Introduction
Turning to the personality of Henry Lamartine, it is necessary to consider many events that had a significant impact. The story of The Red Convertible is riddled with various hidden symbols that reflect the real reason for what happened. The brothers’ interactions and relationships go through changes that have a significant impact on them. Thus, Louise Erdrich strives to leave readers guessing as to what happened and what the real reason is. Henry is going through many changes that have had a special impact on him, leading to a deterioration in his relationship with his family. The author seeks to demonstrate the fact that there are things that are sometimes impossible to understand from the outside when people lose touch with their past life.
Jump Into the River
The author does not seek to directly answer the reasons for committing this act, so readers may have the idea that it was just an accident. However, in the story itself, there are various details that indicate that this action was completely intentional. During a conversation with his brother, Henry tries to give him a red convertible so that he can take care of him. In addition, they discuss his mental state, and Henry realizes that it is especially difficult for him to overcome his psychological problems. He made the decision because he sought to renounce the thing that connects him with both positive and negative emotions.
The inability to enjoy life and things that bring pleasure are why Henry loses motivation to continue his mental recovery. Another symbol is the refusal of Lyman to accept the car. This fact could cause Henry a negative reaction. All this could be reflected in the fact that he realized he had no way to eliminate the negative associations that the car causes. Moreover, Lyman mentions: “He says this in a normal voice, like he just noticed and he doesn’t know what to think of it” (Erdrich, 1999, p. 114). Consequently, Henry’s jumping into the river was intentional, as evidenced by several details in the story’s plot.
Changes
For Henry, the convertible was an important part of the feeling of freedom he experienced from traveling with his brother around the country. This fact is mentioned in the story: “We went places in that car, me and Henry. We took off driving all one whole summer… We got up there [to Alaska] and never wanted to leave” (Erdrich, 1999, p. 104). By nature, Henry was quite an open and positive person. However, he had some difficulties earning money, which was the reason that Henry decided to go to war in Vietnam. The connection between the brothers is particularly important through their shared memories of the red convertible. First of all, there is a connection with the fact that the color of the car had a strong connection with positive emotions. However, the first reason for Henry’s change is that he was not captured in Vietnam. After his return, the main character’s understanding and attitude toward reality change significantly. Lyman says: “I looked over, and he’d bitten through his lip. Blood was going down his chin” (Erdrich, 1999, p. 108). Thus, Henry becomes more hot-tempered and fickler, and his character is no longer the same as cheerful.
This is especially reflected in Henry’s attitude to the convertible, which no longer evokes former memories of freedom and relations with his brother. A special role here is played by the color of the car, which Henry now associates with the pain and difficulty of the war and the emotions that he had to go through. Even the desire to overcome this problem did not significantly impact him since, in the end, it led to a state of deep depression. In this case, the author seeks to highlight the fact that Henry’s military experience changed his perception of reality. The red convertible is no longer a symbol of the feeling of freedom, and on the contrary, it becomes the cause of negative emotions (Teutsch, 2020). Henry strives to overcome his difficulties but eventually realizes that it is almost impossible. For readers, the motive of his actions remains hidden, but through the perception of the whole story, a full-fledged picture is built.
Conclusion
Louise Erdrich demonstrates the story of the hard fate of a Vietnam War veteran. This story demonstrates the difficulties that people who have experienced traumatic events have to face. For Henry, the red convertible was a symbol of freedom. He was strongly connected with the memories that connected him with his brother. However, the events that he had to face in the war significantly changed his attitude toward reality. Various details of the plot point to the fact that for Henry, the red color began to be associated with negative emotions and memories of the war. Readers are watching the story of a serious change in a person who is faced with the difficulty of not being able to overcome mental problems. Thus, readers understand that Henry’s jump into the water was a purposeful action and a final decision that could not be influenced. Unwillingness to put up with his fate and the loss of pleasure from important things for Henry left him no other options.
References
Erdrich, L. (1999). The red convertible. In growing up ethnic in America: Contemporary fiction about learning to be American (pp. 103–114). Penguin Books.
Teutsch, M. (2020). The cyclic nature of Louise Erdrich’s “The Red Convertible.” Interminable Rambling. Web.