Greasy Lake

A detailed Summary of Greasy Lake

While reading Greasy Lake by T. Coraghessan Boyle, the reader notices that the writing voice of Boyle is quite distinct. Boyle's voice is distinct because he has a satirical way of writing stories about the everyday life of people. He focuses on the unusual people and their peculiar circumstances, which in Boyle's case just adds to his already humorous stories. However, Boyle does not seem to concentrate on satire alone, he writes in a poetic fashion that allows the reader to enter the mind of the characters that he is writing about as well as feel the situations at hand.

Boyle's distinct way of writing satire is apparent in most of his stories. Boyle wrote an absolutely hysterical story called "The New Moon Party." The story highlights a politician named George L. Thorkelsson who was re-elected to the position of Governor because he proposed to get the United States to build a new moon that was bigger and brighter than the existing one. When the new moon was finally built and in space, it was revealed to the public. Boyle writes:

"Something crazy was going on. The shoving had stopped as it had begun, but now, suddenly and inexplicably, the audience started to undress. Right before me, on the platform, in th

Just from the way Boyle writes how Akaky feels like he has been squeezed like a blister, the reader is allowed to explore how it would feel to be squeezed in such a way. By imagining that something is pushing so tight around a body that it is forced to emotionally expose itself with a sudden gush of pain and emotion, Boyle creates a feeling of loss and heartache for the reader. In writing how Akaky felt like he'd been flattened like a fly, Boyle compels the reader to get into Akaky's heart and mind. To be flattened like a fly is to be brushed aside and discarded because of being an annoyance. Boyle describes Akaky's heartache from the rejection in the simile about a fly being flattened. These similes are what allow Boyle's readers to get into the heart and mind of the characters about which he is writing.

"From that moment on, Akaky's life shifted gears, lurching into a rapid and inexorable downward spiral . . . The overcoat, of course, became property of the Soviet government. Akaky left the conference room in a daze -- he felt as if he'd been squeezed like a blister, flattened like a fly. His coat was gone, yes -- that was bad enough. But everything he believed in, everything he'd worked for, everything he'd been taught from the day he took his first faltering steps and gurgled over a communal rattle -- that was gone too" (Page 228).

In conclusion, T. Corraghessan Boyle's writing voice is

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 951
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English