Scarlet Ibis Theme

Pride is a problematic emotion that can lead to unpleasant conclusions if important things are left out of focus. The Scarlet Ibis explored a variety of facets of pride from the perspective of the Brother, whose pride evolves into a detrimental force. To go on, in this story, pride is often associated with the shame and embarrassment of Doodle’s restrained limitations. Pride is closely related to a pleasure derived from a skill, although, The Scarlet Ibis realizes that although it is nice to be please for the things we care about, there is limit that must be placed in their best interest.

It was about to rain and Doodle wasn’t really feeling okay so they went home and on the way brother started walking really fast and Doodle was right behind him. He was so close that Brother took the opportunity to make Doodle work harder, even though he made it clear that he was tired. The reason why brother was making doodle run was because he couldn’t stand the thought that his brother is still crippled after his goal of trying to “fix” him. Brother explains this when he says “The knowledge that doodle and my plans had come to naught was bitter, and that streak of cruelty within me awakened. I ran as fast as I could, leaving him far behind with a wall of rain dividing us.” Pg11. The only reason why he wants him to walk is because he is so ashamed of doodle that the idea of realizing that his plans to “fix” Doodle was unsuccessful that he left his own crippled brother alone in the rain to die. He did go back for him, but it was too late. He was heartbroken and began to cry he describes his pain when he says “Doodle! I screamed above the pounding sound of the storm and threw my body to the earth above his. For a long time it seemed forever, I lay there crying sheltering my fallen scarlet ibis from the heresy of rain” pg12. This proves that brother loves Doodle so much that he is actually protecting his brother from rain after he is dead, despite having such brutality towards him for not satisfying his

James Hurst is a very significant and prominent author. He sends important messages through his writing. Many different messages are conveyed in his story “The Scarlet Ibis,” but it is how he conveys the message that is most important. James Hurst uses events in the plot, imagery, and characterization to convey that everyone is special in their own way and should be cherished before they are gone.

‘Brother’ has a difficult time having a crippled brother forming a Man VS Self conflict. ‘Brother’ changes throughout the story but in the end is consumed by pride. The theme Hurst tries to show throughout the ‘Scarlet Ibis’ s that one can have pride, but it can lead to helpful outcomes, but don’t become consumed by it or you will not get what you dreamed of. When ‘Brother’ and Doodle revealed that Doodle could walk at his 6th birthday “ “What are you crying for?” asked Daddy, but I could not answer. They did not know that I did it for myself, that pride, whose slave I was [...] Doodle only walked because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother” (Hurst 258). When ‘Brother’ starts crying he is consumed by guilt from forcing Doodle to learn how to walk. He knew it was pride controlling him, but could not help free himself from it. His pride though let him teach Doodle to walk and gain compassion for Doodle, his crippled brother. The incident changes ‘Brother’ in a way where he learned, but did not realize, he should never have pushed Doodle as far as he did. ‘Brother’s’ pride got the better of him and he wanted to teach Doodle how to row a boat and run. ‘Brother’ tried day after day, but Doodle just did not have the endurance. Yet ‘Brother’ did not stop, he kept pushing Doodle to his limits “The faster I walked, the faster he would, so i began to run [...] in the moment

There are a lot of scenarios that portray pride among some of the characters in the narrative. For instance, Brother decides that he is going to teach Doodle how to walk given that he wanted to have a perfect little brother that he had in mind. Brother, the narrator, is quoted in the book saying, “But all of us must have something or someone to be proud of, and Doodle had become mine. I did not know then that pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death.”

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

Identity Hidden in Pride In “The Scarlet Ibis,” James Hurst uses internal conflicts between Brother’s pride and intentions to demonstrate that actions influenced by pride are an imperfect reflection of one’s identity. Early in the story, the protagonist, Brother, is embarrassed by Doodle, his little brother, who cannot walk at the age of five. Without letting his parents know, Brother successfully teaches Doodle to walk.

Can you imagine being so overcome by pride that you let it take control and hurt someone close to you? In the short story, “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, the narrator has an internal struggle with too much pride which leads to bad decision making. As a child the narrator, wanted a little brother who would play and be just like him. But much to his dismay, his brother’s chance of survival were slim. Even when he did end up surviving, he could not even walk. Doodle, the name given to him by Brother, was small and fragile. That meant he would not be able to play and run around with Brother. So Brother decided that he would teach him. Pride is a common trait for humans but too much of it can lead to demise, and that demise just happened to be Doodle’s.

In James Hurst’s The Scarlet Ibis, symbolism is used throughout the story through a bleeding tree and a scarlet ibis. In the beginning of the story, we meet a character named Doodle which is the narrator's brother. Doodle has many health problems and had a very minimal chance of even being born. Doodle continues to live and hope begins to build that he will live to be a normal boy. One day, the family comes across a scarlet ibis which lives in the Florida Tropics which is hundreds of miles away from where the story takes place. The bird proceeds to die by falling out of a bleed tree, thus where the theme of false hope starts to develop. On page 28, the theme is supported in the quote ¨ How many miles it had traveled to die like this, in our

Symbolism is the use of symbols with the objective of showing a quality or idea, and it is used frequently throughout the story. First, another example of symbolism is that the rain towards the end of the tale symbolizes society’s opinion and social norms. When there is a treacherous storm, Brother runs and leaves Doodle in the storm. In the story it is said is said that there was a “wall of rain” dividing the two siblings. As Brother sprinted away, the wall of distance grew between the two of them, representing how it was a more common choice for people to keep their distance from Doodle. It is shown, “I ran as fast as I could, leaving him far behind with a wall of rain dividing us,” (6). The social norm of walking and being active caused Brother to start his “program” to teach Doodle to accomplish these tasks. This is not the only example of symbolism in the tale. Next, the scarlet ibis is the main symbol of the story, and it has earned the title. A beautiful, exquisite scarlet ibis was found in the family’s yard. It swayed unsteadily on the branch it was resting on, then it fell to the earth and died. Although its passing was tragic, the bird was delicate and beautiful. With careful research, one can discover that scarlet ibises typically live in numerous parts of

At the beginning of the scarlet Ibis, the narrator, brother talks about the short life of his brother doodle. Doodle was born disabled. He had a very weak hard and could not walk. On several occasions, the narrator was mean to doodle. An example of this was when Brother showed doodle the coffin in the barn that was built for him. He subsequently forced doodle to touch it. The narrator also forcibly taught doodle how to walk because of the pride and anger he felt towards having a crippled brother. Even though doodle did not want to walk, the narrator made sure that he did. This was because he wanted to push his brother to work harder.

The scarlet ibis is one of the ways that the color red is included in the story because the ibis is red. Doodle sets eyes on the bird and announces, “It's a great big red bird” then it “tumbled down” and “[laid] on the earth like a broken vase of red flowers” (321). Doodle sees the “great big red bird” in the yard which is how the scarlet ibis is described before they know the type of bird. The bird died as it “tumbled down” the tree and hit the ground. The ibis is compared to a “broken vase of red flowers” when it is lying on the ground dead. This is another connection to the color red because of red flowers. The broken red vase is symbolic of the broken ibis and the red flower are the ibis. Red is connected to the ibis again through the vase and red flowers. The scarlet ibis is symbolic of death because of how it dies in the story. The color red has the same symbolism as the scarlet ibis because they are linked by color. Death, as a theme is developed because this link creates the symbolic meaning of the color red. Doodle is found at the end of the story with blood coming from his mouth. The narrator finds that Doodle “had been bleeding from the mouth, and his neck and the front of his shirt were stained a brilliant red” (323). The color red is found in the “brilliant red” blood “from [Doodle’s] mouth.” Seeing Doodle’s “neck and the front of his shirt stained” with blood is an indication that Doodle is gone. The red blood is a sign, symbolic of death. As the blood is red, the color red is then a symbol that stands for death. The color red stands for death because the color of the blood connects the symbolism of the blood to the symbolism of the color. The color isn’t symbolic alone, but with the tie to the blood through color it becomes symbolic. The theme of death is created because the color red is symbolic of death based on what objects are

Everybody has felt disappointment every once and awhile, but not everybody has let that disappointment lead them to kill somebody. In the story, “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, the author uses three things in the story to develop a theme which are: plot, characters, and symbols and that theme is Pride is a two way street.

“It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.” Saint Augustine was conveying that even the most selfless people can lose sight of what is important simply because of self-glorification. The narrator of James Hurst’s The Scarlet Ibis learns this first-hand as his life is changed forever when his younger brother is born weak and disabled. As years go by, the narrator works his brother to exhaustion and finally, fueled by pride, leaves him to die. This egotistical nature is prominent throughout the narrator’s life as he teaches his brother to do simple things such as walk, run, and swim, though it was done out of shame and repletion, not love or compassion.

“Finally one day after, many weeks of practicing he stood alone for a few seconds, when he fell i grabbed him in my arms and hugged him” (172). This quote proves the older brothers personal goals are for Doodle to learn to walk all on his own. He would like to teach his disabled brother to walk before school starts he begins to take him to Horsehead Landing everyday so he can learn to walk. Also, pride can inspire one to have self respect. “Doodle and I went down to Horsehead Landing and I gave him a swimming lesson or showed him how to row a boat” (173). This quote proves the older brother tries to get Doodle to gain self respect by learning how to walk, run, swim, and fight. All the older brother wants is for his brother to be able to walk and do other things on his own. He is looking out for Doodle but he is also pushing Doodle a little too far. Therefore, pride can help one preserver. “Oh yes you