Sunday, 8 September 2013

what is the epiphany in Greasy Lake

The unnamed narrator of "Greasy Lake" arrives at the lake with his friends at night to party. He thinks he is tough. He and his friends end up with more trouble than they bargained for, including a fight in which the narrator thinks he's killed his opponent (he hasn't). After the friends of the downed man chase them away, at which point the narrator drops his keys in the grass at the wrong moment so...

The unnamed narrator of "Greasy Lake" arrives at the lake with his friends at night to party. He thinks he is tough. He and his friends end up with more trouble than they bargained for, including a fight in which the narrator thinks he's killed his opponent (he hasn't). After the friends of the downed man chase them away, at which point the narrator drops his keys in the grass at the wrong moment so that he can't drive off, he eventually witnesses his opponents smashing up his mother's car. 


When it is all over and dawn is breaking, the narrator's epiphany is that he is not as tough as thought he was. He is sobered by his experience and begins to mature as he recognizes that what he considered fun and games really could have had far more serious consequences.

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