"The Red Convertible" by Louise Erdrich and Sherman Alexie's Film "Smoke Signals" - Literary Analysis Essay

Introduction

Louise Erdrich in her short story of "The Red Convertible" concentrates on the bond between two brothers Henry and Lyman Lamartine. In the story, the two Chippewa brothers decided to purchase a red convertible jointly. After buying the car, they went on a road trip during summer and drove all the way to Montana, and were on the road for nearly half the summer. During this trip, they gave a ride to a girl named Susy who was traveling back home in Alaska (Beidler and Gay 11).

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

In the film "Smoke Signals" by Sherman Alexie, uses visual space to counter Hollywood regarding its ceaseless history of prejudice and stereotyping Indians (Ankokas 23). Alexie is resolute in fighting against the prejudicial characterization of Indians. For instance, in a scene in the film, Victor Joseph, an American Indian, reprimand his cousin brother, Thomas about his identity and asks him a question, "Don't you even know how to be a real Indian?" (Alexie 12) He goes ahead to give instructions on traits of an authentic Indian explicitly. The two men engage in a critique talk of Hollywood's Indianness. From the advent of the movie, the white Europeans perceived American Indians as invisible beings in society. For example, this has been evident through the fusion of American Indian separate identities into one. This unique identity divests the existence of many American Indians of various tribes.

Symbolism, Metaphors, and Humor

In their literary works, authors and filmmakers employ symbolism to convey a more profound meaning to what they write, enabling the audience to grasp an idea of the themes in the narrative or film. In the story of "The Red Convertible" is a story about brotherhood love as the priceless treasure between brothers, Lyman and Henry and also the challenges war veterans and their families face during post-war times. Symbolism also divulges the traumas and hardships Henry takes home from the battlegrounds of Vietnam. While Lyman's service to his is realized in his business ambition and success as he states "My own talent was I could always make money. I had a touch for it, [...]" (Erdrich 359). He proudly talks of his capitalist benefits, for he describes this trait is "unusual in a Chippewa" (359). This story relates to "Smoke Signals," for it's a film about two Native Americans raised together and later went on an identity quest. Here the difference is the relationship between cousins and just friends unlike Lyman and Henry in "The Red Convertible."

The red convertible, brought Lyman and Henry's relationship together and also to termination. The red car symbolized love, its color is contemporary for love themes, and even the brothers came together and raised money to purchase it. The idea of the two brothers traveling together portrayed a robust brotherly bond. When Lyman decides to drown the car in the lake, this act signified their broken relationship since Henry had died. Erdrich tells more of the brothers' relationship when Lyman drives into the water so it can be with Henry. Lyman believed that since the car was the only thing that glued their bond, it was best to let go since Henry was no more. "It is finally dark. And then there is only water, the sound of it going and running and running and running" (442).

The use of first-person account serves to connect Lyman's emotional distress and the audience. It aids in understanding the mood and tone of the narrative instead of getting it from someone else with no ties. Throughout most of the story, Lyman used past tense when he tells of events involving him and Susy, but when he spoke of his brother, Henry, it was in present tense regardless if the action was already past. Limited use of the present tense starts when the brothers arrive in the Red River till the story's end. Undoubtedly, this shows that Henry though deceased, he was present there with Lyman. The red convertible would not have been a crucial part of the story if a different person talked about it for it would not have the same result.

In the "Red Convertible" the Vietnam War is associated with trauma. Before the war, Henry is a free-spirited, fine young man, regrettably comes back a "very different" (362) person and later on drowns himself as a result of his mental disorder.

In "Smoking Signals" the expressions both ethnic and sarcastic humor employed in defining the family dynamics of contemporary Native Americans (Rollins 61). Thomas observes the ethnic morals and traditions of the Native American. He did so by adhering to the beliefs and that of story-telling. Thomas likes narrating tales of Arnold, Victor's dad, which were distasteful to Victor because of hate towards father. Arnold was an alcoholic, and due to his drunkenness, he accidentality set ablaze Thomas's house, killing his parents. Eventually, Arnold fled and never went back. This resulted in the separation of family ties as was in "The Red Convertible" when Henry went to Vietnam's battlefields and returned broken "more the sound of a man choking" (362). Sadly, Lyman lost a brother and the car too to the waters, marking the end of their relationship.

Works Cited

Alexie, Sherman. Smoke signals. New Yok: Hyperion, 1998

Beidler, Peter G., and Gay Barton. A reader's guide to the novels of Louise Erdrich. University of Missouri Press, 2006.

Erdrich, Louise. The Red Convertible. HarperLuxe, 2009.

Eye, It Caught My, and A. A. C. A. Ankokas. "Smoke signals." (2018).

Rollins, Peter, ed. Hollywood's Indian: The portrayal of the Native American in film. University Press of Kentucky, 2011.