Essay On The Scarlet Ibis

The “Scarlet Ibis” is a short story about a boy born with a medical condition, and his brother, who means well but is self absorbed. The story starts off about a grown man who recalls to the time when his little brother, Doodle is with him. It shows his guilt about Doodle’s death, his sorrow surrounding it, and it reflects on the good times they had together. In the “Scarlet Ibis” Brother is characterized as cruel, caring, and prideful.

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.

In James Hurst’s short story “The Scarlet Ibis”, the Brother pushed Doodle to learn how to walk, swim, run and various activities so that Doodle would not seem to be crippled. Through the Brother's characterization, conflicts and eventual resolution, Hurst suggested that one's overwhelming selfishness, pride and cruelty can result in the death of a loved brother.

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;

At the beginning, Doodle had been very hesitant to go along with his brother’s plans. He tried to argue with his brother. “I can’t walk, Brother,” Doodle said. “Who says so?” He demanded. “Mama, the doctor, everybody,” uttered Doodle. “Oh, you can walk,” The narrator said.” Shortly after that, Doodle began to follow the narrator’s orders and self ambitions. Soon, the narrator had acquired too much ambition, putting Doodle at risk. This is evident with Doodle’s constant cry, “don’t hurt me, Brother.” Little did the narrator know he would be pushing his brother too far. Later in the story, the narrator let his ambition overcome him and decided to keep on pushing his brother. He did not want a brother who could not do what other normal schoolboys could do. He admits to himself, “the knowledge that Doodle’s and my plans had come to naught was bitter, and that streak of cruelty within me awakened.” He believed what Doodle could not do would greatly affect him and his social

In many cultures, coming of age is often celebrated because children become young adults who grasp self-awareness and accountability. At the same time, childhood is threatened by responsibility, which is dreaded because there is an unpredictable world of adulthood waiting with no guarantees. James Hurst demonstrates the journey of growing up through life experiences everyone goes through in the short story, “The Scarlet Ibis”. Throughout his use of mood, setting, and symbolism, Hurst shows that maturing requires reflecting on past experiences and losing innocence, which then can transform one’s outlook on life.

At first Doodle’s brother becomes angered that the plans to teach Doodle failed, then, in his rage, he leaves Doodle behind during the storm. Doodle’s death comes to his brother in full force, making him extremely sorrowful. A second instance in which cruelty is brought to light through the narrator occurs when Doodle is forced to touch his coffin. Many older brothers pick on their younger siblings, but as seen in this scene, Doodle’s brother takes cruelty to a whole new level.

The Scarlet Ibis Theme Essay Selfishness is a quality that affects both the person who possesses it and the people around them. When this selfishness is caused by pride, the results can be fatal. James Hurst’s short story “The Scarlet Ibis” narrates the story of Doodle, a young child born with a disability that prevents him from walking.

Doodle’s fragile condition could very well cause him to die of exhaustion during the training the brother required of him. This act of carelessness could, and eventually did, prove fatal for young Doodle, even though the brother’s intentions were good, the result was horrible. Towards the end of the story, when Doodle and the brother are walking home in a thunderstorm, the narrator says this, "The faster I walked, the faster he walked, so I began to run. The rain was coming, roaring through the pines, and then like a bursting Roman candle, a gum tree ahead of us was shattered by a bolt of lightning...I heard Doodle, who had fallen behind cried out "Brother, Brother, don't leave me don't leave me!" The brother was putting Doodle through a very stressful situation, where he was overexerting himself, which is exactly what the doctors had warned was not healthy for Doodle. The running, sound of the exploding tree, in addition to the pouring rain and deafening lighting overwhelmed Doodle as his brother, the one he looked up to as his mentor, sprinted away from Doodle to a point where he couldn’t keep up. He was stranded in the middle of nowhere in the cold pouring rain at the tender age of 5 years

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.

Pride is part of human nature. What people fail to realize, is that pride comes with a price. A price greater than he imagines is paid by Doodle’s brother in the “Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst. When the narrator is six, Doodle is born. Defying all odds, Doodle survives when given a slim chance to live.

The older brother in The Scarlet Ibis traumatizes his younger brother Doodle because of the line “ I took him up to the barn loft and showed him his casket, telling him how we all had believed he would die (Hurst 2).Doodle studied the mahogany box for a long time, then said, “It’s not mine.” “It is,” I said ( Hurst 2).“And before I’ll help you down from the loft, you’re going to have to touch it (Hurst 2).” “I won’t touch it,” he said sullenly (Hurst 2). “Then I’ll leave you here by yourself,” I threatened, and made as if I were going down (Hurst 2).Doodle was frightened of being left said “Don’t leave me, Brother,” he cried, and leaned toward the coffin (Hurst 2). His hand, trembling, reached out, and when he touched the casket, he screamed (Hurst 2).”I think the older brother does this because he wanted Doodle to grow up a bit so that he does not need his older brother

As William ages to age two, he has learned to move about and crawl around. The doctors are afraid that if he is physically active like this, it will damage his heart. Instead of crawling, the doctors want him to “scoot” or crawl backward. With William Armstrong doing this, he earns the name “Doodle”, which is given to him by his older brother who feels that it is a much more fitting name. Doodle soon learns how to talk and feels a strong brotherhood between his brother even though he receives tough treatment from him. As Doodle becomes older, his brother decides that he does not want a brother who cannot walk at his age because that was embarrassing to him. The thought