Wednesday, November 9, 2011

The Red Convertible

This story is about two Indian brothers they are part owners of a red convertible. The oldest brother goes off to fight in the a war, and when he comes back he is a changed person and not in a good way. "But he was quiet, so quiet, and never comfortable sitting still anywhere but al­ways up and moving around. I thought back to times we'd sat still for whole afternoons, never moving a muscle, just shifting our weight along the ground, talking to whoever sat with us, watching things." His brother had PTSD and he didn't know how to deal with it, his mother didn't want to take him to a non-Indian doctor because they only give out drugs and don't fix the problem. So the younger brother beats up the car to give his brother something to work on. this shows us the love that he had for his brother.


They take a trip after he fixes the car the oldest brother tells the younger one that he wants him to have the car that it was his. When they get to were they are going, they get into a fight, then they make up. The oldest brother dies i believed he killed himself because he couldn't take the PTSD anymore The little brother drove the car into the river as well, i'm guessing so that the brother can have it. 


I think the theme to this story is self-sacrifice. The older brother goes off to war. When he comes back he is a changed man; its like he sacrifice himself while fighting. The car also plays an important role as it stands for freedom, (ie traveling around during the summer.) it shows the connection that the two brothers share.

1 comment:

  1. There is so much to this story, and I like the connection you made to self-sacrifice. It is true that Lyman sacrifices the car to try to help Henry, and Henry only needs help because of the sacrifice he made for his country. I thought it was very sad how no one in the family, other than Lyman, can find a way to help Henry. It makes me grateful that we have gotten better about treating our returning veterans.

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