The stories "Love in L.A." and the "Red Convertible" compares and contrasts in a couple ways. In both stories the car is used to progress through problems and to start problems. The setting, plot, characters, and other factors make both stories have common features and differ. Jake in the "Love in L.A." and Henry from "Red Convertible" both compare dramatically, though they contrast also. Settings in both short stories differ from country to city. In both stories the car causes conflict but also bring the characters together.
Five Stories (short story collection)
Illustration for "The Black Cat" by Aubrey Beardsl...
View of downtown Los Angeles, California at night.In "Love in L.A.", Jake crashes into another car. This causes a huge conflict between him and a fine looking women named Mariana. Jake flirts with Mariana and lies to her to keep her mind off of the car damage. Mariana seems to be flattered but Jake is only interested in getting away clean. He hands all false information to her. Now I feel that Jake can be compared to Henry in "The Red Convertible". Henry is the older brother between him and Lyman. Henry is drafted in Vietnam and is shaken up badly. He is not himself anymore. He acts very strange until Lyman destroys the car that the two cherished. Henry fixes the car back up and seems to be almost normal again. Henry only lied to his family by acting normal. He goes insane and drowns himself in the lake. I compare Jake and Henry by the lies they both told. They contrast by the lies being told in two different forms. Jake lied through being sly and persuasive and Henry lied through acting normal.
The setting in both short stories compare in the time era. In the story "Love in L.A." the era was not mentioned, but Jake was driving a 1958 Buick. That being the only...