Alienation And Alienation In Literature

“The Scarlet Ibis” shows that what is perceived to be may not always be true. For instance, Doodle was born in a caul, so many people had little hope for his survival. Even when he attempts to sit upright, the doctor fears that with his “weak heart this strain would kill him…”(Hurst 555). However, they do not count on his mental strength, and with a lot of perseverance “He learned how to crawl...For the first time he became one of them [us]” (Hurst 555). This proves the appearance vs. reality theme because even though Doodle’s body was shriveled up and doctors said he would die, Doodle lives. He shows that even though he is physically abnormal, his internal strength is much greater than that of any average boy, and he can do anything he puts his mind to. Another example of this theme in the story is when they start to train more after Brother teaches Doodle how to walk. Everything is going well until “the winter,” where Brother says they “didn’t make much progress for I was in school and Doodle suffered from one bad cold after another” (Hurst 560). This is a sign that Doodle is slowly dying and getting worse. However, everybody overlooks that, and thinks that he is improving. Once Doodle recovers from the terrible colds he suffered from during the winter, they push him even harder to make up for the lost time which, as a result, expedites his approaching death. The tone in this story develops from being positive to negative. In the beginning, everyone assumes Doodle will die, but fortunately he does not. Conversely, in the end, everyone believes he is

¨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.

Have your parents ever told you that you needed to improve at something? It could be a sport, activities, or even how well you do in school. This is a vile thing for parents to do to their children. Sometimes parents just need to back up a few steps and let you be yourself. The same can happen with an older sibling! That is the case in The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst. The narrator of this story has a younger brother called Doodle, who has some health issues. Big brother pushes little brother to be better than he is. In The Scarlet Ibis, Doodle strives for the goals that his brother sets for him for many reasons, which reflects the conflict in the story.

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

He has a brother that treats him horribly, because he is ashamed of Doodle’s physical state. Brother bullies him physically and mentally throughout the story. In “The Scarlet Ibis”, Brother is delineated as heartless, assiduous, and barbaric.

The relationships shared by brothers and sisters can often be very complicated. We sometimes have expectations for our siblings and are disappointed when these expectations are not met. In the short story "The Scarlet Ibis", James Hurst writes about the struggles and hardships of two young brothers. The younger of the two children, Doodle, is born physically handicapped and has many struggles throughout his life trying to do everyday things like walking or just being a kid. His older brother is cruel to him but Doodle responds by thriving and becoming more capable of everyday activities in spite of the treatment, until he dies trying to please Brother.The narrator in the story causes Doodle's death by being jealous, disappointed, and because of his pride.

At the end of “The Scarlet Ibis”, the narrator thinks to himself, “The knowledge that Doodle’s and my plans had come to naught was bitter, and that streak of cruelty within me awakened” (Hurst 425). Doodle’s brother possesses a short fuse when dealing with troubling issues. His reactions occasionally lead to problems later on due to his tendency towards cruelty. In this case, Doodle’s brother becomes angry that he does not reach his goals and this anger leads to destruction, and then turns to sorrow.

The metaphors and similes in The Scarlet Ibis create the drama and ironies that effect the characters. “For a long time, it seemed forever, I lay there crying, sheltering my fallen scarlet ibis, from the heresy of rain” (6) The Scarlet ibis. The Ibis most prominently symbolizes Doodle because both were weak and beautiful in their own way and taken down by a storm, the storms that represent something else. Brother conveys the storms, like the hurricane and the ibis, Brother is Doodle’s storm, the one that makes him weak. He is like the storm because he takes Doodle so far in strength and distance, but leaves him, like the storm left the Ibis. Whether or not it was intentional or conscious. Brining the story further out the two brothers, symbolize mankind as a whole and the misunderstanding that causes war and silent loathing. There are more simple representations in The Scarlet Ibis, for example on the first page; “The last graveyard flowers were blooming, and their smell drifted across the cotton field and through every room of our house, speaking the names of our dead.” (1) The Scarlet Ibis. The graveyard flowers symbolize memories and that things always come back. The symbolism create this atmosphere and struggles between the characters that accrue the

Because of his selfishness, he has taken the life of his brother, torn apart his family, and haunts his own life with guilt as he tells the story as an old man, unable to forgive himself. By claiming that Doodle is his “fallen scarlet ibis,” the narrator allows himself to compare Doodle’s death to the beauty of nature and cope with his heavy conscience (183). Despite the elegance associated with the situation, Brother cannot escape the fact that his selfishness had brought on the death of his red, fragile

In the story The Scarlet Ibis, both Relationship and Loss are demonstrated. Relationship is shown in The Scarlet Ibis when Doodle’s brother states, “Doodle was my brother and he was going to cling to me forever, no matter what I did, so I dragged him across the cotton field to Old Woman Swamp.” “After that day Doodle and I often went down into Old Woman Swamp.” This shows that Doodle and his brother started to form a bond when they started to visit Old Woman Swamp.

In the story "The Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst, I am stating how the older brother was not responsible for Doodle's demise. One of my points to why the brother was not responsible for Doodle's death is that the brother was not Doodle's primary caregiver. "Leaving him far behind with a wall of rain dividing us" an adult or caregiver would never leave a child with Doodle's condition, this leads to that the brother is less responsible and still has a developing brain. He is in no condition to be the primary caregiver to a childlike Doodle. The brother would often be confused to a situation like this, and that is exactly why the brother has feelings for him in the end because the brother never intended for Doodle to die. Next, my other point why

In the short story, The Scarlet Ibis, Brother is guilty of Doodle’s death by making Doodle exercise knowing he was not allowed and being ashamed making Doodle wake behind Brother so no one would know they’re together. The short story was about a boy whom the book referred to as Brother and he had a younger brother named William Armstrong, but William had some disability and the doctors didn't think he would make it. That disability, he had caused William not able to walk. Brother later on changing Williams name and started calling him Doodle, as did their parents. Brother thought it suited him better than William Armstrong.

After years of Doodle not being physically capable of participating in any strenuous physical activities, determined yet egotistical Brother decides that he is going to change that. In “The Scarlet Ibis”, Brother, who is helpful yet extremely cruel, is persistent in teaching his brother, Doodle, how to engage in a multitude of recreational activities, even if it leads to Doodle’s feelings getting terribly hurt.     Even though Brother could be a bit rough towards Doodle at times, he helped him accomplish unimaginable achievements throughout his life. He taught him how to do numerous things that are useful to both Brother and Doodle’s lives. For example, Brother helped Doodle learn how to walk in the Old Woman Swamp which was a glorious place

Starting with the brother in "The Scarlet Ibis", his attitude towards Doodle is bitter, he is ashamed of him and attempts to disown him. "He was a burden in many ways. The doctor had said that he mustn't get too excited, too hot, too cold, or too tired and that he must always be treated gently. A long list of don'ts went with him, all of which I ignored once we got home." The brother thinks if he tries to improve Doodle's physical capabilities it will help him fit in with the other kids in Doodle's class. The brother keeps pushing Doodle every day and trying to improve his physical strength without caring about his physical health. He teases Doodle all the time he even showed Doodle his own casket. "One day I took him up to the barn loft and showed him his casket, telling him how we all had believed he would die." The brother was unappreciative of Doodle he never realized how kind Doodle could be. However, Doodle idolizes his brother, he looks up to him but is afraid of his brother leaving him behind on their adventures. Doodle looked up to his brother for guidance and love while his brother did not accept him for who he was. Unlike his brother, Doodle was grateful to him and always helping him out even though that is not his

There are multiple themes throughout “ The Scarlet Ibis”.The strongest theme in the story is that you should not do things for the benefit of yourself all the time, you should do things for the benefit of others also.His selfishness is shown in this line of the story “ they did not know that I did it for myself; that pride,[...] and that Doodle walked only because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother” (Hurst 468).Even though Doodle finally walked, his brother helped him for his own good, which shows his need to help himself before others.He taught Doodle how to walk for his own selfish reason that he was “ashamed” of him (Hurst 468). This shows the reader that doing things for your own benefit can have a negative effect on you.