The Red Convertible

Family is the most important thing we have, and it can also help us to solve our problems.

Characters

Connections

Theme

Brotherhood

Ray

Topic

Susy

Lyam

Henry

Bonita

Moses Pillager

PLOT

The topic of this story is the development of the relationship of two brothers, and how this is affected after one came back from war.

Falling Action

Henry and Lyam went to Pembina and the Red River, when they arrived to that place, Lyam tried to talk to Henry about his attitude.

Dynamic

Flat

Henry said to Lyam that he knew what Lyam did to the car, and, then, they were just talking and playing.

Flat

Setting

Flat

Text-Self

Text-Text

Text-World

Climax

Lyam saw that Henty's lips were full of blood when they were watching TV. Lyam’s family realize that something wrong was happening to Henry.

Sometimes people must let things go to be able to forget our past or people we lost.

Time

Place

Resolution

Lyam saw Henry jumping into the river, but Henry couldn’t get out of the river, because the current was very high so, Lyam could not saw him more.

Lyam tried to enter to the river but he could not find Henry, so he got out of the water, and he launched the car to the river.

Around 1970-1075

Family is the most important thing we have, and it can also help us to solve our problems.

Life through experience leaves us knowledge or traumas that will affect the rest of our lives.

1973

Hard work allows us to go far in life

“I was at least three years before Henry came home.” (Erdrich, 1984)

Rising Action

Lyam and Henry bought the Red Convertible.

Main: North America

Henry, went to a training camp. In 1970, Henry said he was stationed in the northern hill, upto he got caught by the enemy.

Little Knife River

Between Wisconsin,
Minnesota and North Dakota

Joliet Café

Mandarance in Fort Berthold

Wakpala

Montana on the Rocky Boy

Blood Reserve

Spokane

Bottineau Country

Red River

Main Conflict

Internal

External

The conflict is between Henry and Lyam, because when Henry came from the training camp, he was different, and Lyam didnt want that, thats why he tried to call Henry's attention with the Red Convertible.

Literary Concepts

Epiphany

Henry changed his way of thinking and his attitude, as it is shown in the reading, when Henry arrived of his training camp, he got to his house completely different, he was more serious, mean and always jumpy; he had mental problems.

Foreshadowing

Gaps

Irony

The Vietnam War was a conflict between the two parts into which the State of Vietnam was divided (north and south), between 1959 and 1975, and as a result of the intervention of about 40 countries became an international conflict, one of the most remembered of the Cold War period, it left about 5.7 million victims.

Campo Elías Delgado Morales (Chinácota, Norte de Santander, May 14, 1934 - Bogota, December 4, 1986) was a Colombian assassin, and a veteran of the Vietman war. On December 4, 1986 he became a lightning killer when he murdered 29 people (including his mother) and wounded 15 more in three places in Bogotá: a building to the north where he taught private English, the building where he lived, and the Pozzetto restaurant, which he visited regularly.

"A moment of sudden and great revelation or realization." (Taken from Merriam-Webster)

An example could be when Lyman and Henry took their picture, and Lyman though he brought his brother back to normal, the epiphany was that Lyman understood that he wasn't the one who could help his brother, because later in the story Henry commits suicide.

"The missing piece or pieces in the research literature, is the area that has not yet been explored or is under-explored." (Taken from Northcentral University Library)

In the story, we don’t know what happened in the Vietnam war to Henry that makes him change that much.

“Brain Biomarkers Could Help Identify Those at Risk of Severe PTSD”

"Is a situation in which there is a contrast between expectation and reality. " (Taken from MasterClass)

This article talks about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in combat veterans, The findings, revealed distinct patterns for how the brain and body respond to learning danger and safety depending on the severity of PTSD symptoms. These findings could help explain why symptoms of PTSD can be severe for some people but not others.

According to this study PTSD is a disorder that can sometimes develop after exposure to a traumatic event. People with PTSD may experience intrusive and frightening thoughts and memories of the event, experience sleep problems etc... And this is related to Henry and this can explain why he changed after arriving from the Vietnam War, and maybe is because in the war he lived some traumatic experience so Henry can have PTSD.

The irony is the picture they got before going on their trip because it was a good memory, instead that picture reminded Lyman about his brother's death.

This is related to Henry, with the change that the war can generate in people.

"I don't know what it was, but his smile had changed, or maybe it was gone." (Erdrich, 1984)

“Henry was different, and I’ll say this: the change was no good.” (Erdrich, 1984)

“That picture. I never look at it anymore.” (Erdrich, 1984)

Symbolism

"Be a warning or indication of (a future event)." (Taken from Oxford Languages)

Henry is a Dynamic character, because at the beginning of the text, we can notice that Henry is a happy person, who liked to spend time with his family and brother, but as the text progresses we can realize that his way of being changes after he went to the Vietnam War, he was a different person.

Lyam is a dynamic character because he was a carefree and happy person, he liked to go out on road trips, at the beginning of the text, but after his brother returned from the war, he began to worry about him, he wanted to take care of him and also after his brother's committed suicide he kept those memories and he was not the same again.

An example is when Henry is watching TV and he bits his lip, making the reader understand that he is inflicting self-harm and that something worst could happen, like suicide.

“I looked over, and he’d bitten through his lip. Blood was going down his chin.” (Erdrich, 1984)

"The use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities." (Taken from Oxford Languages.)

The story has an example of symbolism, and the symbol is the car is the idea of innocence and the bond that Henry and Lyman had as brothers, as well as their memories together.

Chippewa

Chicken, Alaska

Round

Static