Louise Erdrich's enthralling short story "The Red Convertible" portrays the relationship between a red convertible and two Native American brothers. The narrator, Lyman, the younger of the two brothers, begins the story by unfolding a tale of a nonchalant summer, where the two brothers purchase an old-fashioned convertible and travel together; followed by many more encounters the brothers’ experience. This short story takes an audience through what starts as a standard everyday life of two distinctive individuals, and as the story moves forward, the reader is taken through the action and episodes that later head to Henry’s destiny. Louise Erdrich delivered symbolism profoundly in this story, and as proposed by the title, the red convertible …show more content…
In the beginning, the car is in an excellent condition, and likewise, so are the brothers. Henry is healthy, and very laidback, he and his brother spent their summer stopping and going, just like the narrator describes "...just lived our everyday lives here to there" (Erdrich 331). The brothers were relaxed, carefree, and at peace during that time. The two of them bonded together, met and socialized with people, camped together, and experienced most of their life through the red convertible. Remarkably, they went all the way to Alaska with the car. The convertible symbolized unification within the brothers, the bond they continually shared, and the state Henry inhabits in at the time. The author described the convertible as “… reposed, calm, and gleaming…” (Erdrich 331), which is also symbolic of Henry's characteristic at the time. After returning home that summer, Henry was drafted for the military and left to battle in the Vietnam War, and during the years he was away, the convertible spent most of its time on the blocks in the yard. Similarly, the relationship between brothers, just like the state of the convertible was …show more content…
Henry wanted to cool himself down, and so he dived into the river. When Lyman saw him, he could see that the current was carrying him away. Henry said, “My boots are filling”, his last words after being sucked away by the currents. Lyman tried to save Henry but realized that what Henry wanted. Lyman pushed the red convertible into the river, so it would eternally rest alongside with Henry. When Lyman shoved the convertible into the river, it symbolized the end of the brotherhood relationship with Henry and a beginning to a new chapter in his life. This story could not have been as powerful without the use of the animate object, a red convertible, to typify the bond between the characters. The biggest symbol that is used frequently throughout the story is clearly the red convertible. The red convertible represents the bond between Lyman and Henry, which was broken off with Henry's death. The red convertible shows the brother’s freedom, their relationship, and their connection they shared. While the story starts out with the two pinned together brilliantly by the red convertible. They both always did something together in the car, whether it is conversing, driving or just observing; the convertible greatly united the two together. But until later, on the other hand, the downfall of the red convertible emblematically signifies the deterioration of the two’s association with one another.
Ace Atkins begins by providing the reader with a scenario of two distinct persons driving a Prius and a Ford truck. He describes the stereotypical thoughts that may run through the Prius driver’s mind of the Ford driver such as being “a red stater”. The tone of Atkins introduction is certainly humorous and nonchalant as he explains that the man behind
The bridge is shown in the beginning of this graphic memoir as a symbol of division. The purpose of a bridge is to get from one place to another. Particularly getting over a certain valley or river people use bridges. License plates are units given to label cars, given that their symbolic meaning of foreign. Having a license plate that was not from the south label visitors, sometimes involving them in dangerous situations. Segregation made it not safe for visitors from northern states to travel down south. The suitcase Lewis had also gives representation of traveling. Lewis packed his belongings when he was pursuing to attend the college he was admitted to. The suitcase also represents the journey to
Two brothers, Lyman and Henry, had very little in common other than their blood. One day they decided to catch a ride to Winnipeg. The car was introduced while these two were doing some sightseeing in the city. They spotted the red Oldsmobile convertible. Lyman, the storyteller, almost made the car a living thing when he said, "There it was, parked, large as life. Really as if it were alive." (461) The brothers used all of the money they had, less some change for gas to get home, to buy the car. The car's significance was the bond that it created between the brothers. The purchase of the vehicle brought these two together with a common interest: the car. Once the bond was formed, the brothers became inseparable, at least for a while. The boys spent the whole summer in the car. They explored new places; met new people and furthered the bond that the car had created. When they returned from their trip, Henry was sent to war. He left the car with Lyman. While Henry was gone, Lyman spent his time pampering and fixing the car. Lyman saw the car as an extension of Henry. Lyman used the car to maintain an emotional bond with his brother who was thousands of miles away.
“There is in fact no such thing as an instantaneous photograph. All photographs are time exposures, of shorter or longer duration, and each describes a discrete parcel of time.” -John Szarkowski
ABSTRACT — The impeccable ingenuity of Anne Carson with an elite outlook to the Autobiography of Red edifies the subtle genre in the form of a poetic novel with its firm roots in Greek mythology. Carson, a professor cum poet attempts a precocious projection of the protagonist, Geryon, in the Autobiography of Red by which making an appeal to her readers to opine the literary piece to be the autobiography of Geryon. Carson’s intelligence actually, lies in transposing Geryon’s story, however, into the contemporary world, so that
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.
Whereas, when Henry was drafted, not to face his feelings and fears he offered his half of the car to Lyman. Clearly, this was his way of using the car to communicate, as Henry said to Lyman, “Now it’s yours” (326). Also, this could also be considered as a means to try to ease Lyman’s pain. Nevertheless, Lyman fought for the relationship without speaking the words. Besides, what’s more Lyman could not deal with the fact that Henry may not return, and he also used the car to communicate by rejecting his offer saying, “Thanks for the extra key,”(326). By the same token, they were using the car, by giving it up, as a symbol of their love; however, neither wanted the car without the other brother. In any case, without the car to connect them, they are in a break-up
To what lengths would you go for a loved one? Would you destroy something in hopes that it would save them? That 's what Lyman Lamartine did in hopes to fix his PTSD afflicted brother. "The Red Convertible" was written by Louise Erdrich in 1974 and published in 2009 along with several other short stories. Lyman, and Henry, are brothers. The story starts by telling us about how the two brothers acquired a red convertible. Henry ends up being drafted into the Vietnam War, and comes back home suffering from PTSD. One day the pair decided to take a drive to the Red River because Henry wanted to see the high water. Ultimately, the story ends with a cliff-hanger, and we are left wondering what happens to the boys. The symbolic nature of the red convertible will play a key role in this literary analysis, along with underling themes of PTSD and war.
The author then looks back upon the time in his life when her mother decided to drive Hunter Jordan’s old car. However, she didn’t know how to drive, and was generally afraid to get behind the wheel. On that day, she drove crazily on the road, and declared to never drive again. James McBride also reflected on his life up to a teenager, who knew that bad things would occur in the not too distant future if he didn’t change his ways and behavior.
A key symbol in this story is the red convertible. The vehicle as a whole symbolizes the strong bond that was once held between the brothers. The color red has many different meanings. In some Native American cultures the color red means beauty, faith and happiness but sometimes it means blood, violence, and energy. Within the story there were two brothers that loved each other dearly. They had love for each other and everything was great between them. One day Henry lost his job and his brother Lyman had already had money saved up and they went to Winnipeg to get away and there they saw the car, the red convertible. Since both of the brothers were so close, they decided to buy the car. Both brothers loved the car just as much as they loved each other. The color of the car symbolized the love these two had for each other because the color was bright and vibrant and the car represents the strength of the actually bond between these two. After they made their trip to Alaska the car needed repairs. At the same time Henry was called to serve his country. When the car needed repairs, so did the relationship between the brothers. When Henry returned, he was not well and suffered from PTSD.
One important symbol present in the story is Arnold's orange car. I think that it is meant to resemble Cinderella's pumpkin carriage. In Cinderella's fairytale the carriage is what liberates Cinderella from her unhappy family life to the ball where she meets her prince charming, falls in love him, becomes a princess, and in the end lives happily ever after. In this story, rather than whisking Connie away to happiness Arnold is most likely going to take her happiness and her innocence away from her once she agrees to get in the car. It is an old car that has been made to look newer than it really is. And on some level, the car also helps Connie to realize how important her family is to her. Although Connie might see it differently her family life really isn't so bad. She is a somewhat self-centered girl who thinks of herself as better than her mother and sister and attributes their familial problems to them being jealous of her. She doesn't seem to care much about them throughout the story until Arnold comes in his carriage to take her away from it all. Then she realizes how much she cares about them and even agrees to go with him just to keep her family safe from Arnold, who has shown her that he knows exactly what her family is like and even what they are doing in that precise moment.
Although he promises to think about her “warm proposition,” the movie never again explores this possibility. Alternately, he can buy the engine, which serves both as an assertion of masculinity and—as his friend notes—as a signifier of class. While he opts to try this, the entire plan is ill-fated; the scene where he picks up the engine contains some of the most imbalanced sequences in the entire movie, and the extreme and off-putting diagonal of the street effectively communicates to the viewer that the engine will fall long before it actually occurs. His only ways out of his job slaughtering sheep are through unfaithfulness or by being an accessory to murder.
Henry is about a young named Della who wants to get and gift for her husband Jim for christmas. She doesn't have enough money to get a gift even after she resorted to begging. “There was clearly nothing to do but flop down on the shabby little couch and howl. So Della did it” It is an overstatement actually because there was need to get upset over not getting a gift for someone. The writer uses a sense of sarcasm when he wrote that because there was no need to be upset like that. Della gets home and outside her shabby apartment window she sees a shop that buys hair. She goes to the shop and sells all of her hair which was long and beautiful. Della gets twenty dollars and buys jim a watch chain for his prized possession his watch. Della goes back home and waits for the arrival of her husband. Jim is shocked to find Della’s haircut to such shortness. Della gives Jim his gift, but Jim doesn't have his watch any more.Jim says“Let's put our Christmas presents away and keep 'em a while. They're too nice to use just at present. I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs.’’ Jim sold his watch to buy Della beautiful combs that she has been wanting for her hair.they both gave up their most prized possessions to get each other gift for their possessions. They truly care about one another if they would sell something they cared so much for.In conclusion this story had one main type of situtional
Written in the first person by Lyman Larmartine, The Red Convertible follows a typical dramatic development. The story begins in with an introduction of the narrator's life. Almost simultaneously the reader is introduced to older brother Henry Junior and the shiny red Oldsmobile convertible they bought on the spur of the moment together. The rising action of the story begins when the two take off one summer on a road trip that ends them in Alaska. When they arrived home, it was conveniently just in time for Henry to be drafted for the army. Just months later in early 1970 Henry was fighting in the Vietnam War and Lyman was had the red convertible in his possession. More than three years later, Henry finally returned home three years later only to be a much different person than the one that had left. Henry was distant and lackadaisical for the most part, never really caring about anything. Lyman knew there had been only one thing in the past that really cheered him up, and would do whatever it would take to have Henry back to his old self. Lyman took a hammer to their prized possession one night and soon showed Henry the car. Henry then was angered by the way the car was treated and was soon spend all his days and nights consumed by repairing the car. The climax of the story begins when Henry finally finished refurbishing the car and posing in front of it with Lyman for one last picture followed by a trip to Red River like in the good old days. When they arrived at the river, Henry confessed that he had known what Lyman did to the Olds, and was thankful for it, then offered to give his portion of the car to him. Just when the reader believes the old Henry has come back to life, he dives into the river and is sucked down with the strong current.
Even though Lyman and Henry’s relationship ends up ending, the red convertible will always be with Henry and will always be a memory for Lyman. While Lyman struggles with losing his brother to the war, the red convertible brought them back together, even though it was really the end. Henry was faced with war and when he was finished and came back home he changed because of his experiences. Both Lyman and Henry changed throughout the events that took place, but unfortunately for Lyman the red convertible was not able to bring back the relationship they had when they first bought it together.