Love of Family

In "The Red Convertible" Marty is always talking about what he notices about his brother before and after war. When reading this work I obviously understood the love between the brothers of Marty and Stephan. At one point in the work Marty even says that it was always "Marty and Stephan." When both of them had lost their work/jobs is when they bonded the most which is what I feel makes them so close. When a person loses their job a lot of stress is obviously put on them and need to reach out to someone. The fact they both lost their work at the same time pretty much made it easier for them to bond with one another. The brothers not having jobs and still being yound made it so having the red convertible and driving around was nothing to worry about.
When the trip around the country was over with the Army took Stephan away. So Marty still believing that everything will almost be the same when Stephan comes back works on the car for Stephan to enjoy when he comes home seeing as how this is what the brothers enjoyed most with each other. While Stephan was gone Marty bought everyone a color tv to enjoy, but he realizes the problem that will arise when Stephan comes home. With everything weird or different Stephan does nobody says anything like you would expect in a normal family out of love. When Marty realizes how different Stephan is he goes to th extreme of destroying the convertible to get his attention. This is what finally brings back for the most part the brother Marty was used to. Through the love Marty had for his brother Stephan he even changed the tv to make it have a not so good picture so it didn't shock him as much as it first did. All in all Marty did what a good brother would do in my mind to protect/show his unchanged love of his brother Stephan who did change due to war.

Women's rights

I believe the story "Fleur" shows an example of how women's rights had evolved over time. The character Pauline is introduced when Fleur moves to the new town, at first she isn't even really noticed by any of the men while they are playing cards. Then when Fleur begins playing cards with the guys Pauline begins to follow in her shadow. As the story progresses and gets towards the end Pauline gets out of the shadow of Fleur and makes herself known to all of the men.

I feel like this is Louise Erdrich's way of showing the evolution of women's rights over time. To me it seems like the character Pauline is like your average woman in society and Fleur represents the one stand out woman who inspired everyone else to stand up for women's rights. It seems like Fleur really inspired Pauline to come out of the shadows and make herself known whereas before she wasn't even really known in the shop. This is one of the messages that i got out of the story "Fleur."

Anthony DiChristopher
blog 2

Built Strong with Two Question

Today I will be comparing the two stories, the “red convertible” and “Fleur.” The first things I will be comparing are the two characters of Fleur and Stephen. The character of Fleur is described as someone who is strong and described by people as a myth like creature. As one who “laid the heart of an owl on her tongue to see at night so she could hunt”. She is also in the story seen as a free spirited person. Stephen described “red convertible: is seen also a strong person and also in a mythical way as a mighty Indian Warrior, “build like a brick house” the writer says.

But in both these stories a question put in the reader’s mind is, what happened to them? With Fleur wonder if she was beaten or raped by the men or both. And Stephen makes us wonder what happened to him while he was in service. Did military service frighten him so much that he changed? Or did he see a comrade die? Was the image of war too much for him? We do not know, but both characters are changed by the unclear events. One thing I noticed was that the author liked to show that people who are put on a high pedestal in a larger than life image, while contrasting the vulnerabilities like you and me.

The Pig Pen Battle

In the story “Fleur” the men stalk Fleur in the shadows waiting for the moment of attack. We have some unanswered questions in exactly what happened that night. What did Lily and the others do to Fleur? Was she rape? Or just beaten and battered around? The author gives some hint to in the pig verse Lily Battle.

The author tells us one of the jobs associated with Fleur duties was in the pig pen area. The pig here, in Battle with Lily seems to symbolically represent Fleur. Fleur and here battle with the men, in which we have no direct knowledge of. Fleur was a strong woman as strong as the sow but in the end couldn’t make it. But not long after a tornado that only seem to have damage the farm takes its revenge on those poor souls with swift retribution for Fleur.

War trauma

The Red Convertible is a short story that develops in three periods: a description of the narrator's relationship with his brother, using the red convertible as a "catalyst", a description of how the war changed his brother, and the last trip Marty takes with Stephan. This arrangement allows more emphasis on details of the three parts. Before he left, Stephan was outgoing and in a great relationship with his younger brother, they had a close complicity and were doing everything together. The red convertible was the symbol of that as they worked on this car together, and had a beautiful road trip.

After he returned from the war, Stephan was traumatized by the war. he was detached, hypnotized (the TV episode shows it well). Out of spite, Marty destroys the symbol of their complicity. This triggers a reaction in Stephan who repairs the car, showing that he wants to reestablish his old relationship. I think at that point that Staphan understands he will never be able to return to his former self, he wants a last piece of fun with his brother and end it.

Romain Dahan Post 2

The Red Convertible

The short story "Red Convertible," by Louise Erdrich is a story about an Indian family who resides on a reservation. The narrator and his brother bought a red convertible and were able to travel around during the summer before having to return home to wish his brother off to fight in Vietnam. Before the war the brothers both shared a unique relationship, and what brought them closer was the red convertible. The Vietnam war had a profound effect on him when he returned home.

When the narrators brother returned home, he was a completely changed man, as if the world around him had changed so drastically and somehow he was left out. As he was trapped in a place that time had left untouched, and the world he once knew was ripped right out from underneath him. There was no turning back, everything had changed and the ability to get a grip on reality was far from reach. Which is the case for many veterans now.

Fleur Pillage was only a girl

The short story "Fleur", by Louise Erdrich describes the life of a young girl. The beginning of the story jumps right into the scene of fleurs' first drowning, and begins to unravel the mystery behind this young girl. How death is caused to those that save her from her own peril. The two men in the beginning of the story that saved her had in return lost themselves. The story continues by telling of fleurs' incidences with drowning and how those who saved her are internally doomed to their own fate.
I believe in this short story that fleur is understood, that the tragedy of the two men that originally saved her was internally blown to the extreme by accusing her of being some sort of mystical being, or being involved in "dark magic." It's funny how people have the tendency to domino effect anything into something it's not, making the story bigger and bigger than it really is. I believe that that is indeed the case to this story, that sometimes things are indeed coincidences and not supernatural. That sometimes things do happen for a reason, an some people are just simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. After all, isn't that how most urban legends being anyways?

Cali Simmons, Post 1