The Red Convertible Character Analysis

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The conflict in “The Red Convertible” by Louise Erdrich is driven by Lyman Lamartine’s lack of acceptance of the changes in Henry Lamartine’s personality when he comes back from the Vietnam War. The brothers had such a wonderful time together on their road trip that Lyman is unwilling to accept the changes in his brother. Lyman has never had to face any difficulties like fighting in the war and an easy life makes it difficult for him to relate to his changed brother. Instead of being supportive, Lyman attempts to try and bring his brother’s old personality back. Lyman has always had luck on his side when it comes to his life. He “had a touch for” (401) making money and “never worried about the draft” (403). At a time where his brother is facing …show more content…
He states, “I though the car might bring old Henry back somehow” (404). He did not try to understand what was going through the mind of his brother. Lyman did not change and since his brother did change, his brother needed to be fixed. This thinking led to the conflict between Henry and Lyman where Henry yelled since the car was in such poor condition. This conflict was directly caused by Lyman’s close minded thinking. The thought that a man traumatized by war could easily return to his old self simply by working on a car was foolish at best. Henry was not coping, he avoided the problems in his mind by becoming obsessed with fixing the car. Lyman commented that his idea was working. He said, “It was easier for him to do the things the rest of us did” (405). Henry was no longer like everyone else and that was the concept that Lyman never …show more content…
The fight between the two of them over who should have the car clearly depicts how Lyman’s lack of acceptance of the new Henry drives the conflict. Henry understood that he had changed and had no idea how to fix it. He tried to make a grand gesture by fixing up the car to give it back to Lyman, but Lyman refused to accept it. They had to fight before Lyman could even relatively accept it. This was very different from when Henry gave the car to Lyman before he went away. Lyman said “‘I’ll put [the key] up in your drawer just in case I need it”’ (403). It was a joke at that point, but with new Henry the action was serious. They had to fight and get all their feelings out before they could laugh about it. This could have been different if Lyman had just been supportive of the new Henry and appreciated the gesture. Lyman could not understand that Henry was just trying to make the situation better the only way he could think of. To Lyman this could have been seen as a sign that Henry had given up and was never going to be the same. Lyman was still refusing to accept his brother as is and just had to keep trying to fix him. Lyman’s expectations of Henry to return from the war exactly as he was before drives the conflict in “The Red Convertible.” His expectations made it impossible for him to accept the new Henry, the one who had been traumatized by the war. Lyman did not
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