The Red Convertible

I first read this story a few years ago in a short story class and the impact is similar.  One thing I find interesting is my reaction to Lyman and remembering my classes reaction to his life post-Henry.  When my class read it then my teacher and then the students all made a big scene out of pointing out that Lyman was drunk and stoned when he tossed the picture in a bag and then in the closet.  They, and I think I went along with this, made it sound as though he was on a bender, like his life was out of control.  We talked about him as horribly sad and some people even made him sound a bit pathetic or like he'd become like Henry, just blankly watching the TV and not living.  This is a pretty bleak outlook on this young man and a guy in the mid seventies (or now) who has had a few drinks and smoked a joint is not "out of control", nothing about what he described sounds like he's fallen into a pit of sadness.  He was down one night and this happened, as things do.  Were we s convinced that he had to be spiraling in sadness to want to take down the picture of Henry?  I think so.  I think we have trouble allowing people to grieve how they want to, and we want to pass judgement on what they can and cannot handle.  Lyman probably went back and forth, up and down, had good days and bad over Henry's death for years - but it is much more dramatic for us to think of other wallowing.  To see tears being shed is much more concrete than someone who moves on only to have occasional bad nights - it doesn't make their suffering any less or their mourning.  Why do we like to impose how we think people should be sad?

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The Red Convertible: Lyman Lamartine

The story has several incidents of magic realism in it.  Lyman's ability to make money so easily and not worrying about being called up for the draft.  But the incident that stood out for me was in the end when Henry drowns.  It starts out in an ordinary way with both of them sitting on the bank.  Then Henry suddenly decides to jump in the river. But the scene unfolds in an otherworldy way as Henry says so calmly, "My boots are filling." (3394) an then, "He says this in a normal voice, like he just noticed and he doesn't know what to think of it." (3394) It all seems to unfold in a very calm peaceful way, almost like a dream.  There does not seem to be any panic or confusion as this tragic event is happening. It make me wonder if Henry was ready to die.  Was the drowning intentional or an accident?  Had he made his peace with the world and as ready to let go? Did he think that his life would never get any better?

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The Death of Henry Junior

The light begins to dim. The crimson convertible is at a halt beyond the gray flowing waters of the Pembina and Red Rivers. The air is silent. The mood is overcome with disparagement. The two men encircle the warmth of a fire created by hand. The river is almost still although ever flowing none the same. It is as if the river itself derives from the source of Acheron(www.theoi.com). The darkness of the landscape as the sun sets entails death; the death of men. Can the soul of man die as the body lives on? Henry Junior died long before he ever came home. Only his body survived the trip from the treacherous forest of the Vietcong. “When he came home... Henry was very different, and I’ll say this: the change was no good”(Erdrich3390). Henry had become mindless. Only his central nervous system controlled him now. The thoughts within his head were hollow; nothing more than that dark forest in Vietnam. As the two stood on that river bank, the bank of the dead, Henry dove head first. He liberated himself from his given body. He was now completely freed from this Earth. Nothing was left to tie him to the soil. Within moments he was gone. The current carried the unmoving body into the underworld of Hades. 

Endrich entails such a dramatic conclusion as to depict an other worldly ambiance. One can die in many ways. The metaphysical nature of the scene brings forth the eventuality of death as well as the ways in which a human may die. Death is not always what it appears. Many die far before their physical selves leave the Earth. Endrich’s abounding illustration illuminates the uncertainty of life and the human soul. 

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