NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote
... ol. "There was still blood going down Henrys chin, but he didnt notice (459). He is eating bread with blood on it but it does not matter to him. The meaning of the red here may have been letting out of the body fluid as in the way that people were let to bleed to let something bad be released from them. According to the Indian Medicine Wheel, red was symbolic of success as in the color of the war club used to strike an enemy in battle as well as the club used by the warrior to shield himself. Also, red beads were used to conjure the red spirit to insure long life, recovery from sickness, success in love and ball play or any other undertaking where the benefit of the magic spell was sought.
Because of their beliefs, the family may have let Henry bleed without saying anything because this was to be a healing. Lyman decides that he should take a hammer to the car that he had beautifully restored for Henry to see if this would drag him out of his depression. When Henry saw the car, he was angry at the way that Lyman had treated it. This may be an example of how the car represents a part of himself and Henry felt that the abuse of the car was an abuse of himself. Henry does get caught up in restoring the car as though it is a part of him that he can fix.
As the brothers are preparing to head off on their first trip with the newly restored car there was one proud moment that is captured by their younger sister as she takes a picture of the boys with their car. But Lyman tells us that Henrys face must have been in a shadow because there was black engulfing his face. Black symbolizes death in their culture as well as ours; so this was a foreshadowing of what was to come. They end up traveling east towards Pembina and the Red River, the Medicine Wheel says that red means east (462). Henry confessed that he had known that Lyman had been the one who tore up the Olds, and said he was thankful for it so we begin to think that the old Henry is back.
But when He throws off his jacket and starts swinging his legs out form the knees like a fancy dancer... doing something between a grouse dance and a bunny hop (463). Lyman has no idea what has come over his brother. To understand this strange dancing it helps to learn the origin of the Chippewa dancing drum; which is told through an old legend.
The legend begins with an old Indian woman, who lost her four sons fighting the white man. This woman took refuge in a lake. Hiding from the white man, under Lilly pads, the Great Spirit told her how to ward off the white man. To do this, the Great Spirit told her to make a drum, and taught her songs to sing when the white man returned.
When the woman returned to her people, she told the men how to sing the songs. The Great Spirit said that it would be the only way you are going to stop the soldiers from killing your people. When the white men returned to the village, they heard the drum and saw the dancing, they then put down their arms, and stopped the killing. (The Ojibwa Dance Drum Legend) By looking at The Red Convertibles background, and thinking about what Henry has gone through, we can begin to understand the meaning of Henry's fancy, wild dance. Henry was sent to fight in a white man's war, in his mind, and against the communists who are always portrayed as red, who captured him and tortured him and so, of course, upon his return, he has changed. Henry's dance symbolically represents his rejection of fighting in that war. It also helps to learn that the reemergence of the Pow Wow was related to the ceremonies instituted on reservations to honor the veterans returning home from the wars engaged in by the United States.
These ceremonies brought about a newfound Native American pride. The ceremonies began with the end of World War II and really revitalized the old ceremonies with tribes joining together for the first time in this new pride. After the Viet Nam War we arent told that there was any such ceremony for the veterans as this was an unpopular war and this may have been Henrys own ceremony. The next thing that Henry does is offer to give Lyman the car; this is a foreshadowing of his death because in the Chippewa culture gifts are given to the family of the deceased. Lyman emphatically tells him that he doesnt want it. Lyman refuses this gift because he does not want Henry to die and, perhaps the bad luck that went with full ownership of the red car.
The red convertible may also represent a curative charm for Henry. From the Medicine Wheel we learn that in the Chippewa culture, a charm was given to the injured or diseased and this charm was used in many ways to: stimulate love, attract wealth, insure a successful journey, and to counteract evil. The charm consisted of an artifact that represented the individual or a figurine. The car was Henry's charm I thought the car might bring the old Henry back somehow (460). Lyman could see Henry was sick, so by reconnecting Henry with the car, his charm, he thought the old Henry would return.
The next thing that happened was so sudden that Lyman has no time to react. Henry dives into the river and is sucked down with the current. Henrys last words were "My boots are filling, " when he surfaced the last time and this just shows how clearly Lyman remembers this moment (463). Lyman jumps in to try and save him but he doesnt find him and it is as though he knew it what was to come.
In the last paragraph, the rest of the introduction is explained when Lyman lets their red Olds roll into the water behind Henry. At the moment Lyman knows Henry is gone, he feels the only way there could be resolution is by driving their car up to the rivers edge and letting it roll in behind Henry. Henry couldn't accept what had happened to him and the way life was now; therefore, he took his own life. Once again, Lyman was the lucky one because he survived and though he tried to save his brother he realized that it was the way that Henry wanted it to be.
The symbolism from the color red was not the only important factor in the story. Erdrich uses the beliefs of the Chippewa people to teach us things about the actions of the people. She describes things vividly, which helps make us feel that we have been there with the brothers. The uses of the color red to describe blood, aggression, danger and war are there as pointers, as well as, the color black for death foreshadowed by the black hair falling around Henry.
The red convertible was at first the car that took the brothers to another world where they were free, but then they had to return in the fall to reality and Henrys heading off to war. When Henry returns home from war a changed man, we see the family's struggle to help him. The color red again plays a big part in this when Lyman describes the day when his brother bit through his lip and didnt seem to know that blood was spilling down his chin even while he ate. The car leads them to the final moments of Henrys life and in the end is sent to the same place that Henry must lie. This shows the association between the car and Henry that was in the mind of Lyman.
Free research essays on topics related to: color red, white man, great spirit, lyman, red convertible
Research essay sample on Red Convertible White Man
