Red: A Short Story

Decent Essays
Imagine, you’re at a friends house wearing your new favorite white shirt and drinking the red juice your mom told you not to drink. You told yourself your mom would never find out so, why not? Here comes the dog and it feels as if everything had gone into slow motion. The dog knocked into you and your juice went splashing onto your white shirt. Now there is no way your mom is going to miss it. What are you going to do? There lays a memory of a mistake that will always linger in that everlasting mark of faded red.

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    1.08: A Short Story

    • 356 Words
    • 2 Pages

    As the princess gestured to the right to show the man which door to choose, she was thinking about the lady that was in the door and about the tiger that was in the other. The princess didn’t like the lady in the door. she didn’t really want the man to go spend the rest of his life with her. So she did what she had to do. The door she told the man to choose was the one with the tiger.…

    • 356 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Louise Erdrich's story “The Red Convertible” is fraught with symbolism; the water, the car, and the photo highlight the theme of the story. In the story Erdrich uses this Symbolism to show how Henry's participation in the Vietnam War tarnishes his and Lymans relationship in the same manner that Lyman harms the Convertible. Erdrich starts with an explanation of how Lyman and, his brother Henry earned enough money to buy a red convertible that they shared. How is the relationship between the brothers shown through their sharing of the car?…

    • 846 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    In James Hurst’s short story entitled “The Scarlet Ibis,” Doodle’s brother, the protagonist, changed his attitude from proud to ashamed to illustrate the message that people who experience pride toward another often experience a change in perspective due to that pride. Hurst highlights this when, at the end of the story, the protagonist pushed Doodle to do many activities that Doodle could not do because of his weak heart. Doodle’s brother wanted Doodle to be like everyone else because the protagonist did not want to be embarrassed by his younger brother’s condition. When the narrator was walking with Doodle to the river, he mentioned that “Time was short, and Doodle still had a long way to go if he was going to keep up with the other boys…

    • 228 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Scarlet Ibis is a brief story written by James Hurst, which describes the brutal story of Doodle, a disabled child and his brother narrator. Doodlei's life is already a series of close calls; the only reason he lives is his brother's love and perseverance - the occasional cruelty. The only motive for a brother is to be Doodle like any other child to avoid the embarrassment of a six-year-old brother who can not walk, in essence, with his own self. As the story continues, the brothers try to solve his shame and selfishness on the Doodle caused by irreparable holes.…

    • 543 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    "The Future of the red man" is a story on Cherokee people from their origins in a land across the great waters to coming a white man. He talks about how white people came to America and were killing Native Americans. I think its wrong that the fact they would kill them but see also don't think they would just kill Indians, They think that Indians have somethings wrong to white people that's why they have attacked them. Also during the period and time white people were known as bad folks but today that's why native Americans sorta still have a grudge on white people. The Native American did have to dress just like white folks and dress just like them.…

    • 250 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    1. " The youth kept the bright colors to the front. He was waving his free arm in furious circles, the while shrieking mad calls and appeals, urging on those that did not need to be urged, for it seemed that the mob of blue men hurling themselves on the dangerous group of rifles were again grown suddenly wild with an enthusiasm of unselfishness. From the many firings starting toward them, it looked as if they would merely succeed in making a great sprinkling of corpses on the grass between their former position and the fence. But they were in a state of frenzy, perhaps because of forgotten vanities, and it made an exhibition of sublime recklessness.…

    • 1412 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Short Story Color Essay When you read stories or books, you may notice a particular color shows up whenever a certain type of event occurs. In many stories, the use of the color red is to symbolize or foreshadow events containing dangerous elements or situations. One may not see it at the time, however the color can help a reader predict the outcome of the event. Authors often use this to help the reader understand the ending more clearly.…

    • 514 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The tale of "The Red Convertible" analyzes a relationship between two Native American brothers. The story recounts about the cause and effect one incident has on their once close relationship. Lyman Lamartine is the story's narrator, and one of the main characters. He can be described as the concerned, yet caring little brother. His relationship with his older brother Henry, is one of great affinity and camaraderie.…

    • 1162 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    After the Vietnam War, 15% of the war’s veterans were never able to successfully transition back into their old lives (“21 Remarkable”). Louise Erdich’s short story, “The Red Convertible,” features a character who develops post-traumatic stress disorder from the war. Erdich explores the depersonalization associated with PTSD through both the symbolism of the red convertible itself and the drastic change seen in Henry Lamartine’s characterization. Henry Lamartine is drafted into the Vietnam War in 1970, where he remains for roughly three years, when the United States, North Vietnam, and South Vietnam signed the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Viet-nam (“Vietnam War”). Roughly 30% of those who fought in the war suffered from…

    • 996 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The short story, “The Red Convertible” by Louise Erdrich begins on a small Native American reserve in North Dakota. Through the short we follow and explore the brotherhood between the narrator, Lyman and his older brother Henry. After the loss of Lyman’s store and obtaining insurance money the boys spend it on a red convertible. This convertible, although it was only bought impulsively becomes a major part of the boys lives especially after Henry returns from war. Though Erdrich did not reveal this, it is assumed that the boys had become so immersed in Western culture that they lost sight of their own native traditions and ideas.…

    • 287 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Red Badge of Courage The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane is the story of a young man named Henry Fleming who enlists with the Union Army in the hopes of becoming a war hero. Shortly after enlisting, the reality of his decision sets in. Instead of becoming a hero immediately, he finds himself waiting most of the time. When he finally has his first battle, he fires into the battle haze, never seeing his enemy. As the next battle approaches, Henry begins to run from the field.…

    • 767 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Red Nightmare Analysis

    • 1506 Words
    • 7 Pages

    During the Cold War, the fear of communism grew in America. As a result, the American government implemented ways of abolishing any communist sympathizers by attempting to stop their ideas from spreading. These organizations confined many Americans, even those who were not involved. The organizations began to ban people in Hollywood and restrict movies, in fear that the American people would intrust in certain communist ideas that went against America’s democracy. Regardless of the ways they attempted to abolish communism, their endeavor was indisputably against the first amendment, which allows and grants the American people the god given freedom of speech and allows them to discuss their political views and opinions.…

    • 1506 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Dog River - Symbolizes desire to go back to past life where she was calm - The water is calm and when she visits she feels relaxed - Constantly goes back there when feeling defeated  For instance, after everyone thought she was in a sexual relationship with her foster brothers, April went to the river to relax (Moisonier 78) - Used as a high- her parents use alcohol, she uses nonharmful things - No one can take what is yours – the river was their peaceful place that the others cannot get to naturally without getting hurt Proof in the novel: - “Our privacy at the river was protected for us by nature. A few times before, the De Roiser kids had tried to follow me. Maggie found the underbrush too scratchy and too difficult and she had given up.”…

    • 1223 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Jeff Woods, Black Struggle Red Scare, concentrates on the American South during the 1950s-1960s. This time period marks some of the most trying times for blacks in the civil rights history. The book speaks about how ‘southern nationalist’ were attempting to protect the South from communism, and the merging of communist and civil rights movements. Southern nationalist feared that communism and the emerging of free African Americans will endanger the white supremacy, threaten their southern democracy, and endanger the world as we know it. This was the beginning of the second red scare which took place roughly between the years 1945-1960.…

    • 784 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Psychoanalysis of “The Masque of the Red Death” When dealing with humans, it is safe to that say there is always a motive behind one’s actions, whether consciously or unconsciously. Originally written in 1842, Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death” portrays a dark, death-filled story of a plague sweeping through a country. His tone and writing style provokes deeper thought as to the motivation for the production of such a gothic piece. In order to have a thorough understanding of literature, one must learn as much as possible about the author and his life. It is through psychoanalysis readers are able to identify Poe’s use of theme, characterization and setting manifests not only his past experiences, but his personal thoughts during the creation of the short story.…

    • 809 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays