The Doodle: A Short Story

Brother deliberately killed Doodle because in the story it says, “He was ashamed of having an invalid brother.” Brother intentionally showed Doodle his casket because everyone knew he was going to die. Brother wanted to kill Doodle because they went up to the loft and Brother showed Doodle his casket and told

However, Doodle’s brother is also kind because he appreciated Doodle in his life and loved having him around. Doodle’s brother decided to teach Doodle how to walk because, at 5, Doodle could only crawl and this embarrassed his brother. As they progressed, Doodle accomplished standing and Doodle’s brother said, ”When he fell, I grabbed him in my arms and hugged him, our laughter pealing through the swamp like a ringing bell”(Hurst 558). Doodle’s brother wanted to be there for Doodle and would help him through the trials of his life. There is an abundant amount of meaning created here because it displays the bond between two people and the love they can share. A sense of joy is conceived and demonstrates how their relationship could have been in future years. Because Doodle’s brother wanted to become close with Doodle and bond with him like siblings in other families, he taught Doodle how to lie. Through his imagination, Doodle came up with a story about how he could marry his mom and how Doodle’s brother could marry his dad. Doodle’s brother explains, “Of course I was old enough to know this wouldn’t work out, but the picture he painted was so beautiful and serene, that all I could do was whisper Yes, yes”(Hurst 559). Doodle’s brother did love what Doodle could do and for what he brought into his life. As you can see,

The older brother is a round and dynamic character because he has many details/ characteristics and he develops and changes throughout the story. In the beginning of this story Doodle’s older brother made “plans to kill him by smothering him with a pillow” because he resents his brother and thinks of him as “unbearable” (176). Then, as the older brother starts to connect with Doodle as he teaches him how to walk and thrive, but he “embarrassed at having a brother of that age who couldn’t walk” even though he was able to start accepting him, he still struggled with Doodle hurting his pride (178). Just after the older brother runs back to find Doodle dead, on the ground, he shelters his “fallen scarlet ibis from the heresy of the rain” which represents how he realized his pride took over and he fully loved his brother because the pride would never be enough because it was not real love (186).The brother is affected by his pride all throughout the story, and only when Doodle dies does he really want to protect, love and teach him without his pride pushing him to act. Thus, showing how if people are not careful, they can let the bitter side of pride control them and cause death, both physical and emotional.

Brother decides to help Doodle learn how to walk. He helps him be a “normal brother” by teaching him how to swim, walk, run, and etc. When Doodle dies, Brother shields his body from the rain. He cries when Doodle dies.

When the Brother was forcing Doodle to learn how to walk, Doodle was in pain and he didn’t want to learn to walk at all. “This time [Doodle] did not lift his face up out of the rubber grass. ‘ I just can’t do it. Let’s make honeysuckle wreath.’”(4) From this quote, Hurst shows that Doodle was giving up, Doodle’s body knew that it could not support Doodle to walk yet, he needed to practice for a long time. As a younger teenage boy, the narrator was not well educated and did not understand the capability of Doodle’s body and he often force Doodle to do things that he don’t want to do. “There is within [the Brother] a knot of cruelty borne by the stream of love, much as our blood sometimes bears the seed of our destruction, and at times I was mean to Doodle.”(3) At the time of the story, the Brother was childish and very irresponsible. Just like what he has said in the quotes above, the Brother was cruel to Doodle. He forced Doodle to touch a coffin and threatened Doodle that he would leave Doodle if he doesn't touch a coffin. The coffin was made originally for Doodle, since everyone thought Doodle was going to die very soon. Later in the training program, the narrator wanted Doodle to run, Doodle’s limited physical ability was overwhelmed, the Brother simply ditched Doodle in the heavy rain since he was mad at Doodle for not reaching the goal that they

Brother takes Doodle to a beautiful place, the Old Woman Swamp. Brother would take Doodle there often with a go-cart and he would gather flowers to make necklaces and crowns, which is something lovely to do to. Taking Doodle there to share the beauty of the view forgetting what is wrong in life and what might happen to Doodle for a while is one of the nicest thing Brother did for Doodle.

The older brother of Doodle was ashamed of Doodle ever since he was born he actually made plans to kill Doodle when he was a baby. He was rough with Doodle on purpose so Doodle wouldn’t want to go with him. He didn’t do anything for Doodle out of love he did it so he wouldn’t have a crippled brother.

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;

At the beginning, Doodle had been very hesitant to go along with his brother’s plans. He tried to argue with his brother. “I can’t walk, Brother,” Doodle said. “Who says so?” He demanded. “Mama, the doctor, everybody,” uttered Doodle. “Oh, you can walk,” The narrator said.” Shortly after that, Doodle began to follow the narrator’s orders and self ambitions. Soon, the narrator had acquired too much ambition, putting Doodle at risk. This is evident with Doodle’s constant cry, “don’t hurt me, Brother.” Little did the narrator know he would be pushing his brother too far. Later in the story, the narrator let his ambition overcome him and decided to keep on pushing his brother. He did not want a brother who could not do what other normal schoolboys could do. He admits to himself, “the knowledge that Doodle’s and my plans had come to naught was bitter, and that streak of cruelty within me awakened.” He believed what Doodle could not do would greatly affect him and his social

The despondent mood at the beginning of the story, mirrors the loss of innocence of the narrator because he had to face the responsibility and guilt of Doodle’s death.

The only thing that the Brother wanted was a sibling with which he could play with. But when Doodle arrived all of his hopes were shattered. As a result, he makes Doodle pay for it on many occasions. He makes him touch his own casket that was laying in the lay loft being reserved for

Brother might not have understood but he did and the result of it is Doodle dying. Some people might say that Brother was innocent of killing Doodle, but he wasn't! Brother was being rather selfish and pushing Doodle around. Also, Brother has never really appreciated Doodle.

The main character, Doodle was supposed to die when he was younger, but since he did not his coffin was stored in the barn. Brother knew that Doodle’s coffin was in there so he brought Doodle up to the barn and forced him to touch the coffin he was supposed to be buried in. The author states, “‘Then I’ll leave you here by yourself,’ I threatened, and made as if I were going down. Doodle was frightened of being left,’Don’t leave me Brother,’ he cried and leaned toward the coffin.” (Hurst 2) This quote demonstrates how Brother showing Doodle his coffin is similar to how in the end Brother showed Doodle potentially his death by leaving him in the storm. This also shows how Doodle is afraid to be left behind much like in end when he yells at Brother “Don’t leave me, don’t leave me!” Just like he did in the barn. Therefore, these two scenes symbolize each other and how both times Doodle is incapable of helping himself and is dependent on Brother, but in both instances Brother does not care about Doodle’s needs and the fact that he

Through out the life of Doodle and Brother , the Brother's pride is guilty of many things. The first thing that shows his guilty when the Brother was 6 years old." 'It was bad enough having an invalid brother, but having one who possibly was not all there was unbearable, so I began to make plans to kill him by smothering him with a pillow' "(595).This shows that Doodle is bad to his brother because he tired to kill because he didn't really exist in his family. Doodle's brother planned to kill him because he wanted a brother that could boy stuff with him. Also Doodle's brother didn't like his brother because he couldn't even talk and play with him. That's one part why Brother is guilty of Doodle's death.

Have you ever wanted to help someone that was not as fortunate in life as you, in the story “The Scarlet Ibis” that is what Brother wished to do for Doodle but sadly it didn’t work and the situation became unfortunate. Brother and Doodle are brothers but they don’t have very much in common because Doodle has disabilities that Brother would never fully understand, no one ever will. When the story first starts Brother and Doodles relationship isn’t very strong and Brother is embarrassed about his brother but as the story continues the bond between the two grows and the love eachother. Many believe that Brother indirectly murdered Doodle because he was ashamed of him; however, Brother was trying to help Doodle and wanted to help him be normal. So the bigger picture of the story is that Brother wanted the best for Doodle and he wanted nothing more to help Doodle become more like a normal kid but it sadly turned fatal.