"The Red Convertible", A symbolic Story.
"The Red Convertible" is a short story by Louise Erdrich written in 1984. The story is about a Native American Culture family. The two brothers in this story are Lyman and Henry who takes a road trip all over America and Canada. They take their journey in a red Oldsmobile convertible. This symbolic story takes off on many adventurous journeys threw America, Canada, and Alaska. The brothers meet a woman on their journey that has symbolic meaning in this story. The red convertible symbolizes the relationship between the brothers. The author uses a lot of symbolic meaning in this short story. .
Louise Erdrich contrasts the old way of life versus the new. The author uses many other metaphorical symbols: convertible, the road trip, and the dance Henry does before his death. The color of the car also symbolizes many things. Lyman's brother Henry had a big and sharp as a hatchet, like the nose on Red Tomahawk. Also when the brothers took their final journey Lyman says, "We started off east, toward Pembina and the Red River" (Erdrich p.271). .
The convertible appears in a bright red because, while driving the car, Henry feels he is in the white mans war. (Erdrich p.268). When Henry returns to the Red River he feels free again and has his spiritual freedom. Lyman says, "He said he wanted to give the car to me for good now, it was no use" (Erdrich p.270). .
When Henry gives the red convertible to Lyman, it symbolizes Henry's death. .
This story shows a unique perspective on rites of passage (fanshawec p.1). Lyman is undergoing the process of maturation and realizing that he lives in a discriminative world. Lyman is a young guy trying to define who he is and what is important to him (fanshawec p.1). The environment he is surrounded in which he lives offers two alternative lifestyles: his native culture and the white culture. Lyman begins to favor the white culture although he never forgets his own.