Prose Narrative Criticism:
“Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” and “Greasy Lake”
Studies in Literature
Kathleen Lohr
August 25, 2012

Prose Narrative Criticism While reading any composition of literature, the reader must address how they will connect with the text. To do this, the reader considers different forms of literary criticism. There are an abundance of approaches to literary criticism. For the purposes of looking at “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson and “Greasy Lake” by T.C. Boyle, the narratological approach will be used here. The narratological critical approach to assessing literature expects that the audience reads to “understand how events are constructed and through what point
The unnamed narrator explains himself and his friends as “bad, dangerous characters” (Boyle, 1981). The narrators description of the torrid events that led to his car being vandalized and the near murder of lead the reader to believe these young men are dark and devoid of morals. For example, as the three teens are out drinking alcohol and joy riding, they happen upon a car they assume is a friend at Greasy Lake, a local hangout. After pulling up behind the car and flicking the cars high beams pretending to be the police as a joke, they realize that not only is this not their friends car, but the driver is a large, angry man who proceeds to beat and kick the narrator as he is bent over in the grass looking for his dropped car keys. A fight ensues and in the midst of the chaos, the narrator hits the man across the side of his face with a tire iron. This entire situation shows that the narrator and his comrades have violent tendencies. The driver of the car who was hit with the tire iron lies lifeless on the ground and the three friends think he is dead. The man’s girlfriend emerges from the car and screams at the sight of her bloody boyfriend on the ground. Without hesitation, the three friends rush towards the girl with the intent to rape her. In the midst of this disturbing scene, another car shows up at which point the friends scatter. The narrator heads into the lake to try to swim to the other side to avoid what he thinks may possibly