Coraghessan Boyle's narrative "Greasy Lake" paints a vivid picture of the trials and tribulations that teenagers faced during the 1960's. A time, as Boyle states, when it was good to be bad". Despite the main characters upbringing they still pursued their lives as plagiarist rebellious souls. These three young men prove that playing a dangerous character leads to acquiring dangerous actions. The author proves this point by the description of the characters, an altercation, and the relation of the lake to the boys. Boyle begins the tale by describing the three men. They wore torn leather jackets and slouched around with toothpicks hanging out their mouths. That was the 60's bad boy's attire. Suddenly, the narrator explains how they went from looking the part to acting the part. They behaved recklessly and the boys began to take part in underage drinking, household items abuse, and substance abuse. The narrator repeatedly states how corrupt their disposition was. I believe that Boyle does this because, the narrator is trying to convince the reader of something that he knows he is not. Author, Rita Mae Brown once stated, "I think the reward for conformity is that everyone likes you except yourself." The teens are 19 years old, a period in their lives when they are trying to figure out who they are and, what they want to do in life. Unfortunately, they all fell victim to the bad boy trend.
Arriving at Greasy Lake the boys assume they see their friend, Tony's car, unbeknownst to them, it's not. They honk the horn excessively and then get out. They peep into the car's window in search of seeing Tony making out with some girl. To their surprise it's a greaser, Bobbie, who is the true definition of a bad boy. Bobbie and the boys get into a heated argument and, the narrator clobbers him over his head with a tire iron. Lifeless, Bobbie lays on the ground. In disbelief the three teens look at each other only imagining what will happen next.