The Red Convertible By Louise Erdrich

Being an outsider is a common experience that can be difficult for people to overcome and describe. “The Red Convertible” is a good example of an outsider and can breakdown what it’s like to be in this social status. This short story shows Henry’s transition to becoming an outsider, and all the changes that occur to him differentiates an insider from an outsider. Henry is seen by his younger brother, Lyman, as a best friend at first, then becomes an outsider to him once he returns from the army because of his change in behavior due to the experiences he had in war. Henry begins to depict socially unacceptable behavior and he quickly changes the mood of the

In "The Red Convertible," by Louise Erdrich, the red convertible symbolizes the brothers relationship at different stages through the story. In the story Erdrich uses specific actions of the brothers to show change in their relationship, which corresponds with the red convertible. Erdrich uses scenes involving the red convertible to show different stages of the brothers relationships. The story begins with a road trip representing the boys closeness, then precedes onto Lyman beating up the red convertible symbolizing the brothers separation. Erdrich then continues the story with Henry giving the red convertible to Lyman representing their reunion. The story finishes when Lyman runs the red

The Red Convertible by Louise Erdrich is more than an emotional story about the lives of two brothers who grew up together on an Indian reservation. She uses a writing style that allows the reader to understand the text, while providing the opportunity to read into the story. Erdrich uses metaphors, symbols, imagery to describe and define the brothers Henry and Lyman’s relationship.

In the short story “The Red Convertible” you will find some important elements that are integral to the support and development of the theme brotherhood. First, you will see how the road trip gives a lesson in the story. Second, you will discover how the war affected the relationship of Lyman and Henry. Finally, you will understand the symbolism of the red convertible and the link it has between both brothers. One important element that has a powerful lesson in the story is the road trip. While Lyman and Henry went on a drive one afternoon, they met a girl named Susy in the middle of the road. Susy had her hair in buns around her ears and was very short. They let her jump in the car and

First, one should focus on the language and Henry's ethos. The soldiers are burdened with the thought of a

“The Red Convertible” is a story of Henry, the American Indian man, about how he was suffering from the experiences at the Vietnam War. The story begins when he and his brother purchased a red convertible car. This story indicates that how cultural ties and the brother’s precious memories helped recover Henry. Actually it is more about the importance of family. By

Looking at the plot of the story, one can see that the story deals with a psychological conflict. Before Henry had left for the Vietnam War he and Lyman had a close relationship and since coming back he changed significantly because of what he saw and experienced. Lyman explains, “Once I was in the room watching TV with Henry and I heard his teeth click at something. I looked over and he’d bitten through his lip. Blood was going down his chin” (Erdrich 129). This example shows how Henry is dealing with the post war stress and how he cannot get what he went through out of his head. As he sits and watches the replaying war videos, he is unable to get past that he can live again and go back to the way things were because psychologically he is still at war and fighting.

“The Red Convertible” by Louise Erdrich is a short story about two Native American brothers, Lyman and Henry, and their growing bond as brothers. Symbolism is used rather heavily in this story. One of the main symbols of the story, as noted in the title, is the red convertible. The red convertible symbolizes the relationship status of the two brothers, and the struggles they face as Henry is drafted into the Vietnam War as well as when he returns home.

Henry returns from the war damaged not unlike the car after Lyman tries to destroy it. The relation ship between the brothers will never return to its previous state just as the car will never be the same. The car now comes to signify the change in the brother’s relationship. When Henry drowns himself in the river, Lyman lets the car go with them. Henry knows life will never be the same and neither will his feelings about the car. The car will now only trigger the raw emotions of his brother’s transformation and his death, instead of the carefree life he once had with a close brother. The car comes to symbolize death and the death of the close relationship between the to brothers. When Lyman lets go of the car, he is also letting go of his innocence.

“The Red Convertible” is an interesting story due to its characters, plot, and the general background that the author was motivated by to write this story as well as many of her other works. “The Red Convertible” deals with the relationship between two brothers of the Chippewa Reservation. The story focuses on how their relationship changes over a period of time and discretely how the red convertible car they both bond over reflects those changes in their relationship throughout that period. Sadly, these changes are not good as they focus on the effects Henry Jr. has after he serves in the Vietnam War. Lyman, his younger brother, is also affected and tries many things to help his brother go back to his “regular old-self” but in the end he

In the Red Convertible by Louise Erdrich, the main character Henry loses his hold on reality. The story takes place in North Dakota on an Indian Reservation where Henry lives with his brother Lyman. Henry and Lyman buy a Red Convertible that later in the story illustrates Henry’s lack of ability to stay sane. The brothers take a summer trip across the United States in the car. When they return, Henry is called to join the army, which turns out to be the transitional point in Henry and Lyman’s personal life. The Vietnam War changed Henry’s appearance, psyche, and his feelings about the Red Convertible.

Henry Fosdick once said, “The tragedy of war is that it uses man’s best to do man’s worst.” In “The Red Convertible” by Louis Erdrich, there is a conflict amongst two brothers, Henry and Lyman as ones awareness towards reality is shifted upon the return of the Vietnam War. Henry’s experience fighting in the Vietnam War is the responsibility for the unexpected aftermath that affects their brotherhood. The event of Henry fighting in the war through fears, emotions and horrors that he encounters is the source of his “Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome [PTSD].” It has shaped his own perception of reality and his relationship with his brother Lyman and the strong bond that they had shared.

Both Erdrich’s, “The Red Convertible”, and O'Brien's, “The Things They Carried” reflect the effects of psychological trauma left by war; specifically, the Vietnam War. In Erdrich’s piece, she uses the red convertible as a metaphor for Henry. The fact that the two brothers purchased the convertible together is a serves to symbolize their bond. Yet, when Henry returns from his tenure as a soldier, his mental health has deteriorated into an apparently depressive state. I believe that Lyman’s act of wrecking the car represents how the war has devastated Henry’s emotional state. In Henry’s attempt to restore the car, he is indirectly trying to mend himself. Indeed we see that in his effort to do so, he exhibits signs indicative of his previous

Other stories, perceived as unrealistic, often are posited so because they contain elements we do not see in the real world; metaphoric fantasy, symbolism, abstractness. These concepts are all based on our own filters of perception – we discern what is historically accurate and what is legend, or myth, based on our position in culture and the lenses which we view ourselves. In “The Red Convertible”, we can see these concepts at play – Lyman, narrating the story of the relationship with his brother Henry, tells a story that flows very effortlessly. Things that happen around him seem to brush off of him, as if they are no big deal.

Before the war, Lyman and his brother Henry were extremely close. Before Henry departed for the war, and as Lyman recounts in the story, the two bonded over a red convertible. This car proves to be symbolic, both throughout, and at the end of the story, due to the change in Henry’s behavior, illustrated by this quote from when Henry returns: “We had always been together before. But he was such a loner now that I didn’t know how to take it.”