Henry Lamartine, from the "Red Convertible" and George Orwell, author of "Shooting an Elephant", in many ways are a lot alike. They both share several of the same type of internal conflicts, that way them down, throughout their stories. Both Henry and George are undergoing identity crisis's they are insecure with who they are because of themselves and because of outside external conflicts.
Henry Lamartine is a Native American, who grew up in the 60's and 70's. He struggles with everyday life, because he is of a different ethnic group then most of the people around him. He cannot seem to hold a steady job, and a lot of it is to do with his looks and his unlucky way of life. Everything seems extra hard for him; he has to work hard twice as much to achieve his goals then most people do, including his little brother Lyman, who at the age of 16 owned a restaurant. Which frustrated Henry because he saw how little effort Lyman had to but into things to get a good end result. Henry was shipped off to the Vietnam War, and was never the same once he came back. Like many Vietnam veterans, Henry was withdrawn and hurting on the inside from what he had seen when he was at war. He is struggling with many internal and external conflicts throughout this short story. Henry is coping with the fact that he his culturally different and has not been completely Americanized like his younger brother. Henry is also aware of the conflict with in himself resulting from being different and from being sent off to war. He does not have any clue who he really is and what exactly he is supposed to be doing in his life. Thus kills him on the inside because he sees other people around him either making an impact on the world, and/or people completely content and happy with whom they are. The constant fighting with himself forces him, to give up, in way, on his life. He takes up drinking and gives his car to Lyman, showing the reader that he no longer cares about himself and just wants to stop the lying and to admit that he has been defeated by his own mind.
