Discussion Topic
Determining if Henry's death in "The Red Convertible" was accidental or suicide
Summary:
Henry's death in "The Red Convertible" is ambiguous, leaving it unclear whether it was accidental or suicide. The narrative suggests he may have intentionally drowned, given his troubled state and the deliberate actions leading up to his death, but it is not explicitly confirmed.
Did Henry drown or commit suicide in "The Red Convertible"?
The ending is quite ambiguous, so you have to make some deep inferences throughout the story to arrive at one position at the other. Although I think you could defend either position, I tend to believe that Henry intentionally jumped into the river to end his life.
Before the war, Henry had a great sense of adventure. He seemed to embrace life and had a great sense of humor, even if the jokes were at his expense. He was thriving, enjoying time with his brother, and joking around with the girl in Alaska. This is not the same Henry who returns from the war. Upon his return, Henry is jumpy and skittish. He never regains a sense of normalcy and struggles to even connect with his brother. Henry likely has PTSD, and his days are filled with a pervasive sense of hopelessness.
This hopelessness is also evident after he jumps...
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into the river. He doesn't panic and doesn't scream. In the reality of a river which is at capacity and full of boards and debris, he doesn't ask for help. Instead, he calmly notes that his boots are filling with water before going under.
Lyman notes earlier in the plot that his brother has a strong physique, so it's possible that he could have grabbed on to one of those boards in an attempt to save himself; unfortunately, he doesn't make that effort. It was Henry's idea to go to the river on this night, and his mood is uncharacteristically upbeat just before he jumps in. In fact, Lyman recalls that he thought it was "the old Henry again." But the mood seems to be a facade, Henry's one final gift to his brother whom he plans to leave behind a few moments later.
Henry's war experience forever changed him, and it seems that he came up with this plan as a means of escaping the emotional torture that plagued his days.
A perfectly valid argument could be made for either side of this debate. Henry's death could just as easily have been a tragic accident as a tragic suicide. Erdrich deliberately leaves the precise nature of Henry's demise ambiguous so one can only speculate.
On balance, however, the evidence for Henry's committing suicide would appear to be stronger. Just before he's carried away by the Red River's powerful current, he appears remarkably calm and placid. On the face of it, it would seem that Henry is experiencing a moment of clarity, a phenomenon that's quite common among those about to take their own lives.
It's notable too that Henry doesn't make a sound after he jumps in the river. There's no screaming, shouting, or hollering and no calls for help. What this suggests is that Henry is calmly accepting his fate. His behavior greatly strengthens the argument that he is intent on committing suicide.
One should also bear in mind that prior to his jumping in the river, Henry gave the impression that he'd pretty much given up the ghost, that he'd lost the will to live. With the life-force having been drained from him, it's not surprising that he should choose this moment to commit suicide.
In "The Red Convertible," was the death a case of suicide or accidental drowning?
To be able to assess whether the death at the end of the short story "The Red Convertible" by Louise Erdrich is suicide or accidental drowning, it's important to consider the background. The story concerns two Chippewa Indian brothers named Henry Junior and Lyman.
One day on impulse they buy a beautiful red Oldsmobile convertible together, and they begin to take it on road trips. On their longest trip, they take a hitchhiker all the way to Alaska and stay for a time with her family before returning home. Erdrich includes this interlude in the story to emphasize the intimacy and sense of fullness of life that the brothers share.
When they get back from this trip, Henry Junior is drafted to serve in the Vietnam War. He stays away for three years, and when he returns, he has changed. It is obvious that whatever horrifying experiences he went through in Vietnam have given him PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder, a psychological condition that afflicts people who have gone through terrifying events. He is no longer the relaxed, easy-going brother that Lyman knew in the past. Instead, he is tense, irritable, and always uneasy.
Lyman thinks that Henry Junior might improve if he works on the red convertible, and so he deliberately damages it so Henry can spend time fixing it up. This therapy seems to be effective at first. When the car is in working order again, the two brothers drive it to a river that has become swollen and is almost overflowing with spring snow melt. The brothers build a fire and talk, and then they fight. At one point Lyman shakes Henry and implores him to wake up, and in response Henry says, "I can't help it. It's no use." This sounds as if Henry is in despair and doubts if he can ever recover from what he has been through.
After the fight, the brothers drink beer and get along better. It seems as if Henry might be improving. He abruptly exclaims that he has to cool off and jumps into the river. There is no indication that this is anything other than a spontaneous act. Once he is in the deep, swift-flowing river surrounded by rubbish, he says, "My boots are filling." Erdrich writes:
He says this in a normal voice, like he just noticed and he doesn't know what to think of it. Then he's gone.
This seems to indicate that Henry has not jumped into the river with the intention of deliberately committing suicide. It seems that he genuinely thought that he only wanted to cool off. However, once he is in the fast-flowing current of the river, it is possible that he simply decides to give up and not fight the dangerous waters, and so he drowns. The answer to the question, then, lies somewhere in between the two alternatives. He doesn't deliberately commit suicide, but once he is out in the water, he ceases struggling and lets himself drown.
In "The Red Convertible" by Louise Erdrich, was Henry's drowning an accident or suicide?
In this short story, "The Red Convertible" Henry Junior and Lyman were brothers. They bought a Oldsmobile convertible together and drove all over the country together. They experienced life and adventure. When they returned home Henry was drafted and had to go to Vietnam. When he came home after 3 years he was a changed man. Today we know that he was suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. His family could not reach him and they could not get help for him.
In order to try and save his brother and "bring him back to himself" Lyman tore up the red convertible and his brother decided it needed to be repaired. He indicates at the end of the story that he repaired it because he wanted his brother to have the car. Lyman couldn't accept the car because it was part of their lives together.
Did Henry commit suicide? The author leaves this question open for debate. I believe that Henry walked into the raging river with every intention of not ever comming back out. He had just told his brother that he had tried to "come back" but he couldn't. By telling Lyman he had to go cool off he avoided his brother coming in after him until it was too late to save him. Henry simply could not live with memories of the war and the pain he felt.
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"I (Lyman) started shaking him (Henry.) "Wake up," I says, "wake up, wake up, wake up!" I didn't know what had come over me. I sat down beside him again.
His face was totally white and hard. Then it broke, like stones break all of a sudden when water boils up inside them.
"I know it," he says. "I know it. I can't help it. It's no use."