Symbolism In Dennis Vannatta's Greasy Lake

“Greasy Lake" is the story of a group of teenage boys, some what wanna be tough-guys, searching for the one episode that will establish their place in the tough-guy world. The story starts with the narrator giving us the impression that he thinks that he and the others should have taken notice of some of he signs about themselves. If they would have taken notice they would have realized that they were far from the tough-guys they wanted to be. Instead, the teenagers ignore these signs and continue in search of their tough-guy status.
In the story, the author Dennis Vannatta uses many symbols to establish the theme. He uses vehicles as symbols in the story to express the theme of each owner. For example, in the beginning of the story, the

car they drive to Greasy Lake is described as an old station wagon, which is definitely not what one would consider the ride of a tough-guy. When the boys arrive at the lake, a "chopper" is parked by the lake, and next to it is a 57 Chevy. Both are hotrods that symbolize a "greaser" tough guy image. The Chevy owner is a rough "muscle-bound" man who "beats the tar" out of the teenagers. The biker who is regarded as a burnt-out main-liner, is dangerous by description alone. In the story the cars represent the dangerous individuals who drive them. Another symbol of the dangers that the young “tough-guys” face is Greasy Lake. It is described as a dark, murky cold and disquieting all of that spells danger. Its shores that are covered in broken glass and debris and marshy shallows create an atmosphere only the dangerous reckless type would be attracted to. It is a symbol that nothing good lies within, as the narrator discovered this immediately when he got in the water to hide.

The turning point for the narrator and the story was when he found the biker’s body. In just a short period of time he has taken a beating, he has beaten someone with a tire iron, he almost raped a girl; he found a dead man and he watched his mother's car get destroyed, all because him and his friends wanted to be tough-guys. When he was hiding in the water he has a chance to reflect on all of the nights events he has an awakening. He realizes that tough- guys are not all they are cracked up to be and what actually happens to tough guys. As he gets out of the water he realizes that he needs to change and that being a tough guy is not where it is at. This is kind of like a rebirth for him a baptism and an awakening. As the sun comes up and the birds chirping replace the sound of crickets and he leaves the pool of dark dangerous water it signals his rebirth and his baptism as a new young man.
The young man tells the story of this incident like a person that has learned from his experiences. In the beginning of the story he viewed sex, drugs and rock and roll as natural things. But as the story ends and the chaos subsides, he sees nature for the first time, with eyes of a person matured by this experience. The "sun firing buds and opening blossoms" replaced the once revered pot smoke and beer.

At the end of the story, the girl from the Mustang says to the young men that they look like "some pretty bad characters”. When the young men hear this they finally, collectively, they realized that being a tough-guy requires more than just pretending to be one and looking like one. And that if they continued down the tough guy path their fate would be that similar to the floating biker. To show that they actually made a transformation, the young men , who before would have jumped at the idea, turned down the girls' offer of drugs and a good time. "Greasy Lake" is a wonderful example of the saying, "watch what you wish for, you just may get it."