Scarlet Ibis Pride Quotes

Brother is Guilty In the short story “The Scarlet Ibis” written by James Hurst, Brother is guilty for the death of his younger brother William Armstrong or better known as Doodle. Brother is guilty because he was pushing his disabled brother Doodle way past his limits of doing things. Brother also taunted Doodle in many different ways that could stain anyone’s heart and mind for a lifetime. On top of all those things Brother also left his disabled 6 year old brother for death.

He always thought of him poorly. Shortly after Doodle was born, Brother was plotting this "... so I began to make plans to kill him by smothering him with a pillow" (595). This quote is a huge indicator that Brother killed Doodle! Brother has obviously not liked Doodle from the beginning.

"I did not know then that pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death. " Pride holds the ability to harm others if you do not set limits to what you will do to achieve it. The Scarlet Ibis, a tale written by James Hurst and that takes place in the early 1900s covers this when Brother speaks of his grievous past--precisely, by overworking his delicate younger brother Doodle. Doodle was born with a health condition, causing him to be initially disabled and later on in life, limited. Specifically, he suffered from a heart condition and was physically weak and unable to walk, the doctor had warned that Doodle must be treated gently and avoid extremes in temperature and emotion.

“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?

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.

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

In the story “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, Brother is a young boy who is ashamed by his younger brother Doodle, because he was born with a disability and he had a hard time walking. Brother is not a good brother to Doodle because he made Doodle work hard so he did not have to be ashamed of him. Making others work hard only for their own

Brother frightens Doodle all the time with threats. Doodle is most afraid to be left alone, yet Brother uses that as a benefit. Brother has forced Doodle to touch his own coffin, he knew it made Doodle uncomfortable. Once Doodle did not want to touch it, Brother threatens to “leave (Doodle there) by (him)self. (132)” Being an only child previously, Brother assumes he may do anything he wants. Doodle does not talk back or speak up to his brother, so Brother feels powerful. It is unfair for Doodle to be treated like this and have a disability. Overall, Brother feels almighty against

He pushed Doodle to hard emotionally many ways. He made made fun of how Doodle wasn't normal. But one thing brother had done to Doodle that was super mean. Brother took Doodle to see his coffin that was made for him when he was a baby. Another thing he did was made Doodle touch the coffin. And that's what Brother did to push Doodle past the emotionally breaking point.

Brother was disappointed with Doodles progress before the storm had started. “The knowledge that Doodle’s and my plans had come to naught was bitter, and the streak of cruelty within me awakened. I ran as fast as I could, leaving him far behind with a wall of rain dividing us (Hurst 6).” Doodles biggest fear was being left behind and brother knew that. As soon as brother realised that Doodle was not making as much progress as he had hoped, he thought there was no point in going back to help doodle. Brother was not being compassionate to Doodle and only worried about himself. Doodle ended up dying during the storm because he was left behind. Because of brother’s lack of compassion towards Doodle, Brother does not contain the qualities of a good

Brother was guilty for Doodles death because of his pride. Brother taught Doodle how to walk and thought to himself "... I did it for myself; that pride, whose slave I was, spoke to me louder than all their voices, and that Doodle only walked because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother " (599). While Brother was teaching Doodle how to walk he was also hurting him. Brother would lift Doodle up and just let him fall to the hard ground. Doodle had weak legs and he could have broken a bone. Although learning to walk hurt really bad, Doodle wanted to make his brother proud. Many thought that Brother was helping Doodle but in reality he was slowly killing him.

He is a liar how he never told Doodle how he once planned to kill him. Instead, he shoves his cold shoulder into Doodle. “He was a burden in many ways” (345). This moment reveals Brother’s relationship towards Doodle in the beginning as Brother didn’t care for him. Brother had probably never clued Doodle in about everyone anticipating his death because at the time, even Brother had low expectations for Doodle. Another moment that shows Brother being untruthful to Doodle is when Brother tries to teach Doodle to walk. “Doodle, don’t you want to learn to walk?” (347) shows Brother trying to encourage Doodle but not for Doodle’s sake. Doodle is completely oblivious to the dark history of Brother's plan to teach him how to walk. Brother also had no intention to tell his family the reason why Doodle is able to move around. He instead just took the credit knowing that nobody else will ever know. Brother isn’t very truthful since he has other meanings behind his

He experiences the sadness of loss but also extreme anguish for the things he has done in the past. Brother cries and screams for Doodle, covering his body with a fierce protection. This greatly contrasts his behavior in the early sections of the story, where he only had scorn for his brother. This clearly demonstrates Brother’s love for Doodle, which he is only now fully coming to understand. Beyond the immediate aftermath of Doodle’s tragic death, Brother still thinks about Doodle and the mistakes of his past as he grows old: “But sometimes… the grindstone begins to turn, and time with all of its changes is ground away-

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

. . it ended up by me having to lug him wherever I went”(Hurst 171). Brother considers Doodle as a burden due to Doodle not being able to walk by himself, needing the assistance of his older brother to travel. All of this resulted in Brother abandoning Doodle at the end of the story, leading to Doodle's death. Brother knowing that Doodle depended on him for help is what led him to betray him in the end even if Doodle cried “Brother, Brother, don’t leave me!