The Red Convertible - Assignment Example

She currently lives in Minnesota and is the owner of an independent bookstore called Birchbark Books (Harper Collins Publishers, 2013). I do not like the writing style used in “The Red Convertible” by Louise Erdrich, however I am able to appreciate the story for the message she is attempting to convey, and the symbolism that she uses. The writing style used in the story seems to be a combination of stilted and mocking at the same time. It is not truly making a mockery of Native Americans, however the story, as told from Lyman’s point of view, attempts to use a writing style similar to the condescending way that the media used to have Native Americans speak; the sentences written do not fully form complete sentences at times, as when she writes “Now Henry owns the whole car, and his younger brother Lyman (that’s myself), Lyman walks everywhere he goes” (Erdrich, 1984).

I am able to appreciate the message that Erdrich is attempting to convey, in regards to how the Vietnam War affected the veterans; the boys who made it home, but not all in one piece. After reading the story, I felt annoyed at the writing style, but appreciative of the author’s message. . Lyman and Henry lay beneath it "and it was comfortable…the branches bent down all around me like a tent or stable” (Erdrich, 1984) expounds Lyman, and it is easy for the reader to relax into the peaceful scene painted by Erdrich’s words.

The story was meant as a way to show the American public how deeply the Vietnam War affected all members of society, not just the veterans themselves, but how it affected the lives of others as well. The reader is able to see the change that takes place in Henry, how he was different before he left, laughing and spinning Susy around as she left her hair down, “twirling this way and that, so her hair was flung out from side to side” (Erdrich, 1984) but when he came back, he “was jumpy and mean” and the only time he would sit still was when he was in front of the television “but it was the kind of stillness that you see in a rabbit when it freezes and before it will bold” (Erdrich, 1984).

; it is more than that, however, as the reader is also able to see how the War has affected the lives of the people Henry lived with, and specifically, how it has affected his brother, Lyman. “The Red Convertible” is able to successfully show how deep and how far reaching the effects of the War were on those who went, those who came back, and those who stayed. Through the purchase of the red convertible by the two brothers, through the long road trips and lazy summer days, through the waiting, and through the tense times that were present when Henry returned, the author is able to show her audience that the Vietnam War was never out of mind, the adaptability of those who were left behind, and the intensity of the imprint that the War left on the minds of those who came back, alive, but no longer whole.

The tone of the story is,