"The Red Convertible" is a short story that appears in Love Medicine, a collection of narratives written in 1974 by American author Louise Erdrich.
The story focuses on the relationship dynamics between Lyman Lamartine and his brother Henry, a soldier who was deployed in the Vietnam War.
The author, who is of German and Native American descent,[1] lived in Wahpeton, North Dakota, as a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa in the 1960s.
"The Red Convertible" is set in 1974 on a Chippewa Native American reservation in North Dakota.
The old Henry has been replaced by a war-hardened soldier who cannot simply rejoin his and Lyman's youthful brotherly relationship.
Henry wears only broken-in clothes and military boots from his time in Vietnam; he is either withdrawn or "jumpy and mean".
The red flashy car represents the youthful, vibrant, and exciting relationship between Lyman and Henry.