Examples Of Materialism In The Red Convertible

The Red Convertible
Can materialism bring happiness? Although materialistic stuff doesn't lead to true happiness, in "The Red Convertible" Louise shows how one automobile brings two brothers together. The main character, Lyman Lamartine is a very sensible, smart, caring and a loving boy; who uses the red convertible to bring his brother, Henry Junior back to reality. The two brothers buy a convertible together and drive around the country before Henry is drafted into the army. However, when Henry returns from war, nothing is the same anymore.
One can easily see the love both, Lyman and Henry had for one another, especially Lyman. He never calls the red convertible is own in fact, throughout the story he treats the convertible as Henry's car. After the enemy caught Henry, Lyman wrote him several letters. "Even though I didn't know if those letters would get through. I kept him informed all about the car" said Lyman ( Erdrich 332). While Henry was away for 3 years, "In those years, I'd

put his car into almost perfect shape. I always thought of it as Henry's car while he was gone" Lyman stated ( Erdrich 333).
Lyman is a sensible and loving young man because after Henry comes home, Lyman feels that Henry is now a different person.

Lyman genuinely cared for Henry and wanted to take him to a hospital but was afraid that the hospital would keep him. Lyman then thought the car would be a good distraction for Henry. "So I bided my time and waited for my chance to interest him in the vehicle" said Lyman. And "One night Henry was off somewhere. I took myself a hammer. I went out to that car and I did a number on its underside. Whacked it up" ( Erdrich 334). Lyman is very smart and intentionally damages the convertible because he knows Henry would try to fix it and will have something to keep him busy. Furthermore, Lyman started noticing something divergent about Henry. "He was better than he had been before....He ate more slowly and didn't jump up and down during the meal to get this or that or look out the window....He was always out with that car or going to get parts for it" ( Erdrich

334).
Despite the fact, Lyman loved his brother, Henry's slow progress was making Lyman feel dismal. "I had been feeling down in the dumps about Henry around this time. We had always been together before. Henry and Lyman. But he was such a loner now that I didn't know how to take it ( Erdrich 334). Similarly, one day Lyman's and Henry's only sister, Bonita takes a picture of the brothers standing next to each other in front of the car. One can simply see how affectionate Lyman is because he perceives that picture closely and feels that Henry's smile was gone. "The shadows on his face are deeps as holes....First smile that looked like it might have been hurt his face" ( Erdrich 335). That same day Henry and Lyman take the car out for a ride because Henry wanted to go to the Red River and see the high water.