Passage Annotations In The Scarlet Ibis

Multiple times throughout this story the narrator attempts to leave Doodle scared and alone, and Doodle calls out to his brother, “Don’t go leave me, brother” (Hurst 418).This shows not only the dependency Doodle has on his older brother, but also the lack of empathy and care that he bestows on Doodle. When the older brother declares that he is going to teach Doodle to walk, his response is, “‘I can’t walk brother”’ (Hurst 418). This shows that, in the beginning, Doodle has little hope for himself, and that he based his accomplishments off of what others thought of him.

The relationship between siblings can often be very complicated. When the older sibling sets high expectations for the younger sibling, it will often conclude in a series of disappointments or misunderstandings if the younger sibling does not reach the expectation that is set. When Brother finds out that his family is expecting a newborn, he is enthusiastic and begins to make plans for the activities Brother was going to do with the newborn. Soon enough, the baby arrives, but Brother realizes that the newborn is physically disabled, which makes Brother is disappointed. All of his plans to teach Doodle, the newborn, different activities were put in jeopardy when Doodle proved that he was incapable of walking on his own. As he sets out to help his brother, Brother shows that he can express both kindness and cruelty towards Doodle. In the short story, The Scarlet Ibis, by James Hurst, the narrator expresses how both affection and cruelty crossroads when helping a loved one, especially a family member.

¨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.

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.

When the Brother was forcing Doodle to learn how to walk, Doodle was in pain and he didn’t want to learn to walk at all. “This time [Doodle] did not lift his face up out of the rubber grass. ‘ I just can’t do it. Let’s make honeysuckle wreath.’”(4) From this quote, Hurst shows that Doodle was giving up, Doodle’s body knew that it could not support Doodle to walk yet, he needed to practice for a long time. As a younger teenage boy, the narrator was not well educated and did not understand the capability of Doodle’s body and he often force Doodle to do things that he don’t want to do. “There is within [the Brother] 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.”(3) At the time of the story, the Brother was childish and very irresponsible. Just like what he has said in the quotes above, the Brother was cruel to Doodle. He forced Doodle to touch a coffin and threatened Doodle that he would leave Doodle if he doesn't touch a coffin. The coffin was made originally for Doodle, since everyone thought Doodle was going to die very soon. Later in the training program, the narrator wanted Doodle to run, Doodle’s limited physical ability was overwhelmed, the Brother simply ditched Doodle in the heavy rain since he was mad at Doodle for not reaching the goal that they

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 family of Doodle knew that he would have a short life so they just kept Doodle in another room so they wouldn’t get attached to him. The older brother showed Doodle his casket and threatened to leave Doodle there which was harsh and unnecessary.

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

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

The biggest reason Brother is guilty for Doodle's death is when he taught Brother to walk. Doodle at five years-olds could barely stand on his own two feet. "Finally one day, after many weeks of practicing, he stood alone for a few seconds" (598). Now because Doodle can walk, Brother thinks Doodle can accomplished many more things like swimming and climbing trees. Brother didn't do it to help Doodle though, he it did for himself. He was completely embarrassed by Doodle. Brother, driven by his pride, helped Doodle everyday hoping that he would learn to be a better person.

The only thing that the Brother wanted was a sibling with which he could play with. But when Doodle arrived all of his hopes were shattered. As a result, he makes Doodle pay for it on many occasions. He makes him touch his own casket that was laying in the lay loft being reserved for

Before the storm hit Doodle was trying very hard to learn how to walk and how to be like other kids. He got really tired and he kept trying to keep up with his brother but Brother was going to fast for Doodle and he knew it!

After Doodle learns to walk with the aid from his brother, the narrator thinks, “they did not know that I did it for myself; that pride, whose slave I was, spoke to me louder than all their voices; and that Doodle walked only because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother” (Hurst 419). This statement conveys how the embarrassment felt by Doodle’s brother is at such a level that he would teach Doodle to walk, due to his shame. Doodle’s sibling thinks so highly of himself, that he wants his brother to not affect his reputation. Another event bringing out the prideful nature of Doodle’s brother happens while teaching Doodle to run, swim, climb trees, and fight.

The Narrator didn't help Doodle walk because he wanted to but because "...I did it for myself; that pride,whose slave I was,spoke to me louder than all their voices,and that doodle walked only because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother"(599). This proves that the Narrator is ashamed of his brother and is only helping him because he doesn't want to be embarrassed. He wantes Doodle to fit in at school and be able to keep up with the other kids. The Narrator always pushes him too far and even though he's helping Doodle do things the doctor thought he could never do he is also making Doodles health

Able to crawl but not to walk, Doodle has to be pulled in a go-cart by Brother wherever he goes. Embarrassed and growing tired of the burden he carries in a cart, Brother decides to teach Doodle to walk. After