Scarlet Ibis Compare Contrast Essay

He made Doodle touch the coffin that would have been his. Brother was going to smother Doodle with a pillow. Brother leaves Doodle behind and is ultimately the cause of his death.

¨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.

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

In “The Scarlet Ibis,” the author, James Hurst, uses indirect characterization, mainly through the narrator’s internal thoughts and feelings, to convey the theme that disabilities are not flaws in an individual, and that they are mere differences that make each individual unique. Early in the story, the author explains that Doodle, the narrator’s brother, has a deadly heart condition which prevents him from participating in activities such as running, jumping, swimming, and even walking. When Doodle is not expected to live when he is born, the narrator says that he does not want an “invalid” brother, but instead, wants a brother who can run around, jump, and play with him. Even the rest of the family does not believe that he is going to survive, and they do not even name him until he lives for three months. Later in the story, the narrator thinks, “...but he learned to crawl

“The only difference between a hero and the villain is that the villain chooses to use that power in a way that is selfish and hurts other people” (Chadwick Boseman). In Hurst’s “The Scarlet Ibis,” the narrator chooses to use his power in a way that hurts his invalid brother, Doodle. While living in a time period where different is improper, the narrator cannot mentally handle the fact that Doodle is different from others. Being the older sibling, the narrator takes on the responsibility to help Doodle become ordinary. He teaches Doodle to walk, run, climb, and swim, because he is ashamed of having a brother with disabilities. As a result, the narrator serves as a villain by forcing his invalid brother, Doodle, past his limitations, which ultimately causes the

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.

An important factor is that “The Scarlet Ibis” is told in the first person from the perspective of the brother of Doodle, a boy with a heart condition, after Doodle dies. And a change in character happens after Doodle’s death. The narrator’s change isn’t that directly shown but hangs over the rest of the story as commentary to what’s happening. The only way for someone with a

The dangers of cruelty in life ultimately overpower emotions and decisions of higher quality. Difficult decisions are made daily, and the compelling idea of satisfaction leads people to make choices for the sake of themselves. The emotions that potentially can happen because of those decisions are captivating, resulting in cruel outcomes. An author that portrays this idea through a character is James Hurst. In his work, “The Scarlet Ibis”, Hurst develops a relationship between two brothers using the idea that cruelty ultimately overpowers love. The brothers, Doodle and Brother, experience events that cause them to make valued memories, but also break close bonds. Through these experiences, Brother begins to accept his disabled brother, Doodle, for his limitations. Doodle has to be extremely cautious due to his disability, never letting an emotion or feeling become too strong. Some events lead Brother to show affection towards Doodle, but others prompt him to do just the opposite. Hurst uses Old Woman Swamp and the coffin as symbols in, “The Scarlet Ibis”, to assist in demonstrating the highs and lows of Brother and Doodle’s volatile relationship.

Hurst uses the mood of the story to convey the character's’ feelings and tells the audience, indirectly, how to feel emotionally

The author of “The scarlet Ibis,” James Hurst, suggests through the actions of his characters and his use of language the theme that too much pride can lead people to do things that can have devastating results. James Hurst quoted, “But all of us must have something or someone to be proud of, and Doodle had become mine.” The narrator has a need to make Doodle better to give himself something to be proud of and receive recognition for his actions. The narrator is talking about an event that happened in the past when he tried to teach his brother, Doodle, to walk. He looks back on it with the insight of an adult who has struggled with the consequences of his prideful actions.

Brother gets a little brother and they didn't think he would live long. But after a few months they named him William Armstrong. Then Brother names him Doodle, Doodle was surrounded by death ever since he was born. In “The Scarlet Ibis” Brother was a mean brother who didn't like his little brother at first, than when Doodle got an older, brother wanted to teach him to run, fight, and to swim because of his pride, and then Brother starts to feel regret because he pushed Doodle so hard.

At times, Doodle’s brother takes advantage of his loving and forgiving nature and is cruel to him. “There is within me […] a knot of cruelty born by a stream of love, much as our blood sometimes bears the seed of our destruction and at times I was mean to Doodle” (Hurst 3). Although Brother truly loves Doodle, he takes advantage of Doodle’s kind and naïve personality. This metaphor from Brother equates cruelty coming from a source of love to a bad situation coming from a mistake that one made, for example, his bullying behavior to Doodle. Brother, looking back, has deep remorse for being cruel to Doodle, because each time Doodle would come back to him out of trust and admiration for his sibling. Doodle’s love for his brother leads him to be easily manipulated to do what his brother wants, even if it is not out of loving intent. “Then I’d paint for him a picture of us as old men white haired, him with a long white beard and me still pulling him in a go-cart, this never failed to make him try again” (Hurst 4). Brother’s form of

He has been characterized as cruel by making Doodle push himself to death. After a very difficult lesson, a storm arose and the two brothers were separated. “When the deafening peal of thunder had died, and at the moment before the rain arrived, I heard Doodle, who had fallen behind, cry out, ‘Brother, Brother, don’t leave me! Don’t leave me!’” (182). The narrator has developed into Doodle’s best friend, mentor, and protector. Doodle needed the protection from his brother when he fell behind. At the beginning of the story the narrator would have just left Doodle behind to die, but now that they have grown a relationship, he waited for Doodle to catch up. “‘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” (183). The narrator has developed into affectionate, knowledgeable young adult. This incident is nearing the end of Doodle’s life, and he did not want to lose him. It is also evident that the narrator has become Doodle’s protector. Doodle later dies, the narrator released many sad

In the short story, “The Scarlet Ibis” there are two main characters throughout, Doodle and his older brother. The entire setting of the story was based around Doodle’s brother, when he comes back home, he remembers Doodle, and how he blames himself for Doodle’s death. Doodle’s older brother; though not mentioned how old he is, and where he is now; is portrayed as a mean, naive teenager, who ¨killed¨ his younger brother, but he is still just a teenager. Majority who have read the story, have different perspectives/opinions about the characteristics of the brother. The author, James Hurst, of the short story, “The Scarlet Ibis” uses social qualities and moral qualities to prove the character of Doodle’s brother, is caring, insecure, and very driven.

The Scarlet Ibis is an intriguing story of a young boy with a medical illness and his truculent older brother. The story displays a diverse relationship between the two brothers, Doodle and Brother. As the older of the two, Brother treats Doodle as an insignificant being. Due to Brother’s embarrassment of Doodle, he sets out to make him normal. Doodle’s actions contradict the treatment given to him by Brother. Despite the ill-treatment he received, he still finds the positive aspects in Brother. Although Doodle was placed on one of the lowest levels of humanity by his own brother, he still portrays an attitude of unforgiving love.