Red Convertable
The Red Convertible by Louise Erdrich
In the story The Red Convertible, Louise Erdrich introduces us to two brothers, Lyman and Henry Junior. They are of Chippewa descent and live on a reservation in North Dakota. One summer they decide to buy a red convertible car, and travel cross country. They have plenty of adventures meeting up with a girl from a small village in Alaska who needs a ride home. They happily oblige and drive her all the way to Alaska. After a time, Henry is sent off to Vietnam and when he returns only seems to be a shadow of the person that he once was. He seems to Lyman to be a completely changed person. Where he use to be a serene and open person, he now cannot be comfortable sitting still anywhere. Henry seems jumpy, and mean, and instead of being free spirited he seemed to have lost interest in living and watches television all the time. It is obvious that Henry is in pain, but it isn't until his suicide that we really understand just how great it really is. Lyman tries to help his brother by damaging the car so that Henry could find solace in fixing it, but it is a short lived respite for Henry. That spring they decide to take the now fixed car for a ride to Red River. Henry decides to go for a swim, and drowns as the current takes him away. Lyman tries to go in after him but soon looses sight of his brother. Unable to locate Henry, Lyman pushes the car into
river. He watches the car until the headlights go out. In Lyman's mind, he thought that if he damaged the car it might somehow bring his brother back. In Henry's attempt to fix the car, Lyman thought it would fix his brother. Though Henry's death is the conclusion of the story, Henry's spirit was already dead due to the war. The red convertible was the bond that held the brothers together. It represented their youth and innocence before Henry had to go away. In a way, this story is very much like the essay by Russell Banks. The both talk about innocence lost, and it
In the story The Red Convertible, Louise Erdrich introduces us to two brothers, Lyman and Henry Junior. They are of Chippewa descent and live on a reservation in North Dakota. One summer they decide to buy a red convertible car, and travel cross country. They have plenty of adventures meeting up with a girl from a small village in Alaska who needs a ride home. They happily oblige and drive her all the way to Alaska. After a time, Henry is sent off to Vietnam and when he returns only seems to be a shadow of the person that he once was. He seems to Lyman to be a completely changed person. Where he use to be a serene and open person, he now cannot be comfortable sitting still anywhere. Henry seems jumpy, and mean, and instead of being free spirited he seemed to have lost interest in living and watches television all the time. It is obvious that Henry is in pain, but it isn't until his suicide that we really understand just how great it really is. Lyman tries to help his brother by damaging the car so that Henry could find solace in fixing it, but it is a short lived respite for Henry. That spring they decide to take the now fixed car for a ride to Red River. Henry decides to go for a swim, and drowns as the current takes him away. Lyman tries to go in after him but soon looses sight of his brother. Unable to locate Henry, Lyman pushes the car into
river. He watches the car until the headlights go out. In Lyman's mind, he thought that if he damaged the car it might somehow bring his brother back. In Henry's attempt to fix the car, Lyman thought it would fix his brother. Though Henry's death is the conclusion of the story, Henry's spirit was already dead due to the war. The red convertible was the bond that held the brothers together. It represented their youth and innocence before Henry had to go away. In a way, this story is very much like the essay by Russell Banks. The both talk about innocence lost, and it