A Summary Of The Short StoryScarlet Ibis

He made doodle walk even though he didn’t have the physical ability. He made Doodle run through the storm which overworked his body. Brother made him show he was capable of doing things like other kids, so Brother wouldn’t be embarrassed.

¨At six years old, when his brother is born, the narrator tells the reader that from the first, Doodle was "a disappointment." When he learns that Doodle is possibly mentally and physically challenged, the narrator begins his plan to kill his brother; however, his plans are soon discarded after Doodle smiles at him¨. (James Hurst) The main conflict of "The Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst is Brother's inability to deal with Doodle's disabilities.

Even though Doodle is just an infant, the narrator tries to kill him. Once Doodle gets a little older, the narrator forces Doodle to touch the coffin he was going to be buried in and was threatening him that if he did not do it, the narrator would leave him by himself. The narrator and Doodle’s parents make the narrator take Doodle wherever the narrator goes; pushing Doodle on a wagon. Therefore, the narrator desires to teach Doodle how to walk, so he will not have to take Doodle along everywhere he goes. Therefore, it is obvious that he teaches Doodle how to walk for his own benefit; not Doodle’s.

The narrator regrets how he pushed Doodle far beyond his limits. Now that the Brother is older, he knows how pride can affect him. “I did not know then that pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death.”(4) When the Brother got Doodle to stand, he was confident in Doodle to accomplish any physical movement. So he expected more and more out of Doodle. But he didn’t know the pain and the danger of trying to exceed the limit of one’s body. Now, after all the years have passed by, the narrator realize that his love for Doodle. “But sometimes (like right now), as I sit in the cool, green-draped parlor, the grindstone begins to turn, and time with all its changes is ground away--and I remember Doodle.”(1) The years have taken away the cruelty and selfishness in the Brother’s early year and he was sorry for how he forced and threatened Doodle. The narrator looks over the cruel moments he had with Doodle and blames Doodle’s death on himself. “They did not know that I did it for myself; that pride, whose slave I was, spoke to me louder than all the other voices, and that Doodle walked only because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother.”(5) The voice here is very regretful of his sins, and wants to fix what he had already

Older siblings feel obligated to take authority over their younger siblings. The narrator took the responsibility of teaching Doodle to develop into an ordinary boy; however, he supports Doodle out of selfishness. With this in mind, the narrator changes Doodle’s name from “William Armstrong” to Doodle because he believes Doodle is not strong enough to have that name. He believes “William Armstrong” only “sounds good only on a tombstone,” (595) so changing Doodle’s name was the kindest thing he could have done. Likewise, the narrator selfishly disobeys the doctor’s list of don'ts for Doodle because he doesn’t agree with Doodle’s limitations. In fact, the narrator hauls Doodle carelessly around cotton fields and whips him around corners on two wheels of the go-cart. As a result, the narrator decides to take the next step in teaching Doodle. As school approaches, Doodle falls behind on learning to run, swim, and climb. Therefore, the narrator decides to double his efforts and push Doodle even harder. “I made him swim until he turned blue and row until he couldn’t lift an oar. Wherever we

The narrator, Brother, tells the story of Doodle, his brother, and his childhood with all his disabilities; starting off by telling about Doodle when he was a baby and toddler, about how he could not do much for himself for a long time, but eventually learns to crawl. He soon moves onto when Doodle got a little older and Brother would have to take him everywhere he went and how the two would take on the mission of teaching Doodle to walk; they spent almost everyday out in the woods making Doodle stronger and stronger. On Doodle’s sixth birthday, they showed the family what he could do;

Without delay the narrator took Doodle to accomplish more than walking; he taught him swimming, rowing, climbing, and swinging. They would work until Doodle could not do anymore, till he couldn’t left an oar or lift his arm to take another stroke. The only reason Doodle did it because his brother would always say, ‘“Aw, come on, Doodle,’ I urged. ‘You can do it. Do you want to be different from everybody else when you start school?’ ‘Does it make any difference?’ ‘It certainly does,’ I said.’’. (52) In the beginning of the story it talked about how Doodle would turn blue and almost black in the face as he was straining just to get up and crawl. Likewise when in the ending he said he knew that he was pushing his brother to run faster and Doodle had never done that before so he was struggling and ended up dying.

The setting of “The Scarlet Ibis” helps prepare the readers’ state of mind from the very beginning. In the first place, the story takes place at the end of World War I and represents the internal conflict the narrator has as he struggles between guilt of his younger brother’s death and the acceptance of his brother’s disabilities. With this in mind, the narrator is abashed over Doodle’s inability to walk because he thinks disabilities are shameful, and he wanted a brother who was athletic, outgoing, and adventurous. For this reason,”When Doodle was five years old, I was embarrassed at having a brother of that age who couldn't walk, so I set out to teach him (Hurst 417).” The narrator admits to going out of his way to train Doodle to walk because he has so much pride that it is getting in the way of more important goals, meaning he would rather have a “normal” brother than a happy one. The poor treatment of his brother ultimately leads to Doodle’s death. Furthermore, he forces Doodle to do things unwillingly, such as touch his own coffin and train him to be “normal”. The narrator traumatizes his little brother to think a certain way in order to become accepted by society. Even

Doodle’s brother taught him these things because he was tired of having a brother who couldn’t do anything. So he taught him, and he pushed Doodle harder and harder so that he didn’t have to deal with him. Showing his family that Doodle could walk, and Doodle’s brother realized what he could accomplish. Doodle’s brother continued to push him until one day, he pushed too hard. He knew a storm was coming, but hesitated at returning home because of Doodle’s failed attempts of running and walking. The brother recognized that a, “streak of cruelty within me awakened. I ran as fast as I could, leaving him far behind” (Hurst 117). This revealed the side of pride that resulted in death. That too much pride will fill you up, and you will keep continuing it until it

If someone left you in the rain alone and knew that you wouldn't be able to get up would they be responsible for your death? The story informs us at the beginning of the story that the narrator always wanted a brother to do fun things with but when he found out that Doodle wouldn't be able to do those things he was upset. The narrator let his feelings and emotions get in the way of instead of helping his brother he just wanted to help himself. The narrator never liked the fact of having a invalid brother and only helped Doodle because he was embarrassed. The narrator also treated Doodle badly throughout the story and didn't pay attention to the doctors list of things that Doodle shouldn't do. The narrator pushed Doodle to the max and when Doodle needed help the narrator just left him in the rain.

Doodle is described by his brother, since his brother is narrating in first person. By the description of Doodle, he characterizes determination, love, willpower, dedication, and perseverance in every activity he participates in, which gives a very positive outlook on his personality. Doodle shows that he will do anything for his brother since he is his best friend. “When Doodle was five years old, I was embarrassed at having a brother of that age who couldn't walk, so I set out to teach him” (49). Doodle doesn't think he will be capable at first, however, since he thinks his brother is doing this out of the good in his heart, he pushes through all the pain.

Kindness is shown to Doodle in the way of his brother helping him. “There is inside me (and with sadness I have seen it in others) a knot of cruelty borne by the stream of love.”(387). "I'm going to teach you to walk, Doodle," I said.(388). The narrator takes Doodle almost everyday and helps him to walk and then he can finally walk even though no one thought he could. Showing kindness to Doodle helped him walk and start to overcome his disabilities.

Every single day his older brother would try to help him to stand on his own. After hours upon hours and days upon days eventually Doodle would stand on his own. One day while their family was eating they had a surprise for them. Being Doodle standing on his own, so they had their family gather around in the living room his older brother brought Doodle in, with his wagon. Their family watched in amazement as Doodle stood up. Doodle’s mother got up ran to him and hugged him. Doodle told their family it was his older

Doodle’s brother would often skim the limits of Doodles physical and mental limits that he could handle. ”The doctor said that he mustn’t get too excited, too cold, too hot. . . . a long list of don’ts went with him, all of which I ignored once we got out of the house”(Hurst 465). Doodle’s brother even though under strict rules not to push his brother to his limits did it anyway out of fun and seeing how far he could take it, putting his brothers life in danger. When Doodle was only five no one believed that he would ever walk, until his brother came around and set his mind to help him walk:”I was embarrassed of having a brother of that age who couldn’t walk, so I set out to teach him myself”(466).

“Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst analyzes the relationship between two brothers, The Narrator and his younger brother Doodle.Throughout the story, the Narrator attempts to fulfill his vision of an ordinary life by teaching Doodle; who was born disabled, to live a more traditional lifestyle. By examining the main character's views, intentions, and determination it is clear that the Narrator is selfish of Doodle.