The Red Convertible Analysis
Essay Topic #1: The Growing Distance between Family Members
Louise Erdrich’s “The Red Convertible” and John Cheever’s “Reunion”, both use symbolism to reveal the growing distance between the main characters. However, this fictional technique is used and appears uniquely in both works. In the “Red Convertible” the car is one solitary symbol that represents the brothers’ relationship but in “Reunion” the places the father and son visit resembles their growing distance. Even though the symbols function differently the symbolism leads to a severing of relationships. When Henry leaves for the Vietnam War, Lyman stores the perfectly intact car in the garage reminiscing the time they spent together travelling the continent in it. The New York
information booth is a symbol of the boy’s hopes to connect with his father. The significance of these symbols is to allow readers to connect with the characters thoughts of happy memories and high expectations in a relationship. The illustration of an undamaged car and a popular city serves as a point of reference of harmony before the audience is led to the pair’s emotional separation. When Henry returns from the Vietnam War and neglects his brother, Lyman damages the car symbolizing the deterioration of their bond. After going through four different restaurants in New York due to the father’s poor treatment to the waiters, Charlie realizes the character flaws in his dad and a downturn of his wish of maintaining a father-son relationship. The importance of the brothers damaged car and the number of places the father and son have visit is to illustrate how emotional separation and disappointment of expectations can initiate family members to grow distantly apart. The severing of relationships is symbolized by the short circuit of the red convertible “The wires short out. It is all finally dark.” (363) and the Grand Central station ““Goodbye, Daddy”, I said, and I went down the stairs and got my train, and that was the last time I saw my father” (177). The purpose of relating both functionally different symbols, the physical state of the red convertible and areas in New York, is to illustrate different paths to a similar result that is the destruction of relationships. The “Red Convertible” underwent an episodic plot through one solitary symbol represented by the car and the “Reunion” spanned shortly within a day in a unified plot through numerous symbols represented by the booth, restaurants and station. The car’s condition and the number of places in New York parallel the deterioration of Henry and Lyman’s and Charlie and his father’s relationships respectively. Both authors’ symbols differ in capacity and appearance but are similar in purpose in revealing the characters broken relationships in the end.
Works Cited
1) Cheever, John. “Reunion.” Literature: A Pocket Anthology. Ed. R. S. Gwynn. New York: Pearson, 2009. 174-177. Print.
2) Erdrich, Louise. “The Red Convertible.” Literature: A Pocket Anthology. Ed. R. S. Gwynn. New York: Pearson, 2009. 354-363.Print.
Louise Erdrich’s “The Red Convertible” and John Cheever’s “Reunion”, both use symbolism to reveal the growing distance between the main characters. However, this fictional technique is used and appears uniquely in both works. In the “Red Convertible” the car is one solitary symbol that represents the brothers’ relationship but in “Reunion” the places the father and son visit resembles their growing distance. Even though the symbols function differently the symbolism leads to a severing of relationships. When Henry leaves for the Vietnam War, Lyman stores the perfectly intact car in the garage reminiscing the time they spent together travelling the continent in it. The New York
information booth is a symbol of the boy’s hopes to connect with his father. The significance of these symbols is to allow readers to connect with the characters thoughts of happy memories and high expectations in a relationship. The illustration of an undamaged car and a popular city serves as a point of reference of harmony before the audience is led to the pair’s emotional separation. When Henry returns from the Vietnam War and neglects his brother, Lyman damages the car symbolizing the deterioration of their bond. After going through four different restaurants in New York due to the father’s poor treatment to the waiters, Charlie realizes the character flaws in his dad and a downturn of his wish of maintaining a father-son relationship. The importance of the brothers damaged car and the number of places the father and son have visit is to illustrate how emotional separation and disappointment of expectations can initiate family members to grow distantly apart. The severing of relationships is symbolized by the short circuit of the red convertible “The wires short out. It is all finally dark.” (363) and the Grand Central station ““Goodbye, Daddy”, I said, and I went down the stairs and got my train, and that was the last time I saw my father” (177). The purpose of relating both functionally different symbols, the physical state of the red convertible and areas in New York, is to illustrate different paths to a similar result that is the destruction of relationships. The “Red Convertible” underwent an episodic plot through one solitary symbol represented by the car and the “Reunion” spanned shortly within a day in a unified plot through numerous symbols represented by the booth, restaurants and station. The car’s condition and the number of places in New York parallel the deterioration of Henry and Lyman’s and Charlie and his father’s relationships respectively. Both authors’ symbols differ in capacity and appearance but are similar in purpose in revealing the characters broken relationships in the end.
Works Cited
1) Cheever, John. “Reunion.” Literature: A Pocket Anthology. Ed. R. S. Gwynn. New York: Pearson, 2009. 174-177. Print.
2) Erdrich, Louise. “The Red Convertible.” Literature: A Pocket Anthology. Ed. R. S. Gwynn. New York: Pearson, 2009. 354-363.Print.