Preview

Symbolism In The Red Convertible

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
430 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Symbolism In The Red Convertible
The short story “The Red Convertible” expresses many different types of symbolism. The most reoccurring symbol is the reference of the red convertible itself. The car is so important that once it is gone the story is over. The car is a constant metaphor of where the brothers are at in life. The story follows two Native American half brothers in through navigating the changing landscape of their life and wastes no time jumping into of how the brothers came to own the convertible that would forever shape their life.
The brothers Henry (the oldest) is strong and tall and Lyman (the younger) is the opposite, they share equal ownership of the shiny red Oldsmobile convertible. The brother’s red Oldsmobile convertible is a symbol of their financial

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    All ten of the brothers had received the same inheritance from their father’s will. However, through different choices, decisions, visions, and goals, some of his brothers had taken different roads to their prosperity.…

    • 1290 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The complexity of William Carlos Williams’, The Red Wheel Barrow, can be disregarded as simple at first if read as a sentence but once it is broken down into stanzas a few words make it stand out. The specifics of color brings the reader closer to what is going on in the picture Mr. Williams is attempting to paint. It broadens the reader’s ability to relate to the scene. It leaves you wondering what depends so much upon the red wheel barrow.…

    • 232 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Home”, a pastiche vignette written by Kenny Quach, resembles Cisneros's vignettes because of the similar literary styles, including symbolism and imagery, that are applied. A major symbol in the pastiche is represented in two posters in the narrator’s room. The posters the narrator directly sees are “two nice cars. A purple Bugatti and yellow Lamborghini” (Quach). The author utilizes the nice cars to symbolize the narrator’s potential wealthy future. Furthermore, the symbols portray the narrator to be a positive determined character who is a believer, never gives up, works hard, and will one day reach the potential fate. The narrator’s potential fate helps the readers to discover the universal theme of the future is just a reward for…

    • 124 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Louise Erdich 's compelling short story "The Red Convertible" depicts the relationship between two Native American brothers and a red convertible. The story begins with the narrator (Lyman, the younger of the two brothers) telling the tale of a carefree summer in which the brothers purchase an old convertible and traveled, followed by many more encounters the brothers share. Symbolism is used very heavily on this story, and as suggested by the title, the red convertible is quite important, it quickly becomes a symbol of the brothers relationship in many ways, including the representation of Henry 's health, as well as both bringing them together, and simultaneously ending the bond.…

    • 1079 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Louise Erdich’s “The Red Convertible” Henry and Lyman buy a red Convertible Oldsmobile. Erdich uses the car to portray the brothers’ relationship. The car like the relationship started off good and strong, then turned rough and finally disappeared altogether.…

    • 780 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    At the center of “The Red Convertible” is the relationship between two brothers Lyman and Henry. Lyman is the narrator and the story is told from his point of view. Lyman is the younger of the two brothers and like all younger siblings, seemed to have it easier than the rest of the native boys on his reservation. Lyman was different and everyone knew it. Lyman was very smart, and when he saw an opportunity he took it. He was the only…

    • 1068 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It is described as “a big black battered hearse-like automobile” (O’Connor 432). This gives the reader the impression that the passengers of this particular car are the very “angels of death” who have come to punish the family for their selfishness and other sins. From the beginning of the confrontation the men speak the truth and expose their flaws. For example, when the grandmother says the car flipped multiple times one of the men corrects her, “Oncet, we seen it happen” (433). The whole reason they are even in that situation is because grandmother used the family’s greed against them in an attempt to convince them to stop by a house she remembers from days already gone. She does this by telling the other family members of a secret wall in the house that contains riches. She then makes them turn off onto the road that will inevitably cause the family to meet the end of, not only their trip, but their lives. The name of the last town the family passes before turning off gives the reader a feeling of doom- Toombsboro. It sounds exactly like the word tomb and no doubt signals danger is…

    • 1012 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    James Dickey Symbolism

    • 317 Words
    • 2 Pages

    teenagers is their passion and their lust just like the old cars. Once someone had a passion for the old cars, and once upon a time someone was in a lust by the old car as well. The speaker himself or should we say as readers James Dickey that he reads the lives of past generations into their wrecked vehicles. One example of the speaker putting lives into their wrecked and old vehicles is when he was in the front of the car imaging people in the car through the back window, and when he imagines the old lady taking toys to the orphanage. The type of symbolism that the author uses for putting people’s lives work in two different types of ways. The symbolism shows how the authors mind can make a setting or playgrounds anywhere it must a prime example of the author making a setting is when he turned the junkyard into a paradise. The symbolism of the author putting new lives or the owner’s old life’s into dead cars also shows how anything can become subject to age and deterioration.…

    • 317 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When a widespread disease conquers everyone throughout the country, one man hopes to escape the disease by locking himself and many of his wealthy friends in his abbey. “The Masque of the Red Death,” by Edgar Allan Poe, is a story about a disease called the Red Death wiping out the country side. Prince Prospero believes he can escape the Red Death by locking himself in his abbey with a thousand of his wealthy friends. To celebrate escaping the deadly disease at the end of the fifth or sixth month, Prospero throws a masquerade ball. The ball takes place in seven different rooms; blue, purple, green, orange, white, violet, and black. When the party is in full swing, the ebony clock strikes twelve and everybody stops. Once everybody stops they…

    • 1220 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In “The Red Shoes,” the red shoes, both the homemade and store bought, play a significant role in this short story; the red shoes shifts its symbolic meaning three times. The first pair of red shoes are handmade…

    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The convertible epitomizes the freedom that Henry and Lyman experienced and their relationship between each other. The freedom they experience is shown by the road trip they had the summer before Henry was drafted to war. This freedom that they had before the war is destroyed by the war. Henry's refusal to do anything with the car shows his feeling of losing his freedom and that he feels that he is a slave to the war. Both brothers were untroubled by the worries of the world and traveled around the United States together. Their relationship becomes stronger after they bought the convertible, repaired the car, and traveled around. After coming back from war, Henry loses interest in the convertible and more importantly, his…

    • 124 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    'Stand by Me' Essay

    • 993 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Throughout the movie, Rob Reiner uses symbolism to help the audience understand the story. Four boys’ that embark on a journey to find the missing body of a young boy. Symbolism represents an object or person which holds a significant meaning or character. Throughout the boys’ journey they pass by certain symbolic events which hold a special significance.…

    • 993 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the essay of Kate Chopin “the blind man” represents a blind man carrying a red box walked down the street with no stick, and the man still walking. The man did not know he was carrying a red box because he was blind. However, the guys that gave him the red box may gave him it in purpose because red color can allocate many things. The guys may gave him the red box may be because they thought it is going to be more fun or may be because they thought red color is the most dynamic and passionate color symbolizes for rage, courage and strive for success. In addition, red colors always demanding attention, and in a belief the people who select red color are aggressive people; then maybe that’s why the children tried to take the red box away from…

    • 234 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    When I was young, I was the critical romantic. I loved anything to do with pink and purple, flowers, love movies, candlelight dinners and two-seater convertible cars. To me, that was the meaning of romantic. As time has gone by, my perspective of what is romantic has changed a lot but, I dont know why, I still think of sitting in a two-seater convertible with my lover as a perfect romantic dream. Guess what? Last Sunday, my dream became my lifea sweet smile from my husband at the other side of a carwe had a MINI convertible for a day!It didnt take us too long to fall in love with the tiny two-door and it seems like everywhere we went we drew onlookers attention. Rather, I should say, the MINI was a hit—not us—even though we were an extremely handsome couple. Maybe it was the cool blue metallic that caught peoples eyes or its 17-inch 8-spoke alloy wheels, or could it have been the twin chrome exhaust tips at its lower rear. Anyway, the MINI radiates the most powerful image when compared to any other cars on the road.…

    • 920 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In U.S. society a vehicle is practically a standard of everyday life. Its use is accepted almost as necessity for the continuation of normal operations of work and leisure. The reality of cars' historical creation has been lost through its subjection to the dialectical social relationships of modern America. At the simplest level a cars function is to move from point A to point B. However the variety of the types of cars and the uses of cars complicate this notion. Once a person gets behind the wheel they automatically transform from passenger to driver. When one purchases a car they become an owner leading to extensive other implications of identity. By mystifying its reality, a car's ideological function serves as symbols of…

    • 1162 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays