The Red Convertible Louise Erdrich

Louise Erdrich tells us about the relationship between two brothers Lyman and Henry. They worked really hard to buy a red convertible. The atmosphere of the story started with happiness. Lyman and Henry met a girl named Susy and took her home. They spent time together in Alaska. Afterward, they returned home for their reservation in North Dakota. They were having fun and enjoyed life before Henry signed up for the U.S. Army and left to fight in the Vietnam war. During the war, Lyman noticed that Henry was captured by the Vietnamese Army. Henry captured by the Vietnamese Army, predicts a change in tone for the rest of the story. When Henry returned from Vietnam, he totally changed and that changed the tone of the story from happiness to sadness. The red convertible affected the entire atmosphere of the story. When Lyman and Henry went to buy the red convertible, we can see their excitement for the car when Lyman thought, “of the word repose, because that car wasn’t simply stopped, parked, or whatever. That car reposed calm and gleaming, a FOR SALE sign in its left front window.” (Erdrich 437). After they got a red convertible, the two brothers were really enjoying their lives. When they were driving the new car, Lyman said, “Some people hang on to details when they travel, but we didn’t let them bother us and just lived our everyday lives here to there.” (Erdrich 437). The story began full of happiness and excitement starting with the red convertible. The red convertible will always be with Lyman and Henry.
The tone of the story changed with the sentence, “When he returned home, though, Henry was very different, and I’ll say this: the change was no good.” (Erdrich 438). The relationship between Henry and Lyman was not good anymore. Lyman realized that Henry had totally changed in a bad way and noticed that by his uncommon actions. Even when Bonita took a picture of the whole family together, the tone remained sad. When Lyman described Henry in the picture “I looked up at the wall and Henry was staring at me. I don’t know what it was, his smile had changed, or maybe it was gone.” (Erdrich 440). Lyman could not feel same way to Henry that he felt before he went to the war and that made the atmosphere of the story to sad. The title seems to signify the happiness of life and the brotherly bond between Henry and Lyman. When the two brothers purchased the convertible, they were young, happy, and just wanted to travel. After Henry changed from his experiences in Vietnam, Lyman trashed the red convertible for purpose that Henry could fix it to forget about the war. However, Henry fixed the car only for Lyman to drive it. After Lyman and Henry had a fight, they laughed together for the first time since Henry returned. However, when it seems like Henry was happy again, he jumped into the river and vanished forever. After that, Lyman took the car and drove it into the river which represents that the red convertible means nothing for Lyman without Henry. Lyman did not have any reason to keep that car anymore because Henry was gone. This story tells how war can change and destroy people. The scars of war Henry got was not only physical that effected him emotionally as well. That also led Henry to commit suicide. Even though the red convertible was a huge connection between Henry and Lyman, that was not enough to help Henry to get out of the shock he got from war. The story started with happiness and excitement but it finished with sadness. The war created the sadness in this story and was the main cause that changed the tone of the story.






















Work Cities
Louise Erdrich. “The Red Convertible” Literature and the Writing Process. Ed. Elizabeth McMahan, Susan X Day, and Robert Funk. 8th ed. (437).
Louise Erdrich. “The Red Convertible” Literature and the Writing Process. Ed. Elizabeth McMahan, Susan X Day, and Robert Funk. 8th ed. (437).
Louise Erdrich. “The Red Convertible” Literature and the Writing Process. Ed. Elizabeth McMahan, Susan X Day, and Robert Funk. 8th ed. (438).
Louise Erdrich. “The Red Convertible” Literature and the Writing Process. Ed. Elizabeth McMahan, Susan X Day, and Robert Funk. 8th ed. (440).