Jake Castillo
Menchaca
T-Th 11:00
Literary Analysis
WC=1370
A Greasy Day
Conflict is something that every person must endure at some point in life, and
may even be necessary for one to grow and mature. In the short stories, “An Ounce of
Cure” and “Greasy Lake” the protagonist of the stories seem to almost purposefully
create a conflict for themselves. The characters in both stories live stable and safe lives,
which is a problem for the young teenagers. They view their current situations as
mundane and seek excitement. The urge to rebel is what causes the conflict for the main
characters in both short stories, but these conflicts are also what helps the characters
mature and realize the true effects of their actions.
The main characters of both stories are at a point in their lives where they feel
disconnected from adults, yet they would like to act like adults. “An Ounce of Cure”
takes place in the late 1960’s, the narrator is a young girl, about fourteen or fifteen years
of age, who is devastated by a recent break up by her first boyfriend, Martin
Collingwood. So devastated she even attempts suicide by taking a bottle of aspirin but
does not go through with it. When she finally tells her mother about her breakup,
expecting sympathy, all her mother responds is ‘“Well so much the better for that. I never
saw a boy so stuck on himself.’” (Munro 154) This leads to even more devastation for her
as she runs straight to her room after this to cry. The main character cannot seem to get
over this heartbreak, as nothing around her seems to help. It is later this night when her
conflict arises as she feels she has found a solution. She was scheduled to babysit for a
local family, the Berrymans. It was while at their house that she decided to indulge in
drinking alcohol. Having no idea of how to do so responsibly, and having only seen
glimpses of adults drinking, she of course over serves herself. It is so bad that she feels
the affects rather quickly and has to phone a friend for help. After her friend, Kay
Stringer, arrives the narrator says, “She loved a crisis, particularly one like this, which
had a shady aspect and which must be kept secret from the adult world.”(Munro 156)
This shows how even though they are acting like adults, they still feel a disconnection
from them. Almost immediately after achieving her desired affects she starts to regret
what she has done. Her friends come to help her but the Berrymans arrive home early to
