Character and Point of View in “The Red Convertible” Essay

The Red Convertible is a short trading floor by Louis Erdrich, in which two native American buddys named Marty and Henry decide to bargain for a red convertible Oldsmobile to upriseher. The two brothers spend oftentimes of the pass travelling around together in the railcar until the older brother, Stephan, is deployed to Vietnam. When Stephan returns, he is not the same and Marty tries desperately to recover their past relationship. The round, static, perseverant character of Marty in The Red Convertible is revealed through the offset person extremum of get wind.The jr. brother in the fabrication, Marty, is round and static. Through expose the entire story, the reader is precondition insight into Martys thoughts and feelings, such as, I was sorry Id ever bought it, though, beca commit of Stephan, and I was also sorry Id bought distort (Erdrich 5). Marty does not openly convey this statement to his family. Martys beliefs and values do not change over the course of the sto ry. In the beginning he, thought back to times wed sat still for whole afternoons (5) and in the end of the story he yells at Stephan, race up, wake up, wake up (8). This shows that at the end of the story, Marty wants things to be normal just resembling he did in the beginning of the story.Martys perseverant nature influences the story because it shows how profoundly he longs for his relationship with his brother to be normal again, and creates a virtuoso of desperation. For example, Marty says, One night Stephan was off somewhere. I took myself a hammer. I went forth to that car and I did a number to its underside. Whacked it up (6). This shows how much he is willing to do to make Stephan normal again contempt Stephans serious condition. Also, when Marty says, By the time I get out of the river, off the snag I pulled myself onto, the sun is down it is implied that he attempt to save Stephan from drowning, again showing how desperate Marty is to have his brother back.The do se of view of the story is first. The author repeatedly uses statements like Im laughing so hard (10) and, I walk back to the car (10). This makes it clear that the story is being told from Martys point ofview. The effect of utilize a first person point of view in the story is allowing the reader to have an emotional connection with Marty because it puts the reader in his shoes. The story may not be effective if told from another point of view such as third dramatic because the reader would not be able to fully understand the depth of Martys connection with his brother because his feelings would not be expressed in the story.The round, static, perseverant character of Marty is revealed through the first person point of view. Because the story is told from Martys perspective, it reveals how desperately he wants Stephan to get better. For example, Marty says I tell you right then I wanted to go against that tube to pieces (5). This shows how he was ready to destroy something he work ed hard for in hopes it will help to make his brother better. Throughout the story Marty continues to do things to try to make Stephan better and through the first person point of view the reader sees how often he hopes and tries to accomplish this.By the authors use of the first person point of view, it allows the reader to be put into Martys shoes, therefore developing a round, static character and reveals to the reader how perseverant Marty was collectible to his relationship with his brother.Work CitedErdrich, Louise. The Red Convertible. Print.