Symbols In The Scarlet Ibis

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.

British politician, Iain Duncan Smith once said ‘“ Do not underestimate the determination of a quiet man.’’ Determination is one thing that can get people farther in life. It can help accomplish any job or goal that they want to achieve. “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst is a story about a brother and his determination. He helped his younger brother do things that everyone didn’t know he could do. When his brother, Doodle, was first born, he had been embarrassed to have a brother that could do so little. He then decided to push his brother to do things that would surprise people. Although, others argue that “The Scarlet Ibis” doesn’t have a good story because it's boring. Although, others argue that in “The Scarlet Ibis”, Doodles brother pushed

Hurst’s diction at the beginning of the short story foreshadows the later death of Doodle. Hurst starts by setting a gloomy scene as the narrator is speaking. The narrator, Doodle’s old brother, soon states, “But sometimes, as I sit in the cool…I remember Doodle” (Hurst 1). Hurst uses the word “remember” to emphasize the fact that Doodle is no long around. Readers do not know what happened to Doodle, but begin to suspect the answer. In the next paragraph the narrator says, “Doodle was just about the craziest brother a boy ever had” (Hurst 1). In this quote, Hurst uses past tense words such as “was” and “had” to once again show that this was in the past. Hurst’s word choices foreshadow Doodle’s death and sparks interest in the readers at the very beginning. Foreshadowing is used at the beginning of the story to draw readers into the story and help keep their interest.

In “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, the use of foreshadowing is prominent throughout the story that helps contribute to the mood of suspense throughout the rising action. We constantly feel this mood building throughout the plot, especially when the two main characters, Doodle and the brother, interact.

Hurst develops the idea of death, and it is symbolic towards Doodle and his family. The idea of death has come over Doodle’s family. Doodle is the smell drifting across the cotton field into the room. “The last graveyard flowers were blooming, and their smell drifted across the cotton field and through every room of our house, speaking softly the names of our dead”

When Doodle dies, he is being compared to the scarlet ibis, who died in a similar way. This creates a connection between the reader and the characters.

“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

The way that the boys’ dad surveys the ruin very disappointed and angry suggests that the destruction will damage the well being of the family. This foreshadows how Brother’s actions will disappoint the family because the hurricane correlates with Brother’s actions, which were caused by his expectations of Doodle, and the damages done by the hurricane disappoint his father. This is why Hurst utilizes the symbol of the hurricane to demonstrate how the brothers relationship is based around Brother’s destruction due to his expectations of Doodle.

A symbol represents something other than itself. Hurst demonstrates an elaborate use of symbolization between the Ibis, a bird, and Doodle, the child. Both the Ibis and Doodle where in some senses born alone. The narrator states this by saying “He was born when I was six and was, from the outset, a disappointment” (Hurst 462). Both are fragile in the sense that both are easily vulnerable to their surroundings, and easily susceptible to death. When doodle dies his older brother notices the similarities between the Ibis and Doodle; Doodle died like the scarlet ibis, almost exactly the same, as they both died in a storm. As Doodle’s body lay lifeless amid the swamp, the narrator recognizes the blood trickling out of Doodle’s mouth and how the blood resembles the pristine scarlet color if the ibis. This shows how the ibis is a symbol of

“The scarlet ibis fell from the tree, crashing through every branch, and landed at the family’s feet” (Hurst 137). A special child named Doodle was born and his brother wanted to make him fit in with the rest of the world. A scarlet ibis came to the family’s house one day and died. Shortly after, Doodle had a heart attack and died. In the “Scarlet Ibis”, James Hurst uses foreshadowing to portray Doodle’s future death with the death of the ibis.

In the short story “The Scarlet Ibis,” James Hurst exhibits the narrator's sorrow throughout Doodle's life and death by utilizing the literary elements of mood and foreshadowing. Hurst creates a dark, negative, and ominous mood that evokes the narrator's feeling of sorrow through specific diction . The author utilizes specific phrases to foreshadow certain events which reflect the narrator's feelings of sorrow. Hurst creates the mood through specific diction and phrases to exhibit the narrator's feeling of sorrow. In the beginning of the story, Hurst uses phrases to describe the time period as summer being “dead but autumn had not yet been born, that the ibis lit the bleeding tree” (554)

“It’s long graceful neck jerk twice into an S, then straightened out…”(Hurst 5). The Ibis neck during it’s death is much like how Doodle’s neck reacted because his neck became long and narrow as well. Not only did the Scarlet Ibis foreshadows Doodle’s death but it can also represent the way Doodle acted. “At that moment the bird began to flutter, but the wings were uncoordinated… ”(Hurst 5).

Around the time of his Death a big storm was headed their direction eventually catching up with them and eventually causing Doodle to die. “The lightning was near now, and from the fear he walked so close behind me he stepped on my heels.”(433) The lightning is flashing all around them due to the storm in effect above them. This lightning happens right before Doodle dies showing how close he is to his death. The storm has not also been the cause of Doodle’s death but also a messenger. A storm has also brought the Scarlet Ibis itself from as stated in this quote “It's a Scarlet Ibis...a storm must have brought it here.”(370) The Scarlet Ibis was probably some kind of warning to the family especially considering Aunt Nicey mentioning dead birds being bad luck, especially red ones. This is proving not only the storm is symbolizing darkness it's also bringing bad omens from far away. The storm is not only a foreshadowing for Doodle’s death but also a messenger linking Doodle’s death and the storm

In the short story, “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, the author uses the Scarlet Ibis to symbolize expectations; expectations that everyone around Doodle has of him regarding, him living and him being a valid brother. In the beginning of the story everyone, except Aunt Nicey had an expectation that he was going to die in the near months of his birth-- until he didn’t die, “But he didn’t die, and when he was three months old, Mama and Daddy decided they might as well name him.” (24). Like the Scarlet Ibis, this expectation fell upon unexpectedly, since no one really thought that Doodle was going to live, and yet he did; like how the bird just fell out of the sky all of a sudden and no one knew that the ibis was going to make an appearance, nor did they expect something like a tropical bird to land

The scarlet ibis is one of the ways that the color red is included in the story because the ibis is red. Doodle sets eyes on the bird and announces, “It's a great big red bird” then it “tumbled down” and “[laid] on the earth like a broken vase of red flowers” (321). Doodle sees the “great big red bird” in the yard which is how the scarlet ibis is described before they know the type of bird. The bird died as it “tumbled down” the tree and hit the ground. The ibis is compared to a “broken vase of red flowers” when it is lying on the ground dead. This is another connection to the color red because of red flowers. The broken red vase is symbolic of the broken ibis and the red flower are the ibis. Red is connected to the ibis again through the vase and red flowers. The scarlet ibis is symbolic of death because of how it dies in the story. The color red has the same symbolism as the scarlet ibis because they are linked by color. Death, as a theme is developed because this link creates the symbolic meaning of the color red. Doodle is found at the end of the story with blood coming from his mouth. The narrator finds that Doodle “had been bleeding from the mouth, and his neck and the front of his shirt were stained a brilliant red” (323). The color red is found in the “brilliant red” blood “from [Doodle’s] mouth.” Seeing Doodle’s “neck and the front of his shirt stained” with blood is an indication that Doodle is gone. The red blood is a sign, symbolic of death. As the blood is red, the color red is then a symbol that stands for death. The color red stands for death because the color of the blood connects the symbolism of the blood to the symbolism of the color. The color isn’t symbolic alone, but with the tie to the blood through color it becomes symbolic. The theme of death is created because the color red is symbolic of death based on what objects are