Pride In The Scarlet Ibis By James Hurst

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.

Pride is a boomerang that will eventually come back to hit you. In John Hurst’s short story, “The Scarlet Ibis,” Brother’s pride changes how he sees Doodle as his brother, and negatively affects the outcome of the story. Throughout the story, one learns how the relationship between two brothers can break apart due to one’s pride. Pride can derail one from achieving goals while destroying relationships.

Pride, for example, is favorable, because it can encourage the person to strive harder, ultimately allowing them to achieve their goals. Such as when “it seemed so hopeless from the beginning that it's a miracle [Doodle’s brother] didn't give up” (Hurst 3). The audience can see that the narrator encourages himself, as well as his brother, with his own pride to teach Doodle how to walk. Similarly, pride can also make a person determined to achieve their objective, as in when the person “should have already admitted defeat, but my[their] pride wouldn't let me[them]”(Hurst

In the short story, “The Scarlet Ibis”, James Hurst demonstrates that the confidence that comes with pride is an inspiration for growth, however, overconfidence can lead to one’s downfall. Despite a year of seemingly hopeless attempts to teach Doodle how to walk, Brother manages to persist because he has “[Doodle] to be proud of” (Hurst 419). Although Brother teaching Doodle how to walk was not altruistic, it was his pride that allowed it to happen in the first place. If Brother and Doodle did not have their pride to fuel their desire for success then they would have accepted what everyone else said about how Doodle would not be able to walk which even Doodle agreed with at first. Without pride, one would not have the inner desire for success

In the short story, “The Scarlet Ibis”, by James Hurst, the narrator suffers from an internal battle with his own ego to convey the message that pride blinds any because people are, to a degree, naturally selfish. In the beginning of the story, after the narrator presents his family the miracle of Doodle walking, Older Brother starts crying secretly because he knew he made Doodle walk out of his own selfish reasons. When Doodle took his public first steps for the first time the narrator confesses an important reason from his point of view, thinking, “Doodle told them it was I who taught him to walk, so everyone wanted to hug me, and I began to cry. ‘What are you crying for?’ asked Daddy, but I couldn’t answer. They did not know that I did it for myself: that pride,

(C.S. Lewis). Pride can take over the lives of people who have it within them. It is ok to feel proud but if the sense of pride is exaggerated it will lead to arrogance and therefore to problems. In the book Antigone, by Sophocles, pride is displayed as good and bad. Pride can have a big impact on people when it is taken for granted. Sophocles uses such powerful language and gives such great imagery with his words that it is apparent pride is greatly implied in his book. The conflicts and morals being taught to us in his book states that pride is something that

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.

Pride can kill you in just a couple seconds. Pride is both something everybody has and wants more of, but if an individual is allowed access to too much pride, they can become hurtful to not only their lives, but also others as well. Too much pride can be considered a very deadly and destructive force. With too much pride, people in modern society, will began to think of you as egotistical or rude, while when someone has less pride than a normal person, they are called self conscious and depressed. You then start to think of yourself as those descriptions. These effects of pride on adults are exaggerated in children due to their constant change in emotions and self concept. This is why, when it comes to Brother in The Scarlet Ibis, he should be viewed as innocent. In this story young Brother has a newborn sibling with some form of deformity. At first, brother is told that Doodle, his sibling, won’t be able to play, or do any activities, because he is not “all there”. He later plots to kill his brother because he doesn’t feel that there is any purpose in living a life that isn’t worth living. When he is about to smother his brother with a pillow, Doodle recognizes his brother and smiles. Brother then realizes his infant brother is “all there”. They spend the next years of their lives together and become best friends. Brother teaches Doodle to walk, swim, run, and climb trees so he can go to school with all the other little kids, and fit in. One day, it starts to rain and they

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.

Pride can be positive and can help people overcome the difficult struggles they are going through, and can also lead to bonding or getting closer. In this story, the narrator has a disabled brother whos parents and doctor both don’t believe he is able to learn to walk. The narrator doesn’t think of Doodle as a brother, but as someone who is disabled and tries to fix him by helping him learn to walk. One piece of evidence that shows that pride is positive in the story, is when the narrator shows how he cares about Doodle and wants him to get better by helping him learn how to walk. After he got to know Doodle a little bit more he felt more connected and believed that he would learn to walk and put in the effort to help him learn. “I'm going to teach you to walk, Doodle.’ I said. ‘I can't walk brother,’ He said. ‘Who says so?’ I demanded. ‘Mama, the doctor--everybody.’ ‘Oh you can walk”(Hurst 3). This quote shows how pride can lead to helping someone get through something they are struggling with, because it says “I’m going to teach you to walk, Doodle.” he’s very confident in the way he asserts his ability to teach Doodle to walk he does this instead of saying “I am going to try” or asking it as a question “Would you like me to?” These are both less confident ways he could go about asking. Then another part of the quote that stood out was when the author wrote the narrator saying “ ‘Oh you can walk’ ” to his brother, Doodle. He’s dismissing his mother and the doctor who are both older and more knowledgeable than him. This elaborates on the fact that the narrator shows a tremendous amount of pride and arrogance throughout the story. This shows that the narrator had fueled Doodle’s desire to succeed for his brother because the narrator pushed him to be normal, thus Doodle being able to walk. Before everyone told Doodle he could not walk so Doodle did not believe in himself, until his brother pushed him to

A father smiling down at his son; a teacher learning from his pupil; a soldier gazing up to his country’s flag. Or a woman masking her face with makeup; a man boasting endlessly of a talent; a child mocking another’s impediment. All textbook illustrations of pride. Nevertheless, the first trio is of outward pride—pride not of one’s own accomplishment, but the achievements of something or someone else. Moreover, the second trio consists of an inner pride—a vain, arrogant, conceited, egotistic, narcissistic feeling. Another crucial aspect of different prides is Jane Austen’s Pride vs. Vanity. She says, “A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.” Although “pride goeth before the fall”, pride, being outward or being competent to ourselves, is a healthy feeling unless provoked into vanity and narcissism.

Pride has been an issue for all of history. It has contributed to many of the conflicts the world has faced. War is a fine example of a man’s pride getting in the way of peace. Pride was a contributing factor to the Revolutionary War. After a long Salutary Neglect, England began putting crazy taxes and laws on the colonies. The colonists united together and became a separate body. They had new rules and principles. England had too much pride to resolve the conflict between them and the colonies.

Yes, pride can be a destructive force at times. People get hurt if you push them too far, but pride is also a part of love. In The Scarlet Ibis, I believe Brother is innocent.

Any great accomplishment can make someone feel proud about their work. It makes one feel good; it raises a person's spirits. "No question, pride has its good points." (The Toronto Star, Nov 1999) Then again, there are also the bad points of pride one must consider, before being proud. Pride can deceive a person into being ambitious, and make them strive for something that is not rightfully theirs. Both Macbeth and Willy encountered this problem. Pride can also cause a bad relationship with the people one loves most. For Macbeth and Willy, their relationships with their families were burdened as a consequence of this pride. Pride can lead to much worse things; it can put a person in a

     The word pride in itself isn’t an important word but it’s meaning implies many things. There are several different definitions for pride. Pride can be referred to as a type of plant, a form of body ornamentation, or even a group of lions. The most commonly used definition of pride is being proud, or having a feeling of great accomplishment and feeling self-satisfaction. The word pride both positive and negative meanings that can be seen throughout history.