Doodle's Death In The Scarlet Ibis By James Hurst

Most people would come to believe the fact that an ibis cannot relate to a human being, but that can be proven wrong. Throughout the story, Doodle and the ibis were persistent, yet active, due to the fact that they never gave up. In the story, “The Scarlet Ibis,” by James Hurth, Doodle is a boy who has physical weaknesses, so it is difficult for him to do things that a normal child would be able to do. Most ibis are able to fly, however, the scarlet ibis is not capable because it has its own weaknesses. As Doodle grows up, he gains these negative energies from his surroundings that makes him feel as if he won’t be able to survive as long.

He feels responsible because he believes that he pushed Doodle too hard in making him learn new things. When Doodle can finally walk, Brother does not feel satisfied because he still thinks that Doodle is not normal enough. He teaches him more activities that would make him seem normal. The Brother also feels selfish because he is not satisfied when Doodle learns to walk. Brother likely felt selfish after Doodle dies because he insists that Doodle learn how to walk, run, swim, and climb. Brother felt sad, responsible, and selfish after Doodle’s death. “I began to weep, and the tear-blurred vision in red before me looked very familiar. Doodle! I screamed above the pounding storm and threw my body to the earth above his. For a long, long time, it seemed forever, I lay there crying, sheltering my fallen scarlet ibis from the heresy of rain”(Hurst, 176). This quote shows that Brother feels very sad when he dies because it says that he began to

¨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.

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 older brother of Doodle was ashamed of Doodle ever since he was born he actually made plans to kill Doodle when he was a baby. He was rough with Doodle on purpose so Doodle wouldn’t want to go with him. He didn’t do anything for Doodle out of love he did it so he wouldn’t have a crippled brother.

The biggest reason Brother is guilty for Doodle's death is when he taught Brother to walk. Doodle at five years-olds could barely stand on his own two feet. "Finally one day, after many weeks of practicing, he stood alone for a few seconds" (598). Now because Doodle can walk, Brother thinks Doodle can accomplished many more things like swimming and climbing trees. Brother didn't do it to help Doodle though, he it did for himself. He was completely embarrassed by Doodle. Brother, driven by his pride, helped Doodle everyday hoping that he would learn to be a better person.

Brother is Guilty In the short story “The Scarlet Ibis” written by James Hurst, Brother is guilty for the death of his younger brother William Armstrong or better known as Doodle. Brother is guilty because he was pushing his disabled brother Doodle way past his limits of doing things. Brother also taunted Doodle in many different ways that could stain anyone’s heart and mind for a lifetime. On top of all those things Brother also left his disabled 6 year old brother for death.

Brother was sometimes cruel to Doodle during his life, and Brother knew he had been mean to Doodle at times. Being cruel to Doodle helped accuse Brother of Doodle's death. It wasn't that Brother was actually trying to be mean to Doodle, he just wanted a normal brother. "There was within me (and with sadness I have watched it in others) a knot of cruelty borne by the stream of love, as much as our blood sometimes bears the seed of our destruction, and at times I was mean to Doodle" (597). Brother had been cruel to Doodle because he knew that Doodle wasn't the average child and Brother wanted an average younger brother that could do normal things with him. Brother still made Doodle do things he was not completely capable of doing, which made Brother cruel and guilty of Doodle's death. No one knows all of what Brother made Doodle do behind everyone's back and no one ever will know it all. Doodle was the type of person to not complain or tell anyone if what they were doing was hurting him or causing him distress and definitely wouldn't tell Brother because Doodle loved his brother and always wanted to be with him. If Brother had truly cared about the well being of Doodle he would've asked if what he was doing was okay with Doodle, not just kept on going while Doodle was

Doodle's death Everyone needs to love and appreciate your siblings just the way they are. Unlike the narrator in "The Scarlet Ibis," who teaches Doodle how to walk only you out of selfishness and wants credit for it. Doodle is the narrator's brother in the story "The Scarlet Ibis," written by James Hurst. Doodle has a disability where he can not walk or get overheated or too cold, or he would die.

Brother is ashamed of his crippled little brother and does not want his pride to be hurt by embarrassment. After Doodle showed his family he can walk, Brother was in deep thought thinking, “They did not know I did it for myself...Doodle walked only because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother” (347). Brother is even aware of his selfishness and boldly admits it, to himself. Brother was clouded by the shame and pride he’d been living in to see that Doodle desperately needed to walk for himself. Brother’s reputation was apparently more important than doing the right thing for the right cause. Another moment that reveals Brother’s selfish side is right after Doodle had failed to swim in the water. During the storm, Doodle had fallen and Brother left him there. “For a long, long time, it seemed forever, I lay there, crying, sheltering my fallen scarlet ibis…” (354). This moment ties back to how Brother completely ignored all of Doodle’s risk factors and how fragile he is. Brother was only focused on Doodle’s failed swimming and his future school life humiliation. Throughout the whole time Brother had invested teaching Doodle new things, Brother has never really forgotten his true motive behind all of it. The selfishness of Brother lead to him ultimately letting Doodle

In the Scarlet Ibis, Brother didn’t love Doodle and never treated him correctly. On page, 345, it says, “He was a burden in so many ways.” When a person says that, it normally means they don’t like that person, much less love them. It would seem as Brother didn’t love Doodle, and never wanted him around. From the passage on page 345, it also has Brother dreaming about killing sweet little Doodle. It states, “It was bad enough having an invalid brother, but having one who possibly was not all there was unbearable, so I began to kill by smothering him with a pillow.” That part of the story shows us big time that Brother does not love Doodle, and he could care less if Doodle died. Not only does Brother not love Doodle, he was a little embarrassed of having Doodle as a brother.

In the book “The Scarlet Ibis”, Brother is portrayed as Selfish, Mean, and Guilty. Doodle, his brother, was born very sick, everyone thought he would die. Doodles parents gave him the name “ William Armstrong” but brother renamed him Doodle because no one will ever expect something great from a boy named Doodle. Brother wanted someone that he could play and have fun with, well when the information given to him that his brother would never be healthy enough to play with him he decides to start a plan to kill him by smothering him with a pillow. Later on in the story Doodle gets old enough to where he can talk and he tells brother to take him outside, when brother takes him outside he takes him to the barn to show

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.

Brother knew that Doodle had disabilities, but instead of accepting it he tried to push Doodle into learning the normal ways of life. When Doodle was a baby he tried to do things on his own for example, he would push himself up until he turned purple, which was not healthy. Brother also tried to teach Doodle how to swim, walk, and talk. Pushing him could have caused emotional damage and false hope. When Doodle was learning how to walk, he would get up and then eventually he would fall down.

"The Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst is about two brothers, Brother who is nine and Doodle who is two and has a disability. The two brothers, with their family, live out in the country. They have a back and forth relationship, which leads to a terrible disaster. Doodle was always a real sibling to Brother because he was gentle, optimistic, and sensitive.