The Red Convertible Short Story

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.

The relationship of brothers usually lasts forever, but in Louise Erdrich’s short story “The Red Convertible”, the relationship of the main characters Lyman and Henry takes a turn. Erdrich takes her audience through the experiences these brothers face and how they must come to terms that their relationship has changed. Knowing that it will most likely never be the same both Lyman and Henry try to fix their relationship until eventually one falls because of the experiences he faced in life. While Lyman may think the red convertible will save his and Henry’s relationship, Erdrich makes it clear that it will not through the characterization of the brothers, the plot of the story, and the symbolism she uses to tell her story.

In this paper, I will be comparing and contrasting three works that we have studied this semester. I will be writing about A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner, The Hairy Ape by Eugene O’Neill, and The Open Boat by Stephen Crane. All of these authors’ stories use setting to encompass the idea of freedom. Each author has a different perspective on liberty and they all express it differently through their writing. In each story the main character is trapped, either literally or metaphorically. They can all achieve freedom from their situations, but there are obstacles that stop them from reaching their goal. In A Rose for Emily, the main character is trapped in her house. In The Hairy Ape, the main character is stuck in

“The Red Convertible “is a really great story to read because of its themes, characters, and its background. The author gives a lot motivations for the readers to be interested. “The Red Convertible” is a story that deals with two brothers that come from the Chippewa reservation. The story’s focus is the two brothers and how did their relationship has changed after a period and especially how did the red convertible reflect on their relationship. Those changes were sad and turned out not to be that good of a change specially for Henry Jr. after he left to serve in the Vietnamese war. Lyman is Henrys younger brother, was really affected by those changes that happened to his older brother Henry, Lyman tries his best to do everything he can to help his brother Henry go back to his old life and self, Lyman kept trying to do everything for his brother but nothing worked out. The author Louise Enrich puts out all themes that puts matter together. Enrich uses many symbols that conveys the experience of a lot individuals that has to deal and live by following complex cultures or under certain circumstances.

In the story, “The Red Convertible,” Louise Erdrich describes the bonding between two brothers, Lyman and Henry. The brothers share the car together and travel beyond the reservation where they grew up at young age when most of us still trying to figure out our role in society. The narrator, Lyman, portrays his bother as fun-loving, carefree individual who can socially mingle with anyone, but his personality dramatically changes after he comes back from the Vietnam War. Lyman tries to aid his brother to come to the previous state of mind by intentionally destroying his red convertible by beating it with hammer. However, Henry understands his brother’s effort, and work hard on healing himself by fixing the car. Unfortunately, Henry feels failure at his attempt, yet he reconnects with his brother for a short period of time; he ends his life by filling his boots with water and sinking to the bottom of the river. Lyman lets the car into the water as well with understanding that his brother’s wounds were too deep to bring him back to old self. Erdrich, in this story, explores the issue of post-traumatic stress disorder which has life-threatening consequences on one’s life as well as their family.

In the story “The Red Convertible” Louise Erdrich tells us about a young boy and his brother’s adventure. Lyman pushed the car into the water because it held memories that would only cause him more pain if he were to have kept it. In his getting rid of the things that made grieving even more painful pushing the car into the water dissolved the times it held of happiness he had shared with his brother in a more physical rather than mental way.

     Have you ever wanted to take the summer off from work and escape from reality in order to travel around the world without having any worries? Well this is what Henry and Lyman in the “Red Convertible” by Louise Erdrich decided to do one summer. Henry and Lyman are two brothers who grew up on the Indian reservation. They perceive life on the reservation as an ongoing circle with a harmonious atmosphere. During their trip to Montana and Alaska Henry and Lyman’s idea of a carefree life is only reinforced, but when Henry is sent to Vietnam this perception is surpassed by a new reality and changes Henry’s reactions to the surrounding

Alcoholism seems to be a common obstacle in everyone’s lives. Whether one is trying to overcome a problem or the possibility of knowing someone who is, which also seems to be a common characteristic for the main characters in each of the stories “What You Pawn I Will Redeem” by Sherman Alexie and “The Swimmer” by John Cheever. These two stories share motifs, symbols and themes. The most obvious contrasts are as follows; the point of view for each of these stories is different. In Alexies’ story, it is told in the first person view, for a reason too.

The stories The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway and “The Swimmer” by John Cheever, both convey a positive and negative aspect on the protagonist’s life. I believe that the authors wrote these stories in order take the reader on an adventure with the protagonist, letting the reader interpret the protagonist’s wins and losses. While I was reading through these stories I understood that both the old man and the swimmer were almost completely opposite. The old man started out with no friends and a tiresome and sluggish mood, while the swimmer started out with tons of friends and family and a happy and pleasing mood. The protagonist’s from both The Old Man and the Sea and “The Swimmer” had a defined win and loss within their story.

Vishal Sathish - 60% Outside Reading Project - Literary Analysis Essay Life is meant to face struggles and is judged by how well handling the situation is. Struggles are handled in various ways as though they can lead to a solution similarly as both selections, The Fault In Our Stars and A Real Case, use to convey the theme. Though John Green’s novel, The Fault In Our Stars, compares to Sara Holbrook’s poem, A Real Case, by similar themes of facing life’s struggles, they as well differ when it comes to the types of struggle.

In analyzing Kaufman’s intricate approach to this challenge the viewer is shown how life and writing are constantly evolving as conflict brings about challenges of adversity. In writing there is a continual flow that the

At this point in time, I happened in the back seat or my mom's van driving to my grandparent's house for dinner and to chat with my other relatives. Thrown around while a couple of times, making some turns I saw we were slowly but surely rounding near their subdivision. I could tell as I saw an enormous, round, and probably metal or concrete, tall sign with the big red letter "S" on it. that was obviously just an advertisement for Speedway, but all I needed to do was see that to know that up ahead a little further we'd be there.

Chapter 7 (pgs 83-89): This short chapter is focused on used cars in is told for the point of view of a car sale manager. This opportunist knew that he could scam navie farm hands into buying branly running Model T and other old Jalopies. These tenants were so desperate to travel westward that they agreed to buying these broken down cars at extremely high prices.

In my report I will analyse and investigate characters facing adversity throughout their life or at some point and relating them to our society we live in at this time period. The four texts I have used were Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, Gandhi: Naked Ambition, a biography written by Jad Adams, The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D Salinger and the oral documentary, Kevin’s Sentence by Bob Carty. Across these texts the main theme of ‘facing adversity’ was portrayed through characters, language and how the authors/directors/playwright presented their work to the audience introducing guilt building up within the plots. Interpreting the themes into our society and how we deal with situations that could make changes in our lives and showing the

Two men sit on fabric covered seats in the cab of an aged truck as it heaves up and down the stone filled dirt road. Duke is behind the thin steering wheel. He shifts the gear into third and switches the small radio off without taking his eyes from the road.