Scarlet Ibis Theme Essay

“At that moment the bird began to flutter, but the wings were uncoordinated, and amid much flapping and a spray of flying feathers, it tumbled down, bumping through the limbs of the bleeding tree and landing at our feet with a thud.” (Hurst 5). This particular quotation is a symbol of the narrator’s brother, which he was exhausted before death just like the ibis in “The Scarlet Ibis”, by James Hurst. The narrator has a disabled brother with an abnormally large head, Doodle, who embarrassed and damaged his pride. The narrator’s emotions lead him to teaching Doodle how to walk, run, and swim to achieve an equally talented brother. The narrator’s pride, however, lead to overworking his brother, too tired to flee from the approaching storm, ending in a tragic death. Through these characters’ perspectives, Hurst shows that it is acceptable to be proud of their loved ones, but pride can be harmful to them if people force them into acts that are not in their best interest.

In the short story, “The Scarlet Ibis”, by James Hurst, the narrator suffers from an internal battle with his own ego to convey the message that pride blinds any because people are, to a degree, naturally selfish. In the beginning of the story, after the narrator presents his family the miracle of Doodle walking, Older Brother starts crying secretly because he knew he made Doodle walk out of his own selfish reasons. When Doodle took his public first steps for the first time the narrator confesses an important reason from his point of view, thinking, “Doodle told them it was I who taught him to walk, so everyone wanted to hug me, and I began to cry. ‘What are you crying for?’ asked Daddy, but I couldn’t answer. They did not know that I did it for myself: that pride,

¨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.

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;

Without delay the narrator took Doodle to accomplish more than walking; he taught him swimming, rowing, climbing, and swinging. They would work until Doodle could not do anymore, till he couldn’t left an oar or lift his arm to take another stroke. The only reason Doodle did it because his brother would always say, ‘“Aw, come on, 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.’’. (52) In the beginning of the story it talked about how Doodle would turn blue and almost black in the face as he was straining just to get up and crawl. Likewise when in the ending he said he knew that he was pushing his brother to run faster and Doodle had never done that before so he was struggling and ended up dying.

Doodle’s brother taught him these things because he was tired of having a brother who couldn’t do anything. So he taught him, and he pushed Doodle harder and harder so that he didn’t have to deal with him. Showing his family that Doodle could walk, and Doodle’s brother realized what he could accomplish. Doodle’s brother continued to push him until one day, he pushed too hard. He knew a storm was coming, but hesitated at returning home because of Doodle’s failed attempts of running and walking. The brother recognized that a, “streak of cruelty within me awakened. I ran as fast as I could, leaving him far behind” (Hurst 117). This revealed the side of pride that resulted in death. That too much pride will fill you up, and you will keep continuing it until it

Could pride take over a person's life? In "The Scarlet Ibis" written by James Hurst, the Narrator was the only son of the family, as far as he was at the age of six, the Narrator had a brother. He loved his little brother, but the Narrator's family has thought that Doodle would not survive the main issue of his life and not being able to do stuff. The Narrator and his family finally had seen that he could talk, and there was no sign of walking. The Narrator had to take his bother everywhere he had to go in his little go-cart. Which though the Narrator had been tired of carrying him around in the the go-cart, which, made him think that he can teach Doodle how to walk. Everyone was amused that Doodle could walk and now the Narrator for his pride of making him walk had consumed his mind and pressured Doodle to do more thinks before summer was over and start school. In the last week, before school started, in the bloody tree there was a Scarlet Ibis and fell down with no coordinated and died fragile, feathers everywhere. After that afternoon the Narrator's pride had vanished and ran home and left his brother who had fallen down.The moment that the Narrator had realized that he had pressured him and look for Doodle, he had died so similar to the Scarlet Ibis, delicate, blood all over ad with no coordination. For this reason, the Narrator is innocent and had not having nothing to do with his brother recognizing

Pride Overcomes Judgement James Hurst’s “The Scarlet Ibis” is about the battle between love and pride and reveals that pride alters people’s perception of loved ones capabilities demonstrated by symbolism. James Hurst’s use of symbolism suggests that the Scarlet Ibis is a symbol of Doodle’s life and his journey to be able to walk, even though his disabilities challenge that. The narrator teaches Doodle to walk out of this embarrassment towards him, all because he isn’t like a “normal” six year old kid. After he successfully teaches his brother, Doodle, to walk he lets his pride and embarrassment alter his perception and pushed Doodle to his maximum capability.

Is pride powerful enough to come between two brothers? "The Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst showes that the Narrator is thinking more about his own pride and less about his brother Doodle. He didn't like the facts that he would have a brother who wasn't all there or who is different from everyone else. Even when he showes Doodle how to walk he didn't do it to help Doodle but for his own pride. The Narrators pride taking over is what killed Doodle in the end and is why the Narrator is guilty of his brothers death.

Doodle was born prematurely, so early that he was severely disabled, which his brother never failed to remind him every chance he got. He was made a casket shortly after he was born, as he wasn’t expected to live for a long period of time. The narrator highly disliked is brother, so much that he made him touch his casket, leading to him to realize how he could use Doodle. ‘Doodle was paralyzed, so I put him on my shoulder and carried him down the ladder, and even when we were

The short story "The Scarlet Ibis" was written by James Hurst. This story is about a boy and his younger, disabled brother. Doodle was born and diagnosed as an invalid. Not being able to do certain things affected his life. The narrator set out to teach Doodle the things he never thought he could do. The narrator is described to be a prideful and determined person.

This causes the Narrator to be embarrassed of his brother and want to fix the issue by pushing him to learn to walk. This shows that he is being selfish because he's fixing an issue that may seem like he's benefiting Doodle, although this is true, he is really doing it for himself. Most people do not do, or try to do selfish things to people they know or love. This shows that the Narrator does not care or love Doodle and think he's annoying. At the end of the Story when Doodle dies, we see that the Narrator is very sad and want Doodle back. So he went from being selfish, using Doodle, and treating him badly to loving him and being mournful.This is clear change in the Narrator, further proving that he is a dynamic

He also begins to realize that, “pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death.” (6). Throughout the story, the narrator also stresses how pride is double-sided as a “wonderful, terrible thing.” Pride has two different outcomes and often leads to unexpected events. It pushes one to achieve one’s goals, but can also be destructive if one loses sight of what the true aim of the task is. As the protagonist’s pride pushes Doodle further from isolation, he becomes obsessed with his desperate need for the “ideal” sibling, resulting in Doodle’s untimely death. The narrator’s thoughts represent the unawareness he has of the disastrous effects of his pride. He compares pride towards a seed, something that grows over time. When he says, “life and death,” the brother is referring to the life of his pride and death of his brother. To allow for his pride to live on, the life of Doodle is

In “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, characters Brother and Doodle have a complex relationship. Most of their problems come from the ableist Brothers pride, towards Doodles disability. Before Brothers influence Doodle was perfect content with himself and his life, until pride started to effect their relationship for better and for worse. Brothers pride was both damaging and reviving for Doodle and his relationship.

In James Hurst’s short story, “The Scarlet Ibis,“ James Hurst shows that pride can be both a positive and harmful force by showing how the narrator's pride both positively and negatively affects Doodle. The Scarlet Ibis is about Doodle, a young boy who was born with a defect that stops him from being able to be active like a normal boy, and the narrator, who is doodle’s older brother trying to get doodle to be like a normal boy. Although the narrator is able to get Doodle walking, he pushes Doodle too hard to be like him, and Doodle dies. When Doodle’s family is elated celebrating Doodle’s birthday and him being able to walk because of the narrator, the narrator is ashamed of himself because of the reason why he taught Doodle to walk. “They