Boyle's "Greasy Lake " and "The Fog Man ".
Everyone has a stage in his life when he is faced with the harsh decision of entering adulthood. Many people struggle in knowing whether they should take the next step and become an adult, or stay the way they are. Until a person is faced with a situation in which they need to decide whether to grow up, or to stay a child, you will not know for sure when the time is right. In T.C. Boyle's short stories "Greasy Lake " and "The Fog Man " the coming of age theme is portrayed in different ways. In "Greasy Lake " the narrator realizes it is time to mature and grow up. Yet in "The Fog Man"" the narrator sees the hardships of adulthood and makes a conscious decision to remain in the realm of adolescence.
In both stories the narrator is looking back into his past and retelling his story. The narrator in "Greasy Lake " is looking back at when he was just nineteen years old. Opposed to the narrator in "The Fog Man " which is looking back when he was twelve years old. In both cases the narrators are reflecting on important time periods of their lives that shaped them to be who they are today. The struggles that the protagonists go through are very different but they both experience adulthood and realize that they are not ready for the responsibilities that adulthood brings. The narrator of "The Fog Man " looks back at a situation of his life when he either has to grow up or stay young by to follow his friends, or leave the crowd. "And then, before i knew what I was doing, I was on my bike with the rest of them, chasing the fog man through the mist, chasing him as if my life depended on it " ("The Fog Man " 32). " The narrator of "Greasy Lake " has to decide wether or no to grow up when he faced with the harsh reality of life and realizing what bad really is. "I was terrified. Blood was beating in my ears, my hands were shaking, my heart turning over like a dirt bike in the wrong gear ("Greasy Lake " 66).