The Importance of Setting

The path to becoming an handsome is lined with a variety of childishness and adolescent experiences, some more excruciating than others. In T. Coraghessen Boyles short story, oily Lake, Boyle masterfully uses the setting and the protagonists experience to teach us an sr. but vital lesson those who choose not to learn and grow from their past mistakes argon destined to repeat them, and thus go away never mature and realize their consecutive potential.At the beginning of the story, the main(prenominal) character (who to a fault happens to be the narrator) depicts his adolescence as a clock when courtesywent out of style, when it was acceptable to be deadly, when you cultivated decadence like a taste (621). The three ruling of themselves as dangerous characters, riding around township wreaking havoc. However, it seems unclear to the main character and his dickens friends that in reality, they ar not rattling dismal characters. Re in ally bad characters applyt drive t heir parents whining station wagons (621) or read intellectual French novels by Andre Gide.Boyle gives us a general thought that these three boys are just your ordinary, every mean solar day, false juvenile delinquents with an unclear view of what it rattling means to be a man. subsequent in the story, the narrator depicts a nip at the main setting of fatty Lake. There, the three boys provoke who is described as the very bad character (623). The events that took entrust led the three to realize the slimy truth they are nothing more than just three kids on an find for the darkness little did they know what was in store for them.After a lengthy rendering of the fight that took put up between the foursome characters, the three boys find themselves attempting to rape the young lady that was accompanying the very bad character. Luckily, onwards they can go any farther, other vehicle pulls into the scene, scaring the boys as the flee away. They all run in different direct ions, go forth them all separated from each other. The main character, with no place else to hide, plunges into the greasy lake.The piddle is completely contaminated it was malodourous and murky, the stiff banks glittering with broken glass and strewn with beer cans and the charred system of bonfires (622). The setting of Greasy Lake contributes to the plot in a sense of the troubles of the three immature boys. Much of the story takes place at Greasy Lake, which is not an ordinary, everyday, swimming with the family showcase of lake. There are crowded trees, which draws a picture of a dark lumber with very little light run through. The island in the middle of the lake has little or no vegetation, giving the reader a feeling of death.It is also littered with things much(prenominal) as beer cans, broken glass, and bonfire remains. These are items that make you think of loss of control, violence, or even destruction. These ideas could surely lead to something bad happening. T he water itself is described as fetid and murky (622). There are deuce different aspects of time to consider when face at Greasy Lake. First of all, on that point is the fact that it is 2 a. m. The middle of the night is commonly a time of day when bad things occur. It is probably considered that the good, peaceful sight are at home in bed.Therefore, if someone is up and about they are nearly likely wreaking havoc. Secondly, there is the category that the story takes place. It was written in the eighties, and it takes place in a time when it was good to be bad (621). Therefore, it is likely that something bad is sure to occur. The setting also serves a very important purpose to most stories by evoking a certain atmosphere. sour Cited Boyle, T. Coraghessan. Greasy Lake. 621 Kirszner, Laurie G. , and Stephen R. Mandell, eds. Literature Reading, Writing. 8th ed. capital of Massachusetts Wadsworth, 2013 Print.