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Writers use juxtaposition to place two or more contrasting things, people, or ideas close to each other in writing. Juxtaposition can influence the mood and tone of writing, add humor, suggest a surprising comparison, or in some other way cause readers to pause and think about how the unlike things reveal an idea. Boyle uses juxtaposition to various ends throughout “Greasy Lake.” When the narrator compares Bobbie’s booted and effective kick to a “lusty Rockette kick,” for example, Boyle juxtaposes a violent and potentially fatal action with a famous dancers’ high kick routine, executed to wow an audience. The comparison not only suggests the height, energy, and precision of Bobbie’s kick but also comically imbues the violent scene with an element of entertainment.
The comparison of the “fox,” with her painted toenails and whining voice, to “Christian martyrs” and to “Anne Frank dragged” out of hiding by Nazis—both historical realities that end in unjust deaths—is an example of how juxtaposition reveals the seriousness of an event. The narrator, in invoking these examples along with the rape of the Sabine women, pulls together events from disparate places and times to suggest that he is not unlike the people who carried out these acts. Juxtaposition allows him to contextualize his intent to rape in the larger story of human depravity. And the juxtaposition of details when the narrator touches the bloated body—“it gave like a rubber duck, it gave like flesh”—helps readers imagine what the narrator experiences while suggesting the absurdity of the scene the narrator finds himself in. Similar examples are throughout the story, overlaying the story events with suggestive meanings.
