The Red Convertible

Content Warning: This section contains references to war-related trauma and suicide.

Two Lyman Lamartines are constantly present throughout the story: the younger Lyman experiencing the events, and the older Lyman who narrates. The younger Lyman’s thoughts and feelings are still clear throughout the story, and the older Lyman often points out who he was at the time, comparing him with who he is now. On the first page, Lyman says he had a talent for making money, which is “unusual for a Chippewa” (177). This was a feature that defined him growing up, but the use of past tense implies that the older Lyman no longer has the knack. Likewise, even when his brother was serving in Vietnam, young Lyman never worried about being drafted because he “always had good luck with numbers […] But Henry was never lucky in the same way” (182). Older Lyman doesn’t share younger Lyman’s lack of worry. He is also willing and able to point out a key difference between him and his older brother—a difference that would have caused great pain to the young Lyman, who craved his brother’s attention and sought to emulate him.

Young Lyman idolizes his brother and sees him as the pinnacle of masculinity.