“War is cruelty. There is no use trying to reform it. The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over”, a quote by William Tecumseh Sherman, that touches lightly on the wars in both “The Red Convertible”, a short story by Louise Erdrich, and “The Return”, a short story written by Ngugi wa Thiong’o. In both these stories the focus characters, Henry in “The Red Convertible” and Kamau in “The Return”, are prisoners of war and have dealings with suicide. However, the two men’s families have different approaches to their returns.
In both “The Red Convertible” and “The Return” Henry and Kamau are both held as prisoners of war. However, despite both being prisoners of war, the two men are held for different amounts of time. Kamau is gone for “five years” and he voices that it “was admittedly no short time.”. Lyman, who tells narrorates “The Red Convertible” tells the readers that “It was at least three years before …show more content…
When Kamau returns home expecting a “hero’s welcome”, he receives look of surprise and fear. He also discovers that his wife has left with another his rival, who had lied and relayed the news of Kamau’s apparent death. Not only has his wife left with the Kamau’s child, but his entire community was forced to leave their village due to land consolidation. However, Henry’s family supports him the best they can. When Lyman, Henry’s brother, and their parents discuss getting help for Henry, and the top turns to taking him to a hospital, Henry’s mother says “They don’t fix them in those places…they just give them drugs”. Despite not having a large amount of money and no access to a Native American doctor, Lyman comes up with the idea to destroy the car he’d repaired while Henry was at war. This manages to help Henry for a small while, as he almost obsessively fixes up the red convertible. However, Lyman’s idea does not work as well as he had hoped it
In both “The Red Convertible” and “The Return” Henry and Kamau are both held as prisoners of war. However, despite both being prisoners of war, the two men are held for different amounts of time. Kamau is gone for “five years” and he voices that it “was admittedly no short time.”. Lyman, who tells narrorates “The Red Convertible” tells the readers that “It was at least three years before …show more content…
When Kamau returns home expecting a “hero’s welcome”, he receives look of surprise and fear. He also discovers that his wife has left with another his rival, who had lied and relayed the news of Kamau’s apparent death. Not only has his wife left with the Kamau’s child, but his entire community was forced to leave their village due to land consolidation. However, Henry’s family supports him the best they can. When Lyman, Henry’s brother, and their parents discuss getting help for Henry, and the top turns to taking him to a hospital, Henry’s mother says “They don’t fix them in those places…they just give them drugs”. Despite not having a large amount of money and no access to a Native American doctor, Lyman comes up with the idea to destroy the car he’d repaired while Henry was at war. This manages to help Henry for a small while, as he almost obsessively fixes up the red convertible. However, Lyman’s idea does not work as well as he had hoped it