You cannot change them, you cannot pick them, everyone has one and for many it is a very important part of their life. Many people have strong family ties. Nothing effects a child 's life more than family. A child 's values, their first moments of life, their first relationships. With a relationship like this, it leads people to do things they normally wouldn 't do. They make sacrifices that would be hard to explain if you did not understand the importance of family. We are specifically talking about the dynamic between two people like mother and daughter, or between two brothers. These relationships develop from growing up with the support, connection, and care that most families have. Louise Erdrich 's “The Red Convertible” highlights the …show more content…
It 's only later after her mother has died that Ni kan can accept the piano and what her mother was working for. While her mother only wanted her daughter to have a brighter future, it didn 't always come across this way. It was inevitable that this created stress on their relationship. From Ni kan’s perspective this was constant pressure for her to be different than she is, to be better than she is. For a young girl that can damage her self-esteem greatly. However, this situation was wildly different from her mother 's perspective. She saw this is a way to improve her daughter 's life. A way she could give her happiness and a life like she never had. There are always many sides to family relationships, or any relationship for that matter. Family relationships are unique though in many ways. You 're born into a family with what starts out as strangers and you 're forced to develop your whole life with them around. Most parents want the best for their children even if they don 't know what that is. They might apply their efforts in the wrong places, get a tone they don 't mean to take, or do things that are hard to understand. It 's hard to explain this type of situation to a 9 year old girl though. Which is why Ni kan’s mother was only doing the best she could, given the situation. You can 't blame Ni kan for the way she felt either. She is a young girl put into a tough situation. The stress of which could get to anyone, even
The Red Convertible, written by Louise Erdrich, is a short story written in the first person perspective of a Chippewa Indian named Lyman. It portrays the story of his brother, Henry, who joins the Marines and fights in the Vietnam War. Before recruiters pick up Henry, Lyman describes him and his brother’s road trip in their brand new red Olds. Lyman explains Henry’s characteristic during their joy-ride as friendly, joking, and fun. Returning from their road trip, Henry leaves for Vietnam. When he returns, Henry is not the same joyful man that he once was before he had left. Louise Erdrich’s short story, The Red Convertible, follows the life of Henry who is as funny joking guy. Although war has changed him, and it was not for the best. Louise Erdrich’s theme for The Red Convertible is that war can devastate peoples’ lives.
Henry Fosdick once said, “The tragedy of war is that it uses man’s best to do man’s worst.” In “The Red Convertible” by Louis Erdrich, there is a conflict amongst two brothers, Henry and Lyman as ones awareness towards reality is shifted upon the return of the Vietnam War. Henry’s experience fighting in the Vietnam War is the responsibility for the unexpected aftermath that affects their brotherhood. The event of Henry fighting in the war through fears, emotions and horrors that he encounters is the source of his “Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome [PTSD].” It has shaped his own perception of reality and his relationship with his brother Lyman and the strong bond that they had shared.
In “The Red Convertible,” Louise Erdrich through her first- person narrator Lyman, creates an unspoken emotional bond between two brothers. This emotional bond between the brothers is not directly spoken to each other, but rather is communicated through and symbolized by “The Red Convertible.” In spite of what appears as a selfless act by one brother, in turn, causes pain in the other brother, as no feelings were communicated. In this case, Lyman explains his version as he takes us through the experiences that he and his brother Henry have with the car.
Although Ni kan quickly loses interest of her mother's dream of being a prodigy, her mother persists. She arranges for Ni kan to take piano lessons. Her mother does not ask her if she wants to play the piano or to explore another art form. She arranges a complete schedule of lessons and practices that take over not only her daughter's physical existence but also dominate Ni kan's thoughts for most of her free time. Her mother wants to control not only her actions but also her dreams and aspirations, and she will not tolerate disobedience. She clearly says that "Only one kind of daughter can live in this house. Obedient daughter" (Tan 497).
To what lengths would you go for a loved one? Would you destroy something in hopes that it would save them? That 's what Lyman Lamartine did in hopes to fix his PTSD afflicted brother. "The Red Convertible" was written by Louise Erdrich in 1974 and published in 2009 along with several other short stories. Lyman, and Henry, are brothers. The story starts by telling us about how the two brothers acquired a red convertible. Henry ends up being drafted into the Vietnam War, and comes back home suffering from PTSD. One day the pair decided to take a drive to the Red River because Henry wanted to see the high water. Ultimately, the story ends with a cliff-hanger, and we are left wondering what happens to the boys. The symbolic nature of the red convertible will play a key role in this literary analysis, along with underling themes of PTSD and war.
Family defines people making them who they are. A person's family heritage, how their parents met and married, their parents’ occupations, their siblings, and their early lives play an important role in who they are and who they become. Every family is different and has different characteristics and members, but those differences are what make every family unique. Those differences combined with my family members’ experiences and the stories they have chosen to share are what makes this story exclusive to my family.
“Stitches” by David Small is a graphic novel where he visually describes his childhood. Small shows how he perceived his family relationships as a child and his own perspective of the world at the time. He clearly depicts his family’s dysfunctionality that prevented him the ability to display his self expression. Small encountered various events throughout his novel that added a different element to his understanding of relationships, specifically with his parents. As Small matured, these events played a critical role on his ultimate understanding of their complicated relationship.
This story was written for the author to reflect upon her childhood, and to share how her family tormented her; also, how that helped her become who she is today. She talks about her aunt Baba who always encouraged her to do her best in school. The author speaks about how they would sit on her bed and look at her report cards when she was upset. Her aunt Baba would always say something like, “look at this one all A’s and top of your class again.” (Yen Mah 61-62). She spoke about how her aunt and grandfather would sneak her money to ride the bus to school, or little pieces of candy when she would get good grades in school (Yen Mah 47-50). They encouraged her and helped her become the wonderful accomplished person she is today. Even the bad things that happened to her when she was a child helped her. If she had not been sent to that boarding school by Naing she would not have entered the writing competition that lead her father to realize how talented she was, and send her to college. If she hadn’t been sent to college in London by her parents she would have never become a
In Native American culture, the red is the color of faith, and represents communication. The short story The Red Convertible by Louise Erdrich is more than an emotional story about the lives of two Chippewa brothers who grew up together on an Indian reservation in North Dakota. Erdrich uses metaphor, symbol, vivid imagery and a simple writing style to allow the reader to understand the text while also providing the opportunity to read a lot into the story.
The relationship of brothers usually lasts forever, but in Louise Erdrich’s short story “The Red Convertible”, the relationship of the main characters Lyman and Henry takes a turn. Erdrich takes her audience through the experiences these brothers face and how they must come to terms that their relationship has changed. Knowing that it will most likely never be the same both Lyman and Henry try to fix their relationship until eventually one falls because of the experiences he faced in life. While Lyman may think the red convertible will save his and Henry’s relationship, Erdrich makes it clear that it will not through the characterization of the brothers, the plot of the story, and the symbolism she uses to tell her story.
In the short story “The Red Convertible” you will find some important elements that are integral to the support and development of the theme brotherhood. First, you will see how the road trip gives a lesson in the story. Second, you will discover how the war affected the relationship of Lyman and Henry. Finally, you will understand the symbolism of the red convertible and the link it has between both brothers. One important element that has a powerful lesson in the story is the road trip. While Lyman and Henry went on a drive one afternoon, they met a girl named Susy in the middle of the road. Susy had her hair in buns around her ears and was very short. They let her jump in the car and they take her to Alaska, where she lives. They stood in Alaska for a while and the night before they went back home, Susy stood up on a chair and unclipped her hair, and it reached to the ground. They were both astonished when they saw her hair. Not only because it was very long, but perhaps because they never seen her hair from that perspective, “You couldn’t tell how much hair she had when it’s rolled up so neatly”. The moral of that scene was that even if we see things one way, there is always a different perspective to see it. Even the relationship that anyone can have with someone else can be seen in different perspectives.
To me, family is the most important thing in my life. They always encourage me to be the best I can be and nothing more. A quote that I think describes family to me is one by Alex Haley that states, “In every conceivable manner, the family is the link to our past, and bridge to our future.” Through the stories I hear from my mother and grandmother, I have a clear link to my families past and the generation of women that led to me. All the values these women held close to them throughout the years have led to the formation of myself and my values. Over the past three generations, the women in my family have overcome oppression. My mother, growing up in a time where women could never have aspirations to be CEO’s or politicians, somehow came out stronger. She saw what she didn’t want for her future, and jumped at the chance to start a new life in America. No single model of family life characterizes the American family, despite ideological beliefs to the contrary (Andersen). My family couldn’t be labeled an “Italian family” or an “American family.” We are a mix of the two cultures and ideologies, which is what makes us different. I am the first women in my mother’s family to be born and raised in America. My great grandmother had a complete different childhood and adolescence experience than I yet we still have a common cultural base. All her ideals were passed onto my grandmother, than all the down to me, a hundred years in the making to become who I am
A family is defined as a “system within a system”, it is actually compared to a self operating entity in which each part is related to another in order for it to correctly function (Sigelman & Rider, 2012, p.470). Sigelman and Rider (2012) agree that, the family is a changing system, in a sense, because there are new members that come in, some others pass away, and that changes sometimes the roles of each and everyone in the system. There are multiple relationships in the family such as parents-children, and siblings to siblings. Also, families nowadays exist in a changing world; therefore we are seeing more unmarried parents, more working mothers, more divorces, and more multigenerational families (Sigelman & Rider, 2012, pp. 472-473).
When the word “family” is discussed, most people think of mothers, fathers, and other siblings. Some people think of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and even cousins and more on the pedigree tree. Without family in people's lives, they would not be the same people that they grew up to be today and in the future. When people hear the word family they think about, the ones who will help them in any way they can whether it’s money, support, advice, or anything to help them succeed in life. Family will forever be the backbone of support.
It is a source of comfort, support, security, and protection. Family helps make sense of the world by allowing one to feel unique and special and be encouraged to follow their dreams and to succeed at life. Families will experience life differently but it should be a safe place that opinions can be expressed openly and each member be made to feel important. While college will provide academic lessons in life, the lessons learned from family will directly affect one's personal values and behaviors. Every stage of life presents joys and challenges. Relationships teach how to cope with those joys and challenges and boost the ability to reach life