Meaning Of The Scarlet Ibis

What is the definition of pride? If someone were to search the definition they would find that pride is “a feeling or deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one's own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired.” People can experience pride from many things like success, or intelligence, and even simple petty things being the first to turn in their test in a class. In the story the character Brother has a different type of pride, instead of being prideful of his actions his pride is a character trait. Brother is prideful of himself and having his crippled brother Doodle damaged his pride which is a dangerous thing when pride is a trait instead of a feeling. People often forget about how important a family member, especially siblings, are because they haven’t matured enough to understand the complexity and importance of life and family. In James Hurst’s short story “The Scarlet Ibis” brotherhood is a very big topic throughout it and the character “Brother” demonstrates how complicated and strange being prideful, being a sibling, and being a person, is. Through the story he is characterized as considerate and hurtful through his actions and inner thoughts.

The older brother is a round and dynamic character because he has many details/ characteristics and he develops and changes throughout the story. In the beginning of this story Doodle’s older brother made “plans to kill him by smothering him with a pillow” because he resents his brother and thinks of him as “unbearable” (176). Then, as the older brother starts to connect with Doodle as he teaches him how to walk and thrive, but he “embarrassed at having a brother of that age who couldn’t walk” even though he was able to start accepting him, he still struggled with Doodle hurting his pride (178). Just after the older brother runs back to find Doodle dead, on the ground, he shelters his “fallen scarlet ibis from the heresy of the rain” which represents how he realized his pride took over and he fully loved his brother because the pride would never be enough because it was not real love (186).The brother is affected by his pride all throughout the story, and only when Doodle dies does he really want to protect, love and teach him without his pride pushing him to act. Thus, showing how if people are not careful, they can let the bitter side of pride control them and cause death, both physical and emotional.

You can see that pride is something that’s extremely harmful to those close to you when you have too much of it. When someone's pride is hurt, most people will do anything to heal and fix it. That is exactly what Brother does when he sees he will have an invalid brother if he doesn’t do anything. So he sets out to teach Doodle how to do everyday things like walking, eating, and talking. Many people in the world can relate to this because they have had their pride wounded before. The big difference between most situations and Brother’s situation is that they wouldn’t go to such extreme measures. They would eventually see that what they are doing is wrong. However, Brother doesn’t realize this until the end of the story where he finds Doodle’s body, broken and exhausted. Brother seems to realize what he had done and that he had become a slave to his pride. Since Brother was so selfish, his pride got Doodle killed by Brother’s non-stop pushing. The morale of this story is not to love everyone for who they are. The real lesson is that you need to keep yourself in line before you get someone

Having pride can be good and bad thing in different cases. In the story the brother had pride that we could do this and help his brother become better at things and Doodle want to hangout with his brother and do things with him. Brother was doing this all for Doodle just because he was embarrassed to be his brother because he was different, so we wanted to change that and make him for normal. But he had pride in this thinking he would do and make his brother happy, but he was only doing it to make Doodle not so different from everyone else and hope no one. knows he is. In the end brother felt guilt after realizing what he was doing and left Doodle behind to make him better but it didn't work out. That he wanted Doodle to be able to run and

The quote exposed the narrator’s true motives and intentions to his younger sibling only by his ambition to normalize Doodle, for his own sake. The narrator thought that “pride […] spoke to [him] louder than all their voices”, and that even though he mostly cared his younger brother, he only invested his time and effort to towards Doodle as well as improving his younger sibling's weaknesses to make his family seem more normal. Doodle was oblivious to this, and thought nothing but love towards Older Brother because he was helping Doodle become less different. Hurst also employs the phrase “that pride, whose slave I was” to imply that Older Brother is also having his struggles, and he was figuratively a “slave” to his thoughts, and he was experiencing a conflict with his own morality and dignity. Previous to the younger sibling walking, it seemed “so hopeless from the beginning that it’s a miracle [he] didn’t give up”. The narrator thought, “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

¨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.

One example of this theme is in the short story "The Scarlet Ibis." In the story, the leading character was ashamed of having a disabled little brother, believing that other kids would make fun of them. He decides to teach his brother how to walk. After a rough couple of weeks, Doodle, the little brother, learns how to walk. The older brother decides to also teach Doodle how to run, swim, and climb so when he goes to school, he'll be "normal." This is an example of the main character's pride. He doesn't want the other kids to think he is different because he has a disabled brother, so he decides to teach his brother to be normal. While teaching Doodle how to run, swim and climb, the older brother pushes him to his limit. A storm arrives and the older brother leaves Doodle, causing Doodle to panic and pass away. This is another example of pride. The older brother was so prideful of Doodle and wanted him to be the best he could be, but it resulted in Doodle dying.

“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

Many times we think pride is a good thing, but in this case, it can hurt the ones you love. Webster Dictionary’s definition of pride is, “a feeling or deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one’s own achievements.” In this story, I will talk about one boy’s pride that comes from the achievements of his brother rather than his own. Rather than celebrating the glory of his brother’s achievements, he lets the pride get to him. This makes him act narcissistic. In “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, the narrator lets his pride and ambition ultimately destroy his brother.

In The Scarlet Ibis, what evidence does the narrarator use to support his claim that Doodle was a burden in many ways?

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.

Symbolism is used to signify ideas and qualities about an object or idea and is used when the author wants to give those objects or ideas meanings different from their literal sense. Symbols are often used in literature to bring a deeper meaning to a story or work. These meanings can emphasize or intensify feelings of anything from love and hope, to danger and sadness. James Hurst uses symbolism in his work, “The Scarlet Ibis”, to convey and emphasize some of these feelings and ideas in his story. “The Scarlet Ibis” centers around the lives of Brother, a very driven and determined child, and his younger brother, Doodle, an innocent and naive individual with a heart condition that causes doctors to believe that he

“Everyone must have something to be proud of, and Doodle had become mine.” Some may see that in this story, pride was a destructive force, but I see pride as the motivation for brothers actions to help Doodle walk. Doodle was born crippled and very weak. The narrator encouraged and helped Doodle walk, and sometimes he used tough-love when teaching him, be he benefited from it. I believe that brother was innocent because if you are proud of something that you worked so hard on, why would you kill it?

In The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst, the narrator tells a tale about growing up with his disabled brother and how he died. Doodle had a heart condition that led everyone to believe that he would never walk. The day the narrator’s brother, Doodle, died, a Scarlet Ibis appeared in their yard. The Ibis was a symbol of when Doodle was pushed too far, Doodle would die too. On page 28, the narrator writes about the Scarlet Ibis and “How many miles it had traveled to die like this, in our yard, beneath the bleeding tree.” The narrator infers that a recent hurricane, very far away, had brought the exotic bird to their yard. This quote demonstrates the idea that the Ibis was simply pushed too far, was too fatigued, and died. Also on page 28, when a storm

He is prideful because he always put his needs before everyone else. For example, he would push Doodle around carelessly to "discourage his coming." Not caring for Doodle's safety shows how he wanted to make Doodle feel sorry. The narrator was always annoyed because he had to take Doodle everywhere. Additionally, when Doodle was five, the narrator said, "I was embarrassed," because