Big Game and Greasy Lake: two stories depicting a similar theme Essay

T. Coraghessan Boyle’s "Greasy Lake" and "Big Game" are similarly structured but completely different short stories that explain the transitions of people from fake slaves of their image to genuine and realized individuals. If not portrayed in the stories, the development in the characters certainly escapes into the reader’s imagination and almost magically makes them the learned. The plot of the two stories is one of the strongest lines connecting them together by way of foundation, but at the same time it establishes completely different story lines that follow the same beat. Boyle’s evolution from "Greasy Lake" to "Big Game" has also provided for a progression in his style. Evident from the two stories is the contrasted amounts of detail and abstract detail. In some sense, Boyle has mellowed over the two stories by leaving out many of the twists and turns of "Greasy Lake" in "Big Game," but in the same sense has become more exciting with more violence and action. The plots in the two stories are similar in structure and pattern of action. They both include violence and regretful lessons learned the hard way, and seam to involve similar events and characters. A definite change in Boyle’s plot over the course of the two stories however, is the loss in significance and importance of the plot and the take over by setting and character instead. &...