Sympathetic Characters in The Red Convertible by Love Medicine and Everyday Use by Alice Walker

In The Red Convertible, I found that Lyman was the more sympathetic character. Throughout the story, we see him doing things for his brother and trying to make his brother “come back” to him. This is especially shown the author puts a lot of time into talking about Lyman fixing the car and making the car look nice again. The amount of work Lyman put in was to be sacrificed in order to try and help his brother, Henry. If Lyman weren’t sympathetic for his brother’s feelings of being lost, he wouldn’t have done something so drastic.

In Henry’s defense, it is hard for him to be sympathetic. He had just been in Vietnam (as a Marine, if I may add). It more than likely took a huge toll on him, which is why he is so distant and different from the Henry that Lyman knew. You do see more of a sympathetic Henry at times (when he offers the ride, when he jokes around about fixing it, etc.) because he is trying to repair the relationship with his brother that he knows is no longer the same. Ultimately, though, Lyman is the more sympathetic one in this story.

In Everyday Use, I find Maggie to be the more sympathetic character. My case isn’t so much for the fact that Maggie is more sympathetic, but rather the fact that I find Dee less sympathetic than her. Dee seems kind of arrogant and self –centered. Sure, there were other quilts, but she wanted the specific ones that belonged to Maggie. Maggie, on the other hand, seems more relaxed and calm than Dee; she isn’t always engaging and making trouble.

Dee, being Dee, seems very entitled. She keeps asking her mother for things like the head of the butter churner, the dasher, and the quilts that belong to Maggie. I can understand why she may be asking for this, though. She wants all of these things for the same reason she is excited to see the benches, and that is because she wants to feel more connected to her family now that her life is different.