Character and Point of View in “The Red Convertible” “The Red Convertible” is a short story by Louis Erdrich, in which two native American brothers named Marty and Henry decide to buy a red convertible Oldsmobile together. The two brothers spend much of the summer travelling around together in the car 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 first person point of view. The younger brother in the story, Marty, is round and static. Throughout the entire story, the reader is given insight into Marty’s thoughts and
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This makes it clear that the story is being told from Marty’s point of view. The effect of using 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 Marty’s 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 Marty’s perspective, it reveals how desperately he wants Stephan to get better. For example, Marty says “I tell you right then I wanted to smash that tube to pieces” (5). This shows how he was ready to destroy something he worked 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 Marty’s shoes, therefore developing a round, static character and reveals to the reader how perseverant Marty was due to his relationship with his brother.
Work Cited
Erdrich, Louise. The Red Convertible.
This makes it clear that the story is being told from Marty’s point of view. The effect of using 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 Marty’s 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 Marty’s perspective, it reveals how desperately he wants Stephan to get better. For example, Marty says “I tell you right then I wanted to smash that tube to pieces” (5). This shows how he was ready to destroy something he worked 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 Marty’s shoes, therefore developing a round, static character and reveals to the reader how perseverant Marty was due to his relationship with his brother.
Work Cited
Erdrich, Louise. The Red Convertible.