Foreshadowing In The Scarlet Ibis

“The scarlet ibis fell from the tree, crashing through every branch, and landed at the family’s feet” (Hurst 137). A special child named Doodle was born and his brother wanted to make him fit in with the rest of the world. A scarlet ibis came to the family’s house one day and died. Shortly after, Doodle had a heart attack and died. In the “Scarlet Ibis”, James Hurst uses foreshadowing to portray Doodle’s future death with the death of the ibis.

Someone will always die and they will have a funeral, but can you imagine losing someone close to you? How about you brother? In the short story “The Scarlet Ibis” there are many situations when death is among Doodle and his body. James Hurt wrote the story the “Scarlet Ibis” about a boy that was suppose to be a miscarriage and even the doctor said that he would not survive. He lives on with his brother to help him through his adventurous life. The brother is very ashamed that his young brother came to be disabled and he teaches his to walk. All of this James Hurt creates through his writing. Throughout essay there will be multiple ways the author is expression the tone. Through the use of figurative language, imagery, and symbolism, James Hurst creates a Mournful tone in his short story, “The Scarlet Ibis”.

While reading ”The Scarlet Ibis” it is clear that Hurst uses foreshadowing to give the reader the sense that something bad may happen later in the story. The first example of when Hurst uses foreshadowing for dramatic effect is when the Narrator describes why he is disappointed with his brother Doodle. “... and I wanted more than anything else someone to race…” from the statement we can infer that he (the Narrator) would do anything to get the ‘perfect’ brother, even if that means possibly overlooking Doodles health problems. We already had seen part of the evil and terrifying side of the Narrator in the passage, “... I began to make plans to kill him by smothering him with a pillow.” the passage just proves my point, he doesn't really care

The Scarlet Ibis, like any story, contains imagery and foreshadowing. Normally both imagery and foreshadowing go hand in hand. The imagery tells the setting to help establish the mood and tone of the setting. The foreshadowing is almost always noticeable when enhanced by the imagery. Let us see, with textual evidence from The Scarlet Ibis, how imagery and foreshadowing depict the mood of the story.

The color red symbolizes a strong motif throughout this short story. “The Scarlet Ibis,” and scarlet is a shade of red. Doodle and the scarlet ibis are connected to each other. They both are damaged and die in a windstorm. As the ibis fell and hit the ground, he had blood coming from it’s mouth. When Doodle dies in the storm his brother treats him as if he were sick. Then Doodle symbolically overtakes the Scarlet Ibis.

A symbol represents something other than itself. Hurst demonstrates an elaborate use of symbolization between the Ibis, a bird, and Doodle, the child. Both the Ibis and Doodle where in some senses born alone. The narrator states this by saying “He was born when I was six and was, from the outset, a disappointment” (Hurst 462). Both are fragile in the sense that both are easily vulnerable to their surroundings, and easily susceptible to death. When doodle dies his older brother notices the similarities between the Ibis and Doodle; Doodle died like the scarlet ibis, almost exactly the same, as they both died in a storm. As Doodle’s body lay lifeless amid the swamp, the narrator recognizes the blood trickling out of Doodle’s mouth and how the blood resembles the pristine scarlet color if the ibis. This shows how the ibis is a symbol of

“The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst is a realistic fiction about these two brothers, Doodle, and Doodle’s brother who was the narrator of the story, many symbols are used. A symbol is a materialistic object being put in place for an abstract or complex emotion, or idea. For example the emojis you use when texting are symbols you use to express how you are feeling. In this story, Doodle is being symbolized by the Scarlet Ibis, the Scarlet Ibis is a bird and a symbol for Doodle because of their many similarities. An example of the Scarlet Ibis symbolizing Doodle is when Hurst describes the physical health of Doodle and the Ibis. He describes Doodle as being very sick and weak at the beginning of the story by saying “He seemed all head, with a tiny body which was red and shriveled like an old man's. Everybody thought he was going to die-everybody except Aunt Nicey….” (Hurst page 1). Later on in the story when the Scarlet Ibis is introduced, Doodle’s father describes the bird as: “It looks tired, or maybe sick”(Hurst page 5). By giving Doodle and the Scarlet Ibis such similar physical features, it insinuates that whatever happens to the Scarlet Ibis will more than likely happen to Doodle. Another example of the Scarlet Ibis being a symbol for Doodle is when the Scarlet Ibis dies.” At that moment the bird began to flutter, but the wings were uncoordinated, and amid much flapping and a spray of flying feathers, it tumbled down, bumping through the limbs of the bleeding tree and

James Hurst, the author of “The Scarlet Ibis”, uses death and birds as symbols to show how Doodle is fragile and could die at any moment. Red is a color that is often associated with evil and other times it represents love. Birds also represent death and fragility, but they also mean freedom and change. This shows how Doodle’s and Brother’s paradoxical relationship changes from Brother being evil and selfish, to him being an extremely helpful and caring brother.

This tone is established as stated, through symbols such as the scarlet ibis and the storm.The​ ​scarlet​ ​ibis​ ​in​ ​the​ ​story​ ​is​ ​a​ ​symbol​ ​for​ ​Doodle.​ ​Hurst​ ​writes,​ ​​​​ ​​“​A​​ ​​scarlet​​ ​​ibis!​​ ​​How​ ​many​ miles​​ ​​it​​ ​​had​​ ​​traveled​​ ​​to​​ ​​die​​ ​​like​​ ​​this,​​

“-The wings were uncoordinated, and amid much flapping and a spray of flying feathers, it tumbled down... Its long, graceful neck jerked twice into an S, then straightened out, and the bird was still… ‘It lives in the tropics-South America to Florida. A storm must have brought it here.’” Doodle and the scarlet ibis both have physical weaknesses; their fragile legs and arms. Specifically, the bird exhausted itself to death, and Doodle will eventually do the same thing by being overworked during the rainstorm. Besides, the bird is in the wrong region since it’s native to the tropics, and Doodle is in the wrong environment as he cannot live up to his brother's expectations and generally doesn't fit into society. “How many miles it had traveled to die like this, in our yard, beneath the bleeding tree… [I] found [Doodle] huddled beneath a red nightshade bush… He had been bleeding through his mouth, and his neck and the front of his shirt were stained a brilliant red… with his head thrown far back… His little legs, bent sharply at the knees.” In addition, they both die relatively due to the storm, under a red plant, necks both twisted, and are red after they've died. Altogether, these are all clear indications that the scarlet ibis symbolizes

Although the hurricane conveys how the brother’s relationship is focused around Brother’s destruction due to his expectations of Doodle, Hurst uses the symbol of the scarlet ibis to further amplify the havoc Brother causes. The first time Hurst utilizes the scarlet ibis to show Brother’s destruction is when Brother explains how the scarlet ibis is dying. “At that moment the bird [begins] to flutter, but the wings [are] uncoordinated, and amid much flapping and a spray of flying feathers, it [tumbles] down, bumping through the limbs of the bleeding tree and landing at our feet with a thud. It’s long, graceful neck [jerks] twice into an S, then [straightens] out, and the bird [is] still… Sadly, we all [look] back at the

James Hurst foreshadows Doodle’s death in many ways.An example of foreshadowing in the story “The Scarlet Ibis” happens when the narrator says “One day I took him up to the barn loft and showed him his casket, telling him how we all believed he would die” (Hurst 466).This is not a coincidence written by the author, he made this a part of the story to bring up the topic of Doodle dying.The author said that “we all believed he would die” to show how he was weak and could not possibly survive (Hurst 466).There was more foreshadowing when James Hurst killed off the red bird saying “ Even death did not mar its grace, for it lay on the earth like a broken vase[… ]we stood around it, awed by its exotic beauty” (Hurst 473). This

The Scarlet Ibis bird symbolizes Doodle; this symbolism can be seen by the authors description of both Doodle’s and the Scarlet Ibis’s appearance after death. After the Scarlet Ibis fell from the bleeding tree his

(Topic)(I)An ibis (MA) shows up one day, by motivating itself to travel more than it ever has, similar to Doodle, who has to walk, swim, and run, but (MB) Doodle and the ibis end with the same fate. (Rewording of MA) The scarlet ibis and Doodle motivate themselves to do more than expected and overcome the odds. They exhaust themselves, but still keep pushing. (m1MA) Aunt Nicey foreshadows Doodle's fate by stating, "Dead birds is bad luck... Specially red dead birds!" (Hurst 5). (m2MA) The scarlet bird means danger is coming Doodle’s way. (Rewording of MB) The ibis and Doodle accomplish a lot with motivation, but end with the same destiny. (m1MB) When the ibis dies, “Its long, graceful neck jerked twice into an S, then straightened out, and the bird was still... Its legs were crossed and its clawlike feet were delicately curved at rest” (Hurst 5). Similar to the Ibis’ death, when Doodle dies, “He lay very awkwardly, with his head thrown far back, making his vermilion neck appear unusually long and slim. His little legs,

James Hurst’s use of symbols, imagery, and figurative language in the story “The Scarlet Ibis” creates an extremely dismal tone.