Selfishness And Symbolism In The Scarlet Ibis By James Hurst

In the short story, “The Scarlet Ibis”, James Hurst demonstrates that the confidence that comes with pride is an inspiration for growth, however, overconfidence can lead to one’s downfall. Despite a year of seemingly hopeless attempts to teach Doodle how to walk, Brother manages to persist because he has “[Doodle] to be proud of” (Hurst 419). Although Brother teaching Doodle how to walk was not altruistic, it was his pride that allowed it to happen in the first place. If Brother and Doodle did not have their pride to fuel their desire for success then they would have accepted what everyone else said about how Doodle would not be able to walk which even Doodle agreed with at first. Without pride, one would not have the inner desire for success

James Hurst, the author of “The Scarlet Ibis”, uses death and birds as symbols to show how Doodle is fragile and could die at any moment. Red is a color that is often associated with evil and other times it represents love. Birds also represent death and fragility, but they also mean freedom and change. This shows how Doodle’s and Brother’s paradoxical relationship changes from Brother being evil and selfish, to him being an extremely helpful and caring brother.

In “The Scarlet Ibis,” love and pride war in Brother's motivations to help Doodle; his love encourages kindness, but his shame at Doodle's failings results in the cruelty that kills the younger boy. “It is,” I said. “And before I’ll help you down from the loft, you’re going to have to touch it.”

Symbolism is another important element in the style of "The Scarlet Ibis."  for example, in Doodle's "lies," the ten foot tail of the small peacock refers to the author's description of Doodle's full name, "William Armstrong," as "a big tail on a small kite" like the long fancy tail on the small bird.  Also, the grindstone grinds away the years, revealing the brother's memories of doodle.  Moreover, the mahogany coffin symbolizes Doodle's death when his brother forces him to touch it.  Furthermore, beautiful Old Woman Swamp symbolizes paradise for the two boys; there they spend their happiest days.  Finally, the rare scarlet ibis symbolizes Doodle.  Both are rare and wonderful, and both die the same day.  Also, Doodle's neck, red with blood, and legs, thin and stiffly jointed, liken him strongly to the ibis.  Symbolism is unmistakably an important element in the style of this story, but one more factor helps to define the distinct style of this story.

Have your parents ever told you that you needed to improve at something? It could be a sport, activities, or even how well you do in school. This is a vile thing for parents to do to their children. Sometimes parents just need to back up a few steps and let you be yourself. The same can happen with an older sibling! That is the case in The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst. The narrator of this story has a younger brother called Doodle, who has some health issues. Big brother pushes little brother to be better than he is. In The Scarlet Ibis, Doodle strives for the goals that his brother sets for him for many reasons, which reflects the conflict in the story.

In a world of empathy and selfishness, one must always prevail. The short story “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst tells a tale of a young boy and his disabled younger brother, Doodle. The narrator, also known as Brother, recalls the life of his brother and how his own actions and emotions affect his brother’s experiences. Brother’s pride determines whether he acts empathetic or selfish towards his sibling. In “The Scarlet Ibis” Hurst uses diction, symbolism, foreshadowing, and imagery to fabricate a remorseful mood as Brother looks back on his past, a compassionate feeling when the ibis dies, and a regretful mood when Doodle dies.

The color red symbolizes a strong motif throughout this short story. “The Scarlet Ibis,” and scarlet is a shade of red. Doodle and the scarlet ibis are connected to each other. They both are damaged and die in a windstorm. As the ibis fell and hit the ground, he had blood coming from it’s mouth. When Doodle dies in the storm his brother treats him as if he were sick. Then Doodle symbolically overtakes the Scarlet Ibis.

The dangers of cruelty in life ultimately overpower emotions and decisions of higher quality. Difficult decisions are made daily, and the compelling idea of satisfaction leads people to make choices for the sake of themselves. The emotions that potentially can happen because of those decisions are captivating, resulting in cruel outcomes. An author that portrays this idea through a character is James Hurst. In his work, “The Scarlet Ibis”, Hurst develops a relationship between two brothers using the idea that cruelty ultimately overpowers love. The brothers, Doodle and Brother, experience events that cause them to make valued memories, but also break close bonds. Through these experiences, Brother begins to accept his disabled brother, Doodle, for his limitations. Doodle has to be extremely cautious due to his disability, never letting an emotion or feeling become too strong. Some events lead Brother to show affection towards Doodle, but others prompt him to do just the opposite. Hurst uses Old Woman Swamp and the coffin as symbols in, “The Scarlet Ibis”, to assist in demonstrating the highs and lows of Brother and Doodle’s volatile relationship.

In “The Scarlet Ibis” James Hurst symbolizes the narrator’s brother, Doodle, as the scarlet ibis, and the narrator as the storm, in order to reveal the theme that challenging someone to go beyond their limits can help in achieving extraordinary results, however pushing the limits too far may prove fatal. As the narrator, Doodle, and their family were eating dinner, they saw a scarlet ibis getting carried by the storm and “[tumbling] down, … landing at [their] feet with a thud”. Doodle’s family doesn’t care much, however, Doodle takes time to respect the bird and to bury it, even though he saw the bird for the first time as if he had some special connection with the ibis. “It’s a scarlet ibis! … South America to Florida. A storm must have brought it here. A scarlet Ibis! How many miles it had traveled to die like this, in our yard, beneath the bleeding tree” (14). The bird, native to South America had flown all the way from “South America to Florida”, which was way beyond its natural capacity. Doodle had also come a long way from being a baby who everyone thought wouldn't survive or a cripple who couldn’t stand. “A storm … brought it here”, somewhat assisting it and somewhat forcing it. Doodle learned to walk, with help from the narrator who pushed him and didn’t let him give up. Now the narrator was pushing Doodle, even more, to learn rowing, swimming, and fighting even though his body and heart were weak. The storm had powered the amazing flight but pushed the bird’s

Oscar Wilde once said, “Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live” and this quote perfectly represents the “The Scarlet Ibis.” The Scarlet Ibis is a tale of selfishness that leads to the harsh, cutting guilt of death. The narrator of the Scarlet Ibis is a selfish child, who pushes his special needs brother, Doodle, to his furthest limits. Teaching Doodle to run, the narrator and his brother are caught in a furious storm. This storm leads to the narrator making the ultimate sacrifice, leaving his brother to fend for himself in the storm. Leaving the narrator to deal with the consequences of his actions, Doodle eventually dies a tragic death. Abandoning his

In ¨The Scarlet Ibis,¨ James Hurst develops Symbolism (red) and he shows this through the red bir

The “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst Is about Brother and Doodle are Siblings. Brother is disappointed by Doodle. This leads him to do many cruel things to Doodle. Over the course of the story, Brother changes a lot. James Hurst describes Brothers’s change in the story, from being overly prideful of himself and ashamed of Doodle, which leads him to do many cruel things, to realizing that his pride and shame lead to the death of Doodle.

Society has always pressured individuals to meet its unrealistically high expectations and those who did not meet the standards were frequently ostracized and labeled as outcasts. In The Scarlet Ibis, James Hurst presents the idea of society manipulating Brother’s perception, which is evident because of Brother rejecting Doodle’s differences and forcefully pressuring Doodle to behave normally. This inevitably results in Doodle to succumbing to the unwanted pressure from his brother to integrate into the norm. Doodle’s family’s perspective on his disability was also molded and influenced by the unreal expectations set by society. The symbolism present in the story was heavily used to represent Doodle’s struggles throughout his journey.

Anyone who is selfish is an enemy. Many wise people have left behind words for this generation to help guide it along the right path. "Every heart is filled with light. But to find it, you must first venture through darkness..." (Anonymous). These words have gone into vain as selfishness has placed itself among people’s thoughts. The actions that selfishness leads people to do has no other purpose to serve than to benefit themselves. Even if it seems to help someone, the true intention is to make themselves feel better. When combined with pride, it becomes the consumer of a person’s behavior. The author James Hunt wrote the short story “The Scarlet Ibis” which the main character is selfish towards his younger brother. Brother, the main

James Hurst’s “The Scarlet Ibis” is about selfish pride and reveals that sometimes doing a good thing can be done for the wrong reasons as demonstrated by his use of symbolism. Specifically, Hurst’s use of Doodle suggests that the scarlet ibis is connected to him in many ways. James Hurst’s reference to the scarlet ibis is illustrated when the narrator sets out to teach Doodle to walk, “It seemed so hopeless from the beginning that it's a miracle I didn't give up. 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.” After teaching Doodle to walk the narrator has pride for being able to teach Doodle even though it didn’t seem possible at the beginning, but he is also filled with guilt because he had done something good for a bad reason.