The Dynamic Character in "The Scarlet Ibis" Essay

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

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 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

Older siblings feel obligated to take authority over their younger siblings. The narrator took the responsibility of teaching Doodle to develop into an ordinary boy; however, he supports Doodle out of selfishness. With this in mind, the narrator changes Doodle’s name from “William Armstrong” to Doodle because he believes Doodle is not strong enough to have that name. He believes “William Armstrong” only “sounds good only on a tombstone,” (595) so changing Doodle’s name was the kindest thing he could have done. Likewise, the narrator selfishly disobeys the doctor’s list of don'ts for Doodle because he doesn’t agree with Doodle’s limitations. In fact, the narrator hauls Doodle carelessly around cotton fields and whips him around corners on two wheels of the go-cart. As a result, the narrator decides to take the next step in teaching Doodle. As school approaches, Doodle falls behind on learning to run, swim, and climb. Therefore, the narrator decides to double his efforts and push Doodle even harder. “I made him swim until he turned blue and row until he couldn’t lift an oar. Wherever we

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;

The narrator always had strong opinions about Doodle. Ever since the day Doodle was born, the narrator’s pride was much too high for having him as a brother, saying, “he was born when I was six and was, from the outset, a disappointment.” Not even giving his brother a chance to grow up and prove himself. Since the narrator did not know how to handle having a

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.

Doodle was born with a small body and a huge head, not allowing him to be able to walk. Brother taught Doodle to walk to try and avoid embarrassment at school. “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 (Hurst 3).” Ever since the age of 5 brother has been ashamed of doodle. He thought that by helping to teach doodle to walk he would not longer be burdened of the humility of having a brother with

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.

The narrator was cruel to Doodle, pushed Doodle too hard, and lastly because he left Doodle in the end of the story. The narrator is to blame for Doodle’s death because he was cruel to Doodle throughout the whole story. He made forced Doodle touch his own coffin without asking (Hurst, 353), which made Doodle scared and showed that the narrator didn’t actually care about Doodle’s feelings. He threatened to leave Doodle in the barn where the coffin was if he didn’t.

A significant aspect of life is being confronted with obstacles that restrict the ability to achieve success. As displayed in James Hurst’s short story, The Scarlet Ibis and as well as in the movie The Man in the Iron Mask, the main characters Louis and Doodle face the reality of being confined by their physical and mental inabilities, which hinder their progress. Each character is also greatly influenced by their surroundings, leading to poorly made decisions. Additionally, both characters face unrealistic standards set by the individuals around them and are pushed past their capabilities, resulting in failure. The lack of ability possessed by Louis and Doodle prevent them from overcoming barriers due to their physical and mental limitations,

In the short story “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, the two main characters are doodle and the narrator (Whose name was never mention) are brothers. Doodle is mentally and physically impaired and the narrator is just a normal boy with a lot of selflessness. The narrator teaches doodle how to walk, run, swim, climb, and many other activities. One day Doodle and the Narrator are running home when Doodle fall and the Narrator keeps running and when the Narrator goes back to find Doodle, the Narrator finds Doodle only to be dead. What was Doodle like as a person when he was alive, what were his interest and dislikes.

“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.” Even though Doodle was forced to conform, it made him feel accepted by his family and helped him live out the rest of his life. The case could be made that his conformity killed him because he died from over-exertion but in reality the narrator left him behind for his own gain. If Doodle had lived out his life, he would have been regarded as someone normal as opposed to someone who has a debilitating

“There wasn't a sound as Doodle walked slowly across the room and sat down at his place at the table. Then Mama began to cry and ran over to him, hugging him and kissing him.” This important because Doodle overcame the disadvantage of not being able to walk and was more like a normal kid his age. This shows that Doodle can overcome his disadvantages and this is a key example. “Once I had succeeded in teaching Doodle to walk, I began to believe in my own infallibility and I prepared a terrific development program for him, unknown to Mama and Daddy, of course. I would teach him to run, to swim, to climb trees, and to fight.” This is important because after Doodle’s brother succeeded in teaching him how to talk he felt like he good teach him anything. This shows that Doodle could learn things like any other human being. “Doodle and I spent a lot of time thinking about our future. We decided that when we were grown we’d live in Old Woman Swamp and pick dog-tongue for a living. Beside the stream he planned, we’d build us a house of whispering leaves and the swamp birds would be our chickens.” This is important because Doodle and his brother didn’t worry about doodle disadvantages to life, they were looking forward to the future. This shows that Doodle had no worries and had great plans for the future. Doodle through his short life had many dreams, and overcome his disadvantages and became just like any other kid his