Striving to Achieve Goals in The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst Essays

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

Brother states in the text, ¨ When Doodle was five years old, I was embarrassed at having a brother of that age who couldn't walk, so I set out to teach him.¨(pg.4). Brother only wanted to teach Doodle how to walk because he was embarrassed for himself, not Doodle, and that is the only reason why he set out to teach him. Another piece of evidence for this topic is, the narrator was ashamed that he only taught Doodle how to walk for his own satisfaction.(pg.6). In this evidence the narrator is admitting that he did wrong and only cares about himself. The last piece of evidence is, ¨School was only a few weeks away, and Doodle was far behind schedule.¨(pg.8). Brother was only teaching Doodle so many skills only because he wanted to look like he had a normal brother at

The second reason is the narrator knows he should have appreciated his brother more. Although Doodle did his best to make his brother proud, it was never good enough for the narrator. The narrator wanted to force him to be like a normal, healthy person. Once Doodle learns how to walk, the narrator is too swollen with pride and wants to teach Doodle to run, swim, and many other complicated tasks. The narrator should have valued Doodle more. It was already extraordinary that Doodle even got to walk. That should have been good enough for him. Unfortunately, the narrator kept on pushing him and pushing him.

Obviously, in The Scarlet Ibis, Doodle has many reasons to strive for the targets set by his brother, even though he does not have a competitive nature. One reason is that he wants to make his brother proud, which causes internal conflict for the narrator. Also, he wants to be an ordinary boy and fit in, which creates a fray between Doodle and humanity. Lastly, he is dependent on his brother and fears that he might be

The narrator regrets how he pushed Doodle far beyond his limits. Now that the Brother is older, he knows how pride can affect him. “I did not know then that pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death.”(4) When the Brother got Doodle to stand, he was confident in Doodle to accomplish any physical movement. So he expected more and more out of Doodle. But he didn’t know the pain and the danger of trying to exceed the limit of one’s body. Now, after all the years have passed by, the narrator realize that his love for Doodle. “But sometimes (like right now), as I sit in the cool, green-draped parlor, the grindstone begins to turn, and time with all its changes is ground away--and I remember Doodle.”(1) The years have taken away the cruelty and selfishness in the Brother’s early year and he was sorry for how he forced and threatened Doodle. The narrator looks over the cruel moments he had with Doodle and blames Doodle’s death on himself. “They did not know that I did it for myself; that pride, whose slave I was, spoke to me louder than all the other voices, and that Doodle walked only because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother.”(5) The voice here is very regretful of his sins, and wants to fix what he had already

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;

Doodle’s Brother’s selfishness causes him to be ashamed of Doodle’s disabilities. Doodle’s brother felt “embarrassed of having a crippled brother of that age who couldn’t walk so (he) set out to teach (Doodle). (132)” Doodle was born with a tiny body and a bigger head. Everyone believed he would die. Brother is embarrassed of Doodle because he is different than others. He wants Doodle to fit in society and does not accept Doodle for how he is. Brother is selfish because he was an only child, he never learned the correct way to share and accept others. Brother’s parents put a lot of pressure on him, so he

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

The narrator throughout the story was ashamed that Doodle his brother was paralympic so he tried to help Doodle walk for the benefit of his self-esteem. For example, in the story, the narrator says,¨ They did not know that I did it for myself; that pride, whose slave I was, spoke to me louder than all their voices, and that Doodle walked only because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother.” The narrator expressed himself to help his brother in the way that it would seem as if he is the hero, but he did it so that he wouldn't have to go through life with a paralympic brother. The narrator knew what he was doing was bad, but didn't care enough to make it all about Doodle.

It also demosttates how precarious Brother is about Doodle’s limitations. After many days of failing to walk, Doodle finally able himself to walk by himself; “ they did not know that I [brother] did it for myself; that prude, whise slave I was, spoke to me louder than all their voices, and that Doodle walked only because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother” (Hurst 468). The narrator’s egoism is forcing Doodle and himself to push further than what Doodle can do. Prsseured by how others think of “him”, Brother tries his best change Doodle’s ability.

If you think about it, he never gave up on Doodle. They would go to Old Woman Swamp every day and work on Doodle standing up on his own. When he was finally able to stand up, he helped Doodle to walk. He was so proud when Doodle learnt to walk on his own, and so they decided to surprise their parents at dinner one night. They were so happy that they all started crying tears of joy. He felt so accomplished that he decided that he was going to teach Doodle to run and swim as well. “ I would teach him to run, to swim, to climb trees, and to fight” the narrator said, (Page 356). Even though Doodle did not think he could do these things, he pushed up his confidence ,and he told Doodle that he could learn to run and walk. He was also trying to Protect doodle by teaching him to do these things ,so he would not be made fun of when he went to school. Even though Doodle’s brother was being selfish by teaching him to walk, swim and run, he was also teaching him because he loved his

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.

In this dream it shows how the narrator strays from his hopes of having his hypothetical perfect brother and towards how he can perfect himself. The significance of this belief is to show that the narrator’s success only inspires him to make his personal image better, and how it explain why he continued to teach Doodle. Both of the narrator’s dreams show that his pride causes him to help Doodle only for

He pushes Doodle to exert himself in the way doctors said could kill him. As school approaches, he realizes their deadline will not be met. By not accomplishing the goals he has set for Doodle, they have both become failures. His pride and anger cause him to leave his brother behind. Doodle then exerts himself trying to catch up.

The narrator had so much pride in helping Doodle that he couldn't help it by making Doodle get out of the woods alone.While claiming he did it cause he did not want a crippled brother, the narrator said that his cruel side kicked in which is what made him leave Doodle. He really didn't seem to care about the work he put in to helping this poor boy.The narrator had so much pride in Doodle that he made him do everything.The narrator pushed Doodle to do everything like row, run and swim which is the factor that killed Doodle because his body couldn't handle it all.The narrator was originally trying to help Doodle but for some reason meanness kicked in and he left doodle.After realizing doodle was not with him he went back to look for him. After finding Doodle dead under a tree, he realized that Doodle was never meant to be normal.