Scarlet Ibis Compare Contrast Essay

People with physical disabilities have with setbacks that make it harder for them to live normal lives like most of the people around them. Some of these individuals learn to cope with them, try to keep a positive mindset that helps them become better and stronger in their bodies and mind. In the story “The Scarlet Ibis” and the movie Simon Birch, two boys who suffer from growing setbacks, learn to live with their complications and persevere through their short lives while living them to the fullest and navigating their way to accept themselves for who they are. Simon and Doodle are very similar boys who both have the same disabilities and lifestyle, but the way they act on them and the people around them act as a result of it is somewhat different.

‘I won’t touch it,’ he said sullenly. ‘Then I’ll leave you here by yourself,’ I threatened, and made as if I were going down. Doodle was frightened of being left. ‘Don’t leave me, Brother,’ he cried” (2). This proves that Brother showing Doodle his casket was a heartless and cruel thing to do especially if Doodle is already having health issues and he hasn’t done anything to Brother that results in him treating Doodle that way. Brother implanted a fear of being left alone and the thought of death on Doodle, which shows that Brother was leading Doodle to think negatively at such a young age. Moving on, Brother explains the reasoning for why he was cruel

This is shown when it says “So I began to make plans to kill him by smothering him with a pillow.”(Hurst 595)Since the beginning he didn’t want an invalid brother. He even thought and male plans to kill him. If Doodle wasn’t bothering him or doing anything to him then why would he want to kill him? Doddles brother was just thinking about himself the whole time.” 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 599) He did not do it for Doodles good, he never even thought of how Doodle felt. His pride was stronger than him. Because he was ashamed of Doodle , that made him push doodle way too hard for someone like him. Until the end is when he realizes that what he did to Doodle was wrong but it’s too late. The author shows this when he says “I ran as fast as I could, leaving him behind …Finally I went back and found him … “Doodle! Doodle!” I cried, shaking him, but there was no answer…” (Hurst 604) He ran as fast as he could to make

Even though Doodle is just an infant, the narrator tries to kill him. Once Doodle gets a little older, the narrator forces Doodle to touch the coffin he was going to be buried in and was threatening him that if he did not do it, the narrator would leave him by himself. The narrator and Doodle’s parents make the narrator take Doodle wherever the narrator goes; pushing Doodle on a wagon. Therefore, the narrator desires to teach Doodle how to walk, so he will not have to take Doodle along everywhere he goes. Therefore, it is obvious that he teaches Doodle how to walk for his own benefit; not Doodle’s.

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

Many years later, later in the story, when Doodle is around five years of age, it occurs to the narrator that it may be a good idea to teach Doodle to walk so that he fits in with his peers. After finally convincing him, they both secretly set out to teach Doodle how to walk. During this process, the narrator thinks, “There is within me (and with sadness I have watched it in others) a knot of cruelty borne by the stream of love, much as our blood sometimes bears the seed of our destruction...” (10). In this part of the story, Hurst again uses indirect characterization through the narrator’s thoughts, to demonstrate, once again, the theme that disabilities are not flaws, and that they should be respected and embraced. By saying, “...borne by the stream of love,” the narrator is trying to bring out what they have in common instead of their differences, and he is saying that Doodle’s disability does not change the fact that they are connected and share the mutual love of two

In James Hurst’s short story “The Scarlet Ibis”, the Brother pushed Doodle to learn how to walk, swim, run and various activities so that Doodle would not seem to be crippled. Through the Brother's characterization, conflicts and eventual resolution, Hurst suggested that one's overwhelming selfishness, pride and cruelty can result in the death of a loved brother.

People being killed every day because they are different. The story “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst is about a boy with a disorder that made him different from his family. But it's not okay to kill someone just for own Pride.

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, Brother, tells the story of Doodle, his brother, and his childhood with all his disabilities; starting off by telling about Doodle when he was a baby and toddler, about how he could not do much for himself for a long time, but eventually learns to crawl. He soon moves onto when Doodle got a little older and Brother would have to take him everywhere he went and how the two would take on the mission of teaching Doodle to walk; they spent almost everyday out in the woods making Doodle stronger and stronger. On Doodle’s sixth birthday, they showed the family what he could do;

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

Every big sibling has scared or teased a younger sibling before, however, scaring them even when they are told to be careful of not putting your younger brother under too much stress or he will die, is very risky. When the narrator makes Doodle touch his casket even when he doesn’t want to, the narrator threatens to leave him up there. Doodle was frightened of being left so he touched it. Once he touched it he screamed and was paralyzed. Once the narrator picked him up and climbed out, Doodle was crying and said, “Don’t leave me. Don’t leave me.” (49) With this in mind in the end of the book he had

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

Yes, I truly believe the cause of Doodles death was all caused by his selfish brother. The narrator only cared about a brother who fit his standards not the one he already had. The narrator never spoke or thought about the safety of Doodle. Just think of this, the narrator was focused on having a brother who can walk.

If you think about it, he never gave up on Doodle. They would go to Old Woman Swamp every day and work on Doodle standing up on his own. When he was finally able to stand up, he helped Doodle to walk. He was so proud when Doodle learnt to walk on his own, and so they decided to surprise their parents at dinner one night. They were so happy that they all started crying tears of joy. He felt so accomplished that he decided that he was going to teach Doodle to run and swim as well. “ I would teach him to run, to swim, to climb trees, and to fight” the narrator said, (Page 356). Even though Doodle did not think he could do these things, he pushed up his confidence ,and he told Doodle that he could learn to run and walk. He was also trying to Protect doodle by teaching him to do these things ,so he would not be made fun of when he went to school. Even though Doodle’s brother was being selfish by teaching him to walk, swim and run, he was also teaching him because he loved his