The Red Convertible Short Story

The story I chose for this paper is “The Red Convertible” by Louise Erdrich. The story is about two young brothers and the close bond they share with each other throughout most of their young adult lives. The bond they shared lasted until the older brother, Henry, Leaves for the military and when he returns he’s a completely changed person and rarely speaks to his younger brother Lyman leaving him feeling alone. This all takes place around 1969 on an Indian reservation along with a few destinations on the trip they take together.
When Henry returns from war in Vietnam the first thing he notices is how quiet his brother had become in comparison to how he would joke and laugh before he left. This makes Lyman feel like he’s lost the bond he had

This is when Lyman started to feel more hopeful towards Henrys recovery. “He just said, “Let’s take this old shit-box for a spin.” Just the way he said it made me think he could be coming around” (Para 47). From there, Lyman and Henry went on a road trip to Pembina to see the Red River to see the high waters. During the trip Lyman describes Henry as peaceful but not the same as he was. When they arrive to the river they build a fire and start talking and eventually end up fighting, after the fight they both start laughing and joking but soon after Henrys mood soon starts to turn again so Lyman cracks a joke and after a moment Henry starts joking too and for a fleeting moment Lyman had the old henry back. “He looks as if he’ll take this wrong at first. His face twist, then clears, and he jumps up on his feet. “That’s right!” He says. “Crazier ‘n hell. Crazy Indians!” (Para 64). “I think it’s the old henry again.” (Para 65). During this time Lyman is laughing and going along with Henrys antics until henry abruptly jumps into the churning river. Lyman looks into the river but can’t see Henry but he hears him say “ My boots are filling” in a normal voice and then he was gone. After jumping in, Lyman was unable to find or save him so he lets their car roll into the river that had just taken his brother. I think Lyman believed that Henry was on the path towards being his old self as he slowly got better which gave him hope that he would one day get his brother