Symbolism In The Scarlet Ibis

Most people would come to believe the fact that an ibis cannot relate to a human being, but that can be proven wrong. Throughout the story, Doodle and the ibis were persistent, yet active, due to the fact that they never gave up. In the story, “The Scarlet Ibis,” by James Hurth, Doodle is a boy who has physical weaknesses, so it is difficult for him to do things that a normal child would be able to do. Most ibis are able to fly, however, the scarlet ibis is not capable because it has its own weaknesses. As Doodle grows up, he gains these negative energies from his surroundings that makes him feel as if he won’t be able to survive as long.

Throughout the excerpt from The Scarlet Ibis, James Hurst uses figurative language to characterize Doodle and his brother. Both the narrator and Doodle are convincingly dynamic characters. As the story progresses, they both undergo a change in character. In the case of the unknown narrator, he transforms from a negative character to one with great determination. In the case of his younger brother, Doodle, he converts from seemingly weak to ostensibly accomplished.

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.

¨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 Scarlet Ibis bird symbolizes Doodle; this symbolism can be seen by the authors description of both Doodle’s and the Scarlet Ibis’s appearance after death. After the Scarlet Ibis fell from the bleeding tree his

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.

Doodle, a young disabled boy, is a burden to his Brother . Brother, is very ashamed and embarrassed of Doodle. The story “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst shows how Doodle is like the Scarlet Ibis. Doodle and the Scarlet Ibis have many of the same conflicts and repeating actions in the story. In “The Scarlet Ibis,” Hurst develops the symbolism, which is shown through birds, death, and the color red shows how fragile Doodle really is during his lifetime.

“The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst is a realistic fiction about these two brothers, Doodle, and Doodle’s brother who was the narrator of the story, many symbols are used. A symbol is a materialistic object being put in place for an abstract or complex emotion, or idea. For example the emojis you use when texting are symbols you use to express how you are feeling. In this story, Doodle is being symbolized by the Scarlet Ibis, the Scarlet Ibis is a bird and a symbol for Doodle because of their many similarities. An example of the Scarlet Ibis symbolizing Doodle is when Hurst describes the physical health of Doodle and the Ibis. He describes Doodle as being very sick and weak at the beginning of the story by saying “He seemed all head, with a tiny body which was red and shriveled like an old man's. Everybody thought he was going to die-everybody except Aunt Nicey….” (Hurst page 1). Later on in the story when the Scarlet Ibis is introduced, Doodle’s father describes the bird as: “It looks tired, or maybe sick”(Hurst page 5). By giving Doodle and the Scarlet Ibis such similar physical features, it insinuates that whatever happens to the Scarlet Ibis will more than likely happen to Doodle. Another example of the Scarlet Ibis being a symbol for Doodle is when the Scarlet Ibis dies.” 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

In the story The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst, the author shows many similarities between the narrator's little brother Doodle and an exotic bird. While reading through the story the young boy is not thought very highly of. No one including, the doctors, ever thought Doodle would live past a couple days. But Doodle did just that, he lived for 6 whole years. His parents even named him William Armstrong, because they thought it would look good on a tombstone. His brother later renamed him Doodle because with that kind of name no one would expect much from him. Doodle had many obstacles growing up and didn’t really fit it. While going through life Doodle was constantly trying to prove that there was a reason for his life. Doodle’s brother tried very to have a normal little brother, so he pushed him in many ways to enable him to do normal things. Doodle could not stand up or crawl and when he did he crawled backwards, earning him the name Doodle. The brothers says to Doodle, “Aw, come on, Doodle,” I urged. “You can do it. Do you want to be different from everybody else when you start school?”

Every big sibling has scared or teased a younger sibling before, however, scaring them even when they are told to be careful of not putting your younger brother under too much stress or he will die, is very risky. When the narrator makes Doodle touch his casket even when he doesn’t want to, the narrator threatens to leave him up there. Doodle was frightened of being left so he touched it. Once he touched it he screamed and was paralyzed. Once the narrator picked him up and climbed out, Doodle was crying and said, “Don’t leave me. Don’t leave me.” (49) With this in mind in the end of the book he had

The setting of “The Scarlet Ibis” helps prepare the readers’ state of mind from the very beginning. In the first place, the story takes place at the end of World War I and represents the internal conflict the narrator has as he struggles between guilt of his younger brother’s death and the acceptance of his brother’s disabilities. With this in mind, the narrator is abashed over Doodle’s inability to walk because he thinks disabilities are shameful, and he wanted a brother who was athletic, outgoing, and adventurous. For this reason,”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 (Hurst 417).” The narrator admits to going out of his way to train Doodle to walk because he has so much pride that it is getting in the way of more important goals, meaning he would rather have a “normal” brother than a happy one. The poor treatment of his brother ultimately leads to Doodle’s death. Furthermore, he forces Doodle to do things unwillingly, such as touch his own coffin and train him to be “normal”. The narrator traumatizes his little brother to think a certain way in order to become accepted by society. Even

Beyond the Ibis In the story “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, the Scarlet Ibis portrays how people must learn to leave those they love alone through representing Doodle and his struggles in life. To begin, in the middle of the story the Scarlet Ibis sits on a tree in Doodle's backyard, and his parents think how “a storm must have brought it [there]” (Hurst 473). First of all, this quote shows how the storm pushes the bird physically since it ends up in a different region from where it typically lives; symbolizing how Brother pushes Doodle out of his comfort zone, which would represent the bird's typical habitat. Furthermore, this push causes Doodle to perish; Brother forces Doodle too much with his teaching, when he should be letting Doodle rejuvenate.

The use of symbols helps create a deeper tone and meaning to the overall story. Through out the “Scarlet Ibis”, the author describes Doodle as a very weak “invalid” brother to the narrator. Doodle and the narrator had spent a great deal of time in achieving their goal for Doodle to finally become normal. However, at the ending, Doodle could not be strong enough and died like the scarlet ibis, stained in a “brilliant red” (pg. 13). The author also describes how the scarlet ibis had traveled so far just to “die like this”, showing the comparison between the Doodle and the scarlet ibis. Doodle had worked incredibly hard in order to discard the label of being a

The ibis and Doodle appear to have many similarities in the way that they are introduced to the story. Doodle was born as a baby with a large head and tiny body that was said to be “red and shriveled.” The ibis was brought to the story by means of a hurricane and is said to be “the size of a chicken with scarlet feathers.” Both Doodle and the ibis are small and red when they arrive.

“… As I sit in the cool, green-dropped parlor, the grindstone begins to turn, and time with all it’s changes is ground away- and I remember Doodle.” (Hurst, 554) The narrator is explaining how the world and everything around him is flawless and peaceful, then he thinks about Doodle, which is the exact opposite of a flawless and perfect world. Doodle rocks the narrators world and changes the narrator’s way of thinking. The Scarlet Ibis has different characteristics then doodle, but share similarities as well.