Scarlet Ibis Theme Analysis

Brother’s original love for Doodle shows when he says “...to share with him the only beauty I knew, Old Woman Swamp” (2). Brother is taking Doodle to his own “secret hideout,” which he has kept a secret to everyone, making Doodle feel special and included. This illustrates a picture of the loving bond that these brothers share with each other. This changes, when Brother says “Do you want to be different from everyone else when you start school? Does it make any difference?” Doodle says. “It certainly does” (2). At this point, Brother realizes that Doodle is going to be different from everyone else at school, and does not like it. Doodle, however, does not see a problem with him not fitting in. Brother’s pride eventually overtakes his love for Doodle, because he now only wants to help him so that he fits in with everyone

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.

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 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.

On page 350, Brother tries to train Doodle to be able to keep up with the other kids at school. “School was only a few weeks away, and Doodle was far behind schedule … Wherever we went, I purposely walked fast, and although he kept up, his face turned red and his eyes became glazed. Once, he could go no further, so he collapsed on the ground and began to cry. ‘Aw come one Doodle,’ I urged. ‘You can do it. Do you want to be different from everybody else when you start school?’ ‘Does it make any difference?’ ‘It certainly does,’ I said.” page 350. This quote shows that Brother isn’t just afraid for himself. Brother is afraid for Doodle as well. Brother wants Doodle to fit in at school, knowing that the other kids at school could be cruel to Doodle because of his disabilities. Later in the story, after Brother pushes Doodle far beyond his limit causing him to die, he regrets what he did Doodle. “I began to weep, and the tear-blurred vision in red before me looked very familiar. ‘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.” pg 354. This quote shows that Brother cares about Doodle and loves him, because seeing Doodle die made him feel very sad and guilty about how he pushed Doodle far beyond his limit, leading to

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 always had strong opinions about Doodle. Ever since the day Doodle was born, the narrator’s pride was much too high for having him as a brother, saying, “he was born when I was six and was, from the outset, a disappointment.” Not even giving his brother a chance to grow up and prove himself. Since the narrator did not know how to handle having a

He happens to be jealous of the attention Doodle gets and remains embarrassed by Doodle's difference and also annoyed at the fact that he had to take Doodle everywhere with him. Barely tolerating the fact that Doodle was different from everyone else and strived to teach him "normal" things but not for Doodle's own good. "So I began to make plans to kill him by smothering him with a pillow", Brother says (417). This arises the source of deep shame for Brother. This shows Doodle's extreme vulnerability, while showing just how disturbed Brother is by the idea of Doodle's difference.

I would like to start by saying that Doodle’s brother could say some hurtful things to Doodle that may discourage him. For example, “One day I took Doodle up to the barn loft, and showed him his casket, telling him how we all believed he would die.” (2) It was a poor choice for his brother to make and it caused Doodle to get scared and worried about whether or not his life has all been a lie. He did not know that his family thought

Later in the story, Brother continues to push Doodle to learn many new skills. After one day of hard work, including rowing against the water and swimming until Doodle turns blue, Doodle still fails to meet Brother’s expectations. In anger, Brother leaves Doodle behind, but when Brother realizes his mistake he turns back and finds Doodle dead. This loss comes over him and he “began to weep, … ‘Doodle!’ [he] screamed above the pounding storm and threw [his] body above [Doodle’s].

From the start the Narrator didn't want a brother who wouldn't be able to do anything with him. He thought since the beginning what a disappointment Doodle had been and thinks about how "It was bad enough having an invalid brother, but having one who possibly was not all their was unbearable,so I began to make plans to kill him by smothering him with a pillow"(595). This shows how the Narrator even when Doodle was born never really liked him and was even planing to kill him then. He would be very cruel to Doodle by telling him how everyone thought he was going to die and that he is different from everyone else. He also showes Doodle his mahogany casket and pushes him off the waggon so he wouldn't want to go wherever he went.

While Doodle walks to the dinner table on his own, Brother says: “They didn’t know that I just did it because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother” (Hurst). The quote shows how big brothers pride overcomes his love and acceptance of Doodle… How Brother felt humiliated of the disability Doodle was born, additionally, how he was a slave to his own pride. He didn’t want to be acknowledged as the boy with a disabled brother. Brother has been encouraged to help Doodle for his own selfish motives, but at the same time he also experienced guilt for doing

Brother’s pride in Doodle drove him to help Doodle surpass his physical incapabilities and his mental barriers. Doodle’s condition kept him from walking; however, Brother decides to bring it upon himself to help, as he explains, “When Doodle was five

This allows Doodle’s body conditions worse and eventually lead to his death. Although Brother thinks that others will make fun of his younger brother, in reality, brother is the one making the most deal out of Doodle’s handicaps. The two boys realizes that a storm is imminent, silently heads home; “I ran as fast as I could, leavinf him behind with a wall of rain dividing us…soon I could hear his voice no more” (Hurst 475).

The story "Scarlet Ibis" written by James Hurst, displays the theme carelessness can lead to dire outcomes. The story begins by describing a 6 year old boy and his parents awaiting the birth of newborn baby, who was not expected to live; yet did and after it survived a few months they decided to name him "William Armstrong". The doctors said that William would never walk or be able to tolerate being hot or cold, shouldn’t be allowed to become too tired and must always be treated gently. William’s brother gave him the nickname, “Doodle”, because with a name like Doodle, not much would be expected of his brother whom he would always pull around in a wagon like a potato. The summer before Doodle’s first year of schooling his older brother was determined to make Doodle more