The Notions of Epiphany and Evolution in Greasy Lake

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In the fiction short story “Greasy Lake” author Bruce Springsteen writes about three young adults who think of themselves as tough characters only to have a run-in with actual bad people which put into perspective how they were merely acting like rebels and that they didn’t truly have it in them. There are many notions of epiphany and evolution in “Greasy Lake”. The protagonist which is also the narrator of the story tells the events in a sorrowful way. He forms his sentences in a way that lets the reader know that he doesn’t feel the same way anymore. This regret, this remorse is a rhetorical appeal known as pathos, which focuses on emotions. Author Springsteen uses pathos in his bildungsroman, more distinctly realism and foils in order to persuade the reader of the epiphany and evolution that the protagonist now has in his life. In order to better understand the premises of the story a short summary is needed to get to know the narrator better. The protagonist, although not named tries to enjoy his summer with two of his friends Jeff and Digby by being rebels. Initially looking for trouble, they ride around from place to place using the protagonist’s parents’ borrowed car. They go looking for trouble at a place called Greasy Lake where they mistake a car for their friend’s car and try interrupt him while getting busy with a lady. When they interrupt the couple in the car, they find out that their friend Tony wasn’t in there, but a stranger, a real “badass”, their foil, was interrupted who proceeds to beat down the protagonist and his two friends. Out of rash thinking he hits the “badass” in the head with a tire iron just enough to knock him out. Once he is down the protagonist and his friends try to ravage the “foxy” lady the re... ... middle of paper ... ... Even during the altercation the protagonist’s thoughts turned negative. He even plainly said, “I was terrified (191).” He sees that he is doing bad things also so he has no right to call the tough guy any worse than he was, so he states “My antagonist was shirtless… (191)” instead of saying bad or rebel. At the end of the story however after they return to peaceful accords they see that their decisions were not the best and their youthful thinking emerged once again, he says, “I wanted to go home to parents’ house and crawl into bed. (194)” the protagonist’s evolution was evident. Even though he wanted to go home to his parents, he saw that what he was doing was irresponsible. Altogether writer Springsteen’s uses of realism, irony, epiphany and evolution came together to form a successfully persuasive short story on the now matured views of the unnamed protagonist.

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