When Lyman describes the first time he saw the red convertible, the reader can assume he is baffled, and moved. "The first time we saw it! I tell you when we first saw it." (443) Lyman is remarkably overwhelmed he can't get the adjectives out to describe it, he just repeats himself in a humorous way. Both brothers are astound when laying eyes on this shiny red convertible. "There is was, parked, large as life. Really as if it was alive." (443) Lyman and his brother Henry are deeply affected when they examine this car, it brings some sort of happiness to them they cannot explain, and eventually decide to spend all their money on it. Lyman and his brother Henry, decide to spend a perfect summer enjoying the red convertible going place to place, and experiencing life together. "We went places in that car, me and Henry. We took off driving all one whole summer." (443) Not really thinking it over, but making an impulsive decision to …show more content…
They Lamartine family notices their cheerful Henry is not the same as before. "He sat in his chair gripping the armrests with all his might, as if the chair itself was moving at high speed and if he let go at all he would rocket forward and maybe crash right through the set." (444) It is disheartening to read about the Henry we know as carefree, life loving guy, who turns so damaged, and hurt by what the war has done to him. This example of Henry only shows the audience how war can completely ruin a person. "His face was totally white and hard. Then it broke, like stones break all of a sudden when water boils up inside them." (446) You sense a sign in reference to how run-downed Henry is, and how is brother only wants the best for him. Lyman wants the old Henry back, the brother he knew on that once adventures summer. Unfortunately this story is not a happy ending and Henry cannot snap out of it. Making any reader think twice before joining the
War changes a person in ways that can never be imagined. Living in a war as well as fighting in one is not an experience witnessed in everyday life. Seeing people die every time and everywhere you go can be seen as an unpleasant experience for any individual such as Henry. The experiences that Henry had embraced during the Vietnam War have caused him to become an enraged and paranoid being after the war. It has shaped him to become this individual of anxiety and with no emotions. The narrator says:
In “The Red Convertible” by Louise Erdrich the two main characters Lyman and Henry are brothers that have an amazing relationship with one another. In the beginning of the story Erdrich writes about how Lyman and Henry bought a beautiful red convertible; and together they went on plenty of road trips and bonded over the car. On the other hand, the two siblings in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” don’t have that same sibling bond. The siblings in “Everyday Use”, Maggie and Dee, are complete opposites. Dee is extremely vain, snobbish, and outspoken while Maggie is coy, insecure, and more down to Earth. Although Maggie and Dee aren’t as close as Lyman and Henry, they still have a very close relationship even though it seems as if they’re from two different planets. In the stories “Everyday Use” and “The Red Convertible”, the characters share multiple traits such as: loyalty, good heartedness, and empathy; the authors of both stories convey their characters in a way that makes the reader feel a sense of sympathy for them.
We learn that when Henry comes home from the war, he is suffering from PTSD. "It was at least three years before Henry came home. By then I guess the whole war was solved in the governments mind, but for him it would keep on going" (444). PTSD changes a person, and it doesn 't always stem from war. Henry came back a completely different person. He was quiet, and he was mean. He could never sit still, unless he was posted in front of the color TV. But even then, he was uneasy, "But it was the kind of stillness that you see in a rabbit when it freezes and before it will bolt"
Henry, as noticed by the narrator, Lyman, “was very different, and.... ... middle of paper ... ... Then, his father tries to attack him, but he is fiercer and watches himself “striking [his father] again and again” until “the bigger man had not even bothered to fight back.
PTSD, also known as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, can cause change and bring about pain and stress in many different forms to the families of the victims of PTSD. These changes can be immense and sometimes unbearable. PTSD relates to the characters relationship as a whole after Henry returns from the army and it caused Henry and Lyman’s relationship to crumble. The Red Convertible that was bought in the story is a symbol of their brotherhood. The color red has many different meanings within the story that relates to their relationship.
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
They like to do everything together, they event purchased a car, specifically a red convertible, that they would use to travel all over the place. Through out the entire story the author uses symbolism to represent Henry and Lyman’s friendship status through a red Convertible. Before henry had to go to war, the two brothers barely had any disputes, it was like nothing could make them angry, they were just living their everyday lives and all they cared about was having each other and the red convertible by their side, as stated in the story “some people hang on to details when they travel, but we didn’t let them bother us and just lived our everday lives here to here” (The red convertible). They were young, energetic and fun, and nothing could bother them. Henry’s mental state and friendship with layman was unbreakable at this point. However, nothing was ever going to be the same after Henry got called in to go to war, and had to come back the way he
Henry suffers from retrograde amnesia due to internal bleeding in the part of the brain that controls memory. This causes him to forget completely everything he ever learned. His entire life is forgotten and he has to basically relearn who he was, only to find he didn’t like who he was and that he didn’t want to be that person. He starts to pay more attention to his daughter and his wife and starts to spend more time with them.
This contrast between romantic vision and cold reality can be seen early in the novel, with Henry's departure from home. Driven to a "prolonged ecstasy of excitement" by the rejoicing crowd, Henry enlists in the army and says good-bye to his mother with a "light of excitement and expectancy in his eyes" (709). He anticipates a romantic, sentimental send-off reminiscent of Spartan times and even goes as far as preparing remarks in advance which he hopes to use "with touching effect" to create "a beautiful scene" (710).
During his time running away Henry finds himself in deep internal conflict because he ran away from his regiment, soon after he finds the tattered man who talks to Henry about how his regiment fought to the last man. And about how he fought bravely with his regiment and how the whole army has so much courage and fortitude. Henry then feels guilty about leaving the 304th behind and so he changes course and finds the army and gets back into the
When in one scene, a character named as the Red Sammy from the barbecue place says, “Two fellers come in here last week driving a Chrysler. It was an old and beat-up car but it was a good one and these boys looked all right to me”.
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.
describes the couple watching the passing cars at Lytle and South Dixie to an “
Through Henry and Catherine’s relationship and experiences together, Hemingway demonstrates the belief that while death is inescapable, it is still important to face death with courage. Henry is stating that he has made a “separate peace” with the war which means he is trying to forget about it. When Lt. Henry and Catherine were discussing about how they are going to be in the future, Lt. Henry states, “If people bring so much courage to this world the world has to kill them to break them, so of course it kills them. The world ...
...aught you off base they killed you” (314). Henry sees clearly the tight connection between love and war, as shown when he compares the dying of his beloved with the dying of his combat friends: ”Or they killed you gratuitously like Aymo. Or gave you the syphilis like Rinaldi. But they killed you in the end. You could count on that. Stay around and they would kill you” (aa).