Brotherhood In The Scarlet Ibis

In “The Scarlet Ibis,” love and pride war in Brother's motivations to help Doodle; his love encourages kindness, but his shame at Doodle's failings results in the cruelty that kills the younger boy. “It is,” I said. “And before I’ll help you down from the loft, you’re going to have to touch it.”

James Hurst is the author of the heart breaking short story entitled “The Scarlet Ibis”. “The Scarlet Ibis” is a short story about two brothers; one brother is healthy, while the other is physically handicapped. The short story is centered on the idea that the older, healthier brother’s selfishness and pride ultimately led to the death of his younger brother, Doodle. Numerous quotes throughout the story demonstrate Hurst’s use of symbolism and foreshadowing to portray and predict Doodle’s untimely and heartbreaking death.

The narrator always had strong opinions about Doodle. Ever since the day Doodle was born, the narrator’s pride was much too high for having him as a brother, saying, “he was born when I was six and was, from the outset, a disappointment.” Not even giving his brother a chance to grow up and prove himself. Since the narrator did not know how to handle having a

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

Pride Overcomes Judgement James Hurst’s “The Scarlet Ibis” is about the battle between love and pride and reveals that pride alters people’s perception of loved ones capabilities demonstrated by symbolism. James Hurst’s use of symbolism suggests that the Scarlet Ibis is a symbol of Doodle’s life and his journey to be able to walk, even though his disabilities challenge that. The narrator teaches Doodle to walk out of this embarrassment towards him, all because he isn’t like a “normal” six year old kid. After he successfully teaches his brother, Doodle, to walk he lets his pride and embarrassment alter his perception and pushed Doodle to his maximum capability.

The narrator is irresponsible and not capable of handling his task of caring for his brother. He left him behind in a dangerous storm, knowing that he was physically incapable of moving fast enough to outrun it. “I ran as fast as I could, leaving him far behind with a wall of rain dividing us.” (Hurst, 360).

Be thankful for the people that you have in life because you never know how long they might have to live. The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst is a story about a kid that was embarrassed and ungrateful because his little brother was different. Doodle’s brother displayed selfishness and love throughout the story.

The narrator also said “... I began to make plans to kill him by smothering him with a pillow.” (Hurst, 351) This shows that the narrator didn’t like Doodle even when he was an infant, and could harm him when he was at his most

When the narrator was six years old, his little brother Doodle was born, but to the disappointment of the narrator (who subconsciously selfishly wants a capable brother to play with), Doodle is invalid and doctors think he will not survive. As he is born, the narrator describes that, “He was born… from the outset, a disappointment… Everybody thought he was going to die” (1). Everybody sees no hope in the “disappointment” of the narrator’s baby brother. The narrator also realizes himself that he will not have a brother that can play mutually with him.

In the short story, “The Scarlet Ibis,” James Hurst indirectly characterizes the narrator as prideful and sadistic through his thoughts and actions, to convey the idea that an excessive amount of pride causes someone to be deceitful, and act for their own personal gain at someone else’s cost. The abundant amount of pride the narrator has blinds him, ruining his perspective of his brother, Doodle. “The Scarlet Ibis” revolves around the narrator reminiscing on his past memory of Doodle, his “invalid” younger sibling. The narrator longs for someone to run with, play with, and fight with; a brother to be proud of. However, the birth of a frail and severely disabled younger brother is a disappointment. The narrator’s pride along the storyline leads him further into believing in his own infallibility, after been emboldened by the success of Doodle.

The family had one made for Doodle, but he didn’t die and they had decisions to make. ”Daddy and Mr.Heath, the carpenter, built a little mahogany coffin for him. But he didn’t die, and when he was three months old mama and daddy decided they might as well name him” (Hurst 351). They were so careless about the baby’s feelings and needs, and more worried about how they would react if he died if they had let themselves become too attached to him.

Sometimes siblings find it difficult to keep each other's best interests in mind. In the story The Scarlet Ibis, characters Brother and Doodle prove just that. The story describes the strife of Brother to teach his disabled sibling Doodle to be more “normal.” Brother’s pride gets in the way and he does not realize that all the teaching he is doing-walking, running, swimming- is taking a toll on Doodle. Brother’s selfishness catches up with his younger brother and results in Doodle’s death. Author James Hurst uses symbolism to show how selfishness between siblings can be fatal.

Imagine running away from your sibling and end up killing them. The story “The Scarlet Ibis” this story. People wonder one question, was it the narrator's fault? The narrator is guilty because the narrator's pride, pushing too much, Doodle is weak.

At the end of the story, Narrator runs back to check on Doodle in the woods, only to realize he passed away. Throughout the story, Narrator demonstrates time and time again to be caring of Doodle. One way Narrator shows he is caring is when he checks on Doodle in his cribs. Narrator got extremely excited. He thought Doodle wouldn’t be able to play with him, but when Doodle smiled he realized he could.

The Narrator and Doodle are different in their own ways. The Narrator is ashamed that he has a crippled brother. Doodle is ok with being crippled before his brother wanted him to walk. The Narrator is excited to know that his mom is pregnant , he can't what so he can play all these things with him.