Essay on Love Kills in The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst

The quantities of pride hidden behind Brother’s “good deeds” would not end successfully. From page 5: “There is within me (and with sadness I have seen it in others) a knot of cruelty borne by the stream of love, much as our blood sometimes bears the seed of our destruction, and at times I was mean to Doodle.” This suggests that Brother knows he can be cruel to his brother, and he knows this relates to his love for Doodle. It also demonstrates how he was mean to Doodle plenty of times. How much could he have loved Doodle to do what he did to him? There is no answer, but one thing is true. It was mean. Very mean. From page 12: “I heard Doodle, who had fallen behind, cry out, ‘Brother, Brother, don’t leave me! Don’t leave me!’ My knowledge that Doodle’s and my plans had come to naught was bitter, and that streak of cruelty within me awakened. I ran as fast as I could, leaving him far behind... Soon I could hear his voice no more” This implies that Brother did indeed have a sense of cruelty, and a very bad one at best. It also shows that his plans to “help” Doodle were only driven by pride and greed. How could someone leave their brother to die only because they could not reach their

Hurst utilizes foreshadowing to demonstrate how the brother’s selfishness and pride leads to the death of Doodle. Not long after Doodle was born, the mother explains to the brother that Doodle might be mentally handicapped as well as physically handicapped. The brother could not accept the fact that his brother is different, so he “began to make plans to kill him [Doodle] by smothering him in his sleep” (Hurst 1). From the very beginning, Doodle’s brother is unable to except the fact that his brother is not normal and never will be. His selfishness and pride leads him to want to kill

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.

Doodle screams for him to not leave him, foreshadowing the way Doodle screams out for his brother in the storm, who causes him to die, just like the how the brother is the cause of Doodle touching his coffin, and in a way, his own death. The whole passage foreshadows almost exactly how Doodle dies, and how his brother becomes a factor in his death. It contributes to the mood by foreshadowing his death, keeping the reader on their toes. Readers can sense the eerie mood when the two interact with each other. They can see how superior the brother is, and how he can easily command Doodle to do anything, up to the point where he pushes him past his limit. Readers, in suspense, will then want to keep reading to see how this attribute of the brother will take a toll later on in the story. As the story continues, readers can infer that the brother is a very proud person, a characteristic that can be used for both good and bad. “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.” (Hurst 617) This statement foreshadows how the

On page 350, Brother tries to train Doodle to be able to keep up with the other kids at school. “School was only a few weeks away, and Doodle was far behind schedule … Wherever we went, I purposely walked fast, and although he kept up, his face turned red and his eyes became glazed. Once, he could go no further, so he collapsed on the ground and began to cry. ‘Aw come one Doodle,’ I urged. ‘You can do it. Do you want to be different from everybody else when you start school?’ ‘Does it make any difference?’ ‘It certainly does,’ I said.” page 350. This quote shows that Brother isn’t just afraid for himself. Brother is afraid for Doodle as well. Brother wants Doodle to fit in at school, knowing that the other kids at school could be cruel to Doodle because of his disabilities. Later in the story, after Brother pushes Doodle far beyond his limit causing him to die, he regrets what he did Doodle. “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.” pg 354. This quote shows that Brother cares about Doodle and loves him, because seeing Doodle die made him feel very sad and guilty about how he pushed Doodle far beyond his limit, leading to

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 narrator always had strong opinions about Doodle. Ever since the day Doodle was born, the narrator’s pride was much too high for having him as a brother, saying, “he was born when I was six and was, from the outset, a disappointment.” Not even giving his brother a chance to grow up and prove himself. Since the narrator did not know how to handle having a

When Brother set out to teach Doodle to walk and realized he had succeeded he became so proud and was convinced that he could teach Doodle anything. The only thing is Brother didn't teach him anything that he did for Doodle's benefit he did it for his own satisfaction. When Doodle had failed and couldn't get up Brother let his pride control him. "I ran as far as I could, leaving him far behind with a wall of rain dividing us" (604). The only reason Brother left Doodle is because of his pride. He felt he had spent so much time teaching him things so he could be normal all for nothing, and that aggrevated him. Doodle had just shown extraordinary success by rowing against the current and running as far as he did but for some reason that wasn't enough for Brother. The least that Brother could have done was went back and picked him up helping him back to the house considering all of the energy he had exerted. The only thing that Doodle ever asked of his brother was not to leave him and that is exactly what he

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

Doodle's initial conflict with his brother leads his brother to patronize him for being different. Brother and his whole family believe that Doodle wasn't going to survive

The narrator in the story causes Doodle's death because he happens to be disappointed. In the story, Brother tries to take advantage of the kind, caring nature of Doodle and is cruel because he thinks of Doodle as a letdown. "He was born when I was six and was, from the outset, a disappointment", Exclaims Brother (416). Be concise, Brother views Doodle as a shame, because Doodle is physically inept and Brother always wanted a little normal brother that he could play

The actions of Doodle’s brother are fueled with much disdain towards his younger sibling. Various levels of the narrator’s cruelty are revealed in the

Throughout the entire story Doodle and his brother are faced with challenges that people believe he won't be able to accomplish, but they show them wrong.

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 beginning of the story, the narrator said the Doctor had told the family, "... that he mustn't get too excited, too hot, too cold, or too tired… all of which I ignored once we got out of the house." (Hurst 596). The narrator ignored the doctor's advice in order for Doodle to be healthy. After they left the house the brother made Doodle do many things his weak heart could not handle; like swimming, running and other physical activities. On that note, the narrator knew Doodle could not get too fatigued or severe problems could occur. One of the consequences of Doodle getting too overworked is death and many people may argue that the narrator overworked Doodle on purpose because he was selfish. Near the end of the story, the boys were at the pond and it started to storm, "I began to run… 'Brother, Brother don't leave me!... I went back and found him…'Doodle! Doodle'... but there was no answer in the ropy rain." (Hurst 604). The narrator wanted him and his brother to get home quickly through the storm so he ran, he ran faster than Doodle could breathe. The narrator had a flawed plan and something bad was bound to happen. In the end, Doodle's weak frail body couldn't fulfill the risky plan to survive getting home. Additionally, Doodle asked his brother to wait but he completely ignored that request. The narrator was a lousy brother because he cared about Doodle being normal