmosphere” (3). By creating an unpredictable setting, the reader is able to predict what consequences are to come as the narrator and his friends go on their “bad” adventure. Boyle makes the story more realistic when the events become more dangerous. According to Dennis Vannatta, because of the way the lake is portrayed the narrator and his friends agree that the lake will indeed provide them with

In this short story, water is one of the major symbols. Water usually represents purification as mentioned by Dennis Vannatta (2). Greasy Lake, however, is “fetid and murky, the mud banks glittering with broken glass and strewn with beer cans and the charred remains of bonfires” (Boyle 129). The pollution of the lake represents the rebellion the narrator and his friends are searching for (Grace 4). When the lakes’ water is described as having a “bad breath of decay” it is concluded that it symbolizes all of the young people that go the lake and their dying morals. (Grace 3). Instead of emerging from the waters a renewed man, the narrator comes out of Greasy Lake with an understanding of what really goes on in the dark shadows of the lake. This can be seen physically and metaphorically when the narrator got past the lake’s façade. As the narrator explains, the lake was named “Wakan,” which means “a reference to the clarity of its waters,” by the Indians before it became known for its reputation of turbid waters (Boyle 129). This shows that throughout time the lake has been losing it’s meaning and has since become corrupted by the violence and sex that occurs within its