In “The Red Convertible” by Louise Erdrich she recounts both the erosion of childhood innocence and the dissolution of a particular relationship between siblings. To suggest these themes, the narrative foregrounds images of movement and stasis, conveying their meanings in complex ways. Therefore, it is not surprising that the very title of the story not only describes the symbolic importance of the convertibles to their brotherhood, but also embodies the freedom to transcend one's social boundaries, which, in this case, gives the literal power of the movement. The car offers both of them a kind of agency that relieves them of the economic and social disadvantages of Native Americans. Then the story establishes Lyman and Henry's joyous brotherhood memories with an extended description of their movement across the country, reaching as far away as Alaska. It is no surprise that Lyman thinks that making Henry focus on the car, an agent and symbol of freedom, will ultimately save his brother's soul and regain his spirit. Unfortunately, this turns out to be a false assumption. While in the sense of the convertible, the ability to move is the essence of freedom, at the same time many images of movement in history symbolize a kind of indifference in nature, an unstoppable incipient movement in the universe which, on the contrary, explains our impotence. Ultimately, for Lyman, he can never hold onto his brother because of this irresistible movement in nature. This kind of pessimistic sense of loss and inevitability is expressed most clearly in the last line, where Lyman describes the sound of the water as perpetually "going and running and going and running and running" (400), the repetition of words used to convey the absolute implacability of nature... middle of paper... what you see in a rabbit when it freezes and before it runs away" (108), that his extreme immobility indicates only an emerging nervous psychopath -motility and lack of inner tranquility. Even in his final moments Henry is in a (literal) constant state of movement, conveniently, away from his brother. In short, you can see that throughout this story, Louise Erdrich makes a lot of use of movement and stillness in his images to convey themes about the interplay between memory, freedom, loss, and grief While the red convertible itself symbolizes movement as a mode of freedom, much movement throughout the story suggests the selfless, unstoppable movement within nature that it symbolizes. mortality. Works Cited Erdrich, Louise. "The red convertible." McMahan, Elizabeth et al. Literature and the writing process. 9th ed. Boston: Pearson 2011. 394-400. Press