James Hurst Shared Humanity

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.

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.

Doodle, a young disabled boy, is a burden to his Brother . Brother, is very ashamed and embarrassed of Doodle. The story “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst shows how Doodle is like the Scarlet Ibis. Doodle and the Scarlet Ibis have many of the same conflicts and repeating actions in the story. In “The Scarlet Ibis,” Hurst develops the symbolism, which is shown through birds, death, and the color red shows how fragile Doodle really is during his lifetime.

“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

In a world of empathy and selfishness, one must always prevail. The short story “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst tells a tale of a young boy and his disabled younger brother, Doodle. The narrator, also known as Brother, recalls the life of his brother and how his own actions and emotions affect his brother’s experiences. Brother’s pride determines whether he acts empathetic or selfish towards his sibling. In “The Scarlet Ibis” Hurst uses diction, symbolism, foreshadowing, and imagery to fabricate a remorseful mood as Brother looks back on his past, a compassionate feeling when the ibis dies, and a regretful mood when Doodle dies.

In the story, “The Scarlet Ibis” written by James Hurst, the main character is a boy by the name William Armstrong, later nicknamed Doodle. Doodle is different to say the least, and faces many hardships throughout his short but not unvalued life. All throughout the story James Hurst subtly compares Doodle to a Scarlet Ibis, a crimson colored bird from the tropics. They share numerous similarities, among those their weakness and fragility, their inability to belong, and the way in which they died.

His older brother hoped of having a normal brother but despite all the that he helped him try to overcome his disability. His brother gives him a nickname, Doodle, after a doodle bug. The narrator is prideful about him in good times and bad times. Then the brothers spot a bird, the scarlet ibis, and then watch it fall to the ground. Doodle then buries it and goes on.

In the short story ‘The Scarlet Ibis’, James Hurst, the author, writes of a tale of two brothers who live in Eastern North Carolina in the early 1900’s. One of the brothers was considered ‘normal’, while the other was an invalid, born to achieve nothing. In the story Doodle, the invalid brother, faces the challenges of learning to walk and speak, with his older brother. Throughout the story of ‘The Scarlet Ibis’, the author, James Hurst, uses figurative language to create a sense of regret and redemption from a memory of past times.

“The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst is a short story about how one special child named Doodle who when her was born the doctor said he would not live; but he did live even though he couldn’t walk. His brother got tired of him not being able to walk so he pushed and pushed him so he wouldn’t be teased about having a cripple brother. This short story expresses the idea that a rare red bird called the Scarlet Ibis symbolises the young brother Doodle. He was said to be cripple at birth and couldn’t walk but as he tried and tried he was able to prove them wrong and walk. Doodle tried his hardest to achieve his goal to walk, climb trees, and swim. Throughout the story Doodle’s brother/the narrator is a little mean to Doodle, but does it out of affection he believed that Doodle could do so much more and that he was destined for great thing in the future.

In the short story, “The Scarlet Ibis”, James Hurst writes about a troubling tale of two brothers, older and younger, living together on a small farm and the older brother trying to help his younger brother fit in with the world around him. Doodle, the younger brother, is a very sickly child, whom no one is expecting to live. As a result, the older brother is disappointed, since he wanted a brother that he could have fun with. Angered by the condition of his younger brother, the older brother becomes determined to change him, and he constantly pushes him toward becoming the brother that he had originally expected. Doodle learns a great deal of things from his brother, but all his learning comes at a dangerously high price to Doodle in the

James Hurst’s “The Scarlet Ibis” is about selfish pride and reveals that sometimes doing a good thing can be done for the wrong reasons as demonstrated by his use of symbolism. Specifically, Hurst’s use of Doodle suggests that the scarlet ibis is connected to him in many ways. James Hurst’s reference to the scarlet ibis is illustrated when the narrator sets out to teach Doodle to walk, “It seemed so hopeless from the beginning that it's a miracle I didn't give up. But all of us must have something or someone to be proud of, and Doodle had become mine. I did not know then that pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death.” After teaching Doodle to walk the narrator has pride for being able to teach Doodle even though it didn’t seem possible at the beginning, but he is also filled with guilt because he had done something good for a bad reason.

The scarlet ibis had appeared in the yard of Doodle and the narrator’s home perched in a blood stained tree. The bird was too exotic to have lived in the area, and the only explanation was that a storm had brought it to them, “‘It lives in the tropics- South America to Florida. A storm must have brought it here’” (201). The bird proceeded to fall off the tree in utter exhaustion at its hard work and then lay dead on their lawn. Similarly, Doodle died in a horrible storm, while facing the pressure and weariness brought unto him by his brother, “He failed and we both knew it, so we started back home, racing the storm.

Relationships bring us together. If you’re having a bad day, being able to confide in a friend or family member who understands you is comforting. But what do you do if you don’t have someone who understands what you’re going through? In the short story, The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst, Doodle and the Ibis are connected through their similarities of circumstance.

“The Scarlet Ibis” is a short story by James Hurst telling the tragic tale of Doodle, a mentally and physically disabled child and his brother, who is the narrator. Doodle's life has never been easy. Brother's whole life has been based around making Doodle like other kids so that he can avoid the embarrassment of having a brother who is not able to walk. This would hurt his own ego. As the story goes on, Brother tries to fix his damaged heart caused by his shame and selfishness toward Doodle. This story has some very important themes in it. A theme is a story’s view about life and how people behave in it. The theme does not preach or teach intentionally. The reader can discover the theme of a story by investigating three different aspects: the characters, the plot, and the setting. In this story, however, there are three themes that are presented at different times. Throughout the story Brother shows pride, but not the good kind. He also shows guilt and blame for the mistakes that he has made that haunt him. And lastly, her presents acceptance of others as well as rejection of others.