Challenges And Themes In The Scarlet Ibis By James Hurst

In the short story, “The Scarlet Ibis”, James Hurst demonstrates that the confidence that comes with pride is an inspiration for growth, however, overconfidence can lead to one’s downfall. Despite a year of seemingly hopeless attempts to teach Doodle how to walk, Brother manages to persist because he has “[Doodle] to be proud of” (Hurst 419). Although Brother teaching Doodle how to walk was not altruistic, it was his pride that allowed it to happen in the first place. If Brother and Doodle did not have their pride to fuel their desire for success then they would have accepted what everyone else said about how Doodle would not be able to walk which even Doodle agreed with at first. Without pride, one would not have the inner desire for success

¨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.

Foreshadowing, symbolism, and image are all elements which compose style.  All are very important; foreshadowing adds suspense, and symbolism contributes to interpretation.  Image contributes "visual aids" which, also, aid interpretation.  In this classic short story, "The Scarlet Ibis," by James Hurst, foreshadowing, symbolism, and image combine to create a true literary masterpiece.

Finally, in The Scarlet Ibis, Doodle strives for these objectives because he is dependent on his brother. Perhaps he is even scared that if he doesn’t do what his brother asks, then he will no longer have help from him. This is supported when they are in the loft and the narrator says, “And before I’ll help you down from the loft, you’re going to have to touch it.” (Page 387). He is threatening to leave Doodle up in the loft, all alone, until he touches the mahogany box which was to be his coffin. Doodle becomes very frightened by this intimidation, which is probably the cause of his fear later in the story. This causes conflict between Doodle and his older sibling because Doodle basically cannot do anything without his brother, and if he is left, he becomes panicked.

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;

In “The Scarlet Ibis” James Hurst symbolizes the narrator’s brother, Doodle, as the scarlet ibis, and the narrator as the storm, in order to reveal the theme that challenging someone to go beyond their limits can help in achieving extraordinary results, however pushing the limits too far may prove fatal. As the narrator, Doodle, and their family were eating dinner, they saw a scarlet ibis getting carried by the storm and “[tumbling] down, … landing at [their] feet with a thud”. Doodle’s family doesn’t care much, however, Doodle takes time to respect the bird and to bury it, even though he saw the bird for the first time as if he had some special connection with the ibis. “It’s a scarlet ibis! … South America to Florida. A storm must have brought it here. A scarlet Ibis! How many miles it had traveled to die like this, in our yard, beneath the bleeding tree” (14). The bird, native to South America had flown all the way from “South America to Florida”, which was way beyond its natural capacity. Doodle had also come a long way from being a baby who everyone thought wouldn't survive or a cripple who couldn’t stand. “A storm … brought it here”, somewhat assisting it and somewhat forcing it. Doodle learned to walk, with help from the narrator who pushed him and didn’t let him give up. Now the narrator was pushing Doodle, even more, to learn rowing, swimming, and fighting even though his body and heart were weak. The storm had powered the amazing flight but pushed the bird’s

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

At times, Doodle’s brother takes advantage of his loving and forgiving nature and is cruel to him. “There is within me […] a knot of cruelty born by a stream of love, much as our blood sometimes bears the seed of our destruction and at times I was mean to Doodle” (Hurst 3). Although Brother truly loves Doodle, he takes advantage of Doodle’s kind and naïve personality. This metaphor from Brother equates cruelty coming from a source of love to a bad situation coming from a mistake that one made, for example, his bullying behavior to Doodle. Brother, looking back, has deep remorse for being cruel to Doodle, because each time Doodle would come back to him out of trust and admiration for his sibling. Doodle’s love for his brother leads him to be easily manipulated to do what his brother wants, even if it is not out of loving intent. “Then I’d paint for him a picture of us as old men white haired, him with a long white beard and me still pulling him in a go-cart, this never failed to make him try again” (Hurst 4). Brother’s form of

The author of "The Scarlet Ibis" is James Hurst. Doodle is a physically disabled child with a normal and healthy brother. His brother pushes and is very cruel to him because of his disability. He also ends up making Doodle try to complete simple everyday tasks that everyone expects he can not do. The author uses symbolism and foreshadowing to reveal Doodle's frailty and impressionability.

Just because you have barriers on life doesn't mean you can't overcome them. In "The Scarlet Ibis" Doodle faces many barriers and have to overcome all of them. "Oh yes you can, Doodle."I said."All you got to do is try. Now come on." This shows how even if you get pushed down in life that doesn't mean you can't get back up and try again to overcome your boundaries. Another way Doodle would overcome boundaries is by setting a goal to try to achieve. "Aw, come on Doodle, "I urged." You can do it. Do you want to be different from everyone else when you start school". This shows how he wanted to try and overcome his barrier by setting a goal and trying to overcome it even if it was hard. "In the story, "The Scarlet Ibis," by James Hurst, the author

It also demosttates how precarious Brother is about Doodle’s limitations. After many days of failing to walk, Doodle finally able himself to walk by himself; “ they did not know that I [brother] did it for myself; that prude, whise slave I was, spoke to me louder than all their voices, and that Doodle walked only because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother” (Hurst 468). The narrator’s egoism is forcing Doodle and himself to push further than what Doodle can do. Prsseured by how others think of “him”, Brother tries his best change Doodle’s ability.

The narrator did not care about how fragile his brother was, even though Doodle gave him various signs of his debility. The narrator was so determined to end his brother incapacity in order to maintain his pride that he did not give the child a break. In fact, he continued to push his brother harder until the day of his death. The narrator was being selfish because he did not show any concern about the wellbeing of his brother throughout his tough training, he only cared about being able to get Doodle’s incapacity out of the

The narrator does it strictly for his pride, and not Doodle’s sake. The narrator regrets,“They did not know that I did it for myself, that pride, whose slave I was, spoke to me louder than all their voices, and that Doodle walked only because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother”(Hurst).This continues the theme by explaining his regret for teaching his brother to walk for his pride, rather than for Doodle. Although the narrator sees the bad in what he’s done, he still doesn’t understand what he should do prevent it from happening again. The narrator plots,“Once I had succeeded in teaching Doodle to walk, I began to believe in my own infallibility”(Hurst). This idea supports the theme by identifying the narrator’s pride with teaching Doodle to walk and how he believes he can make it stronger.

The narrator feels humiliated and embarrassed because he has a brother who is not like the others, and this leads him to become selfish and prideful. For example, the narrator is embarrassed and insecure about “having a brother who could not walk,” so he “set out to teach him.” The narrator did not appreciate Doodle for the way he was and wanted a “normal” brother which uncovers his selfishness. The narrator is like any other kid because he has insecurities and does not realize that Doodle is special. In addition, when Doodle was not accomplishing what the

In the short story "The Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst shows how pride can come back and become regret pretty fast with imagery of red. First Hurst shows us red imagery in "Trembling had pushed himself up turning red, then a soft purple." And this shows how Doodle is trying to crawl around and move like a baby normally would. He also shows that when you push yourself too much it can be bad, but if you keep doing it you can make everyone proud and it will be easier for yourself. Another way Hurst shows us red imagery "He had been bleeding from the mouth, and his neck and the front of his shirt were stained brilliant red." this shows when you push someone to hard or you push yourself to hard it can end up badly. Brother wanted Doodle to be able