Post Traumatic Stress and the Brothers' Relationship in The Red Convertible by Louise Erdrich

Henry is drafted to fight in the Vietnam war and returns a very different person. Lyman says, “When he came home, though, Henry was very different, and I’ll say this: the change was no good” (Erdrich 4). Henry becomes transfixed on the television set. At one point, Henry bites his lip so hard that blood pours from his wound down his chin and he does nothing but continue to watch the television (Erdrich 4).

Lyman explains, “When he came home, though, Henry was very different, and I’ll say this: the change was no good” (Erdrich 129). The change Henry goes through is not for the better, the war made him vulnerable and he kept playing his experiences through his head over and over again. One can see that this change was no good for him or Lyman because Lyman was affected by it too.

In “The Red Convertible”, by Louise Erdrich it describes the relationship between the two brothers and the effect the war left on one of the characters. Erdrich is trying to convey the real affects from going to war such as PTSD. Post-traumatic stress disorder was common after the Vietnam War, but many people were never treated for it. In the story the narrators brother, Henry suffers from PTSD after his return from the war, the author tries to convey her message through the symbolism of the red convertible, the confusion from the characters and the tragedy of death.

Henry used to be serene, but now he is uneasy. Lyman recalls the times when Henry "sat for whole afternoons, never moving a muscle" says Lyman (4). Of course, anyone who enters the military and experiences combat will not remain calm, but Henry must have really seen a lot of terror because he had never gone back to the same person he was. Henry's unusual moods disturb Lyman, distressing his emotions. This brother does not seem much like the one that used to spend quality time with him, relaxed and carefree, sharing the red convertible.

The actual convertible in Louise Erdrich’s story “The Red Convertible” represents the relationship between two brothers. The story is set around two brothers, Lyman and Henry, who before Henry was drafted into the war were very close. They spent most of their time bonding around their new and exciting car but as their relationship and personalities change so does the condition of the car. The symbolism and characterization in “The Red Convertible” reveals how war can greatly effect people’s relationships. When Henry and Lyman first bought the convertible it was in great condition just like their relationship.

In the book Soldier’s Heart by Gary Paulsen, Charley Goddard says, “I have got to become a man sometime.” Charley, a boy about 15 years old, lives on a farm with his ma, and his little brother Oran. His dad will not come around anymore because he gets kicked to death by a horse that goes mad.The horse goes mad because a bee lands on it. Charley wants to me a man and grow up, so he continues to ask his ma if he can join the army. His ma lets him join the army because she thinks the war will quickly come to an end, but little does she know it will not. Charley joins the war, and comes out with a soldier’s heart. A soldier’s heart represents the soldiers that come home looking different or acting different from when they first left. Also known as PTSD, which goes by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Charley develops from a boy looking for adventure into a young man with a “soldier’s heart” because he

     It is always said that war changes people. In the short story 'The Red Convertible', Louise Erdrich uses Henry to show how it affects people. In this case, the effects are psychological. You can clearly see a difference between his personalities from before he goes to war compared to his personalities after returns home from the war. Before the war, he is a care-free soul who just likes to have fun. After the war, he is very quiet and defensive, always watching his back as if waiting for someone to strike.

According to “‘We Will All Be Lost and Destroyed’: Post – Traumatic Stress Disorder and The Civil War” by Eric T. Dean, Jr., “Psychologists estimate that approximately five hundred thousand to 1.5 million of three million Vietnam veterans may suffer from symptoms of PTSD,” which includes “wide variety of problems, from alcoholism, drug abuse, divorce, homelessness, and unemployment, to anxiety disorders and suicide” (Dean 1). Not only did the Vietnam War cost many lives and a lot of money, but it also has serious influences on veterans. In the short story “The Red Convertible,” written by Louise Erdrich, concerns a relationship of an American brothers, Lyman and Henry before and after the Vietnam War. Before the war, they are close,

Young men who are sent to a war learn the reality in a very harsh and brutal way. Both the stories, ‘The Red Convertible’ and ‘The Things They Carried’ portray the life of a young soldier and how he psychologically gets affected from all the things he had seen in the war. Tim O’Brien’s ‘The Things They Carried,’ is more specific on the experiences of a soldier during a war where as Karen Louise Erdrich focuses more on describing the post war traumatic stress in her short story ‘The Red Convertible’. One thing similar in both the narrations is the Vietnam War and its consequences on the soldiers. From the background of both the authors it’s easy to conclude that Tim O’Brien being a war veteran emphasizes more on the

“The Red Convertible” demonstrates the cause and effect of past memories with present experiences, particularly the effect of war. The memories shared between the brothers before Henry’s draft begins with the purchase of a red convertible. Both of the brothers equally purchased the red convertible with their earned income. The red convertible personified the brother’s

Upon returning home the soldiers meet a field of new troubles that come with acclimation to society after fighting. Many soldiers come home with skills that are not applicable to their lives and generally a much deeper understanding of what they believe the world consists of. This leads to much disillusion with the world they come back to. In both Ernest Hemingway and Tim O’Brien’s stories, soldiers meet with disillusionment and disconnect from society. The soldiers react in different ways to this feeling; the authors use diction, sentence structure, and figurative language to demonstrate their troubles with acclimation.

The short story that will be discussed, evaluated, and analyzed in this paper is a very emotionally and morally challenging short story to read. Michael Meyer, author of the college text The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature, states that the author of How to Tell a True War Story, Tim O’Brien, “was drafted into the Vietnam War and received a Purple Heart” (472). His experiences from the Vietnam War have stayed with him, and he writes about them in this short story. The purpose of this literary analysis is to critically analyze this short story by explaining O’Brien’s writing techniques, by discussing his intended message and how it is displayed, by providing my own reaction,

This is an essay on the short story “Soldier’s Home” by Hemingway. Will the life of a soldier ever be the same after returning from war? Many generations of young adults have gone from their homes with tranquil settings to experience war and come home to a different world. Many have witnessed the devastations and atrocities that occur with war. Harold Krebs, a young man from a small town with a loving family is no different from those before him and those to follow. The anguish of what war is however cannot dispel the thoughts and memories of what many young men come home to face in the real world. Many have trouble coping in the new world known as home.

In the opening paragraphs of the novel Back, author Henry Green expresses how one is affected by war through a soldier named Charley, who suffered greatly during the war. The novel, published in 1946, takes place one year after one of the most catastrophic events in history World War II in England and therefore expresses an antiwar tone throughout the passage. Using the third person limited point of view, Green gives an insight of how Charley losing the love of his life after the war completely altered his version of reality. Through the portrayal of Charley’s trauma, Henry Green demonstrates that war is a tragic experience that permanently changes one’s life because of different variables such as loss.

In “The Red Convertible,” Lyman Lamartine is the narrator and the protagonist at the same time. Lyman was a young boy who at his short age had successfully accomplished many goals and dreams that soon after were just in his memory. In the short story, Lyman talks about the amazing relationship that he has with his older brother Henry Lamartine. However, everything changes after Henry comes back from the military service. Lyman tries to help his brother to overcome with the post-traumatic stress disorder that the war had left on him. Unfortunately, Henry takes his own life, leaving Lyman devastated because he feels that he could not help his brother.