The Scarlet Ibis Character Analysis Essay

What is the definition of pride? If someone were to search the definition they would find that pride is “a feeling or deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one's own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired.” People can experience pride from many things like success, or intelligence, and even simple petty things being the first to turn in their test in a class. In the story the character Brother has a different type of pride, instead of being prideful of his actions his pride is a character trait. Brother is prideful of himself and having his crippled brother Doodle damaged his pride which is a dangerous thing when pride is a trait instead of a feeling. People often forget about how important a family member, especially siblings, are because they haven’t matured enough to understand the complexity and importance of life and family. In James Hurst’s short story “The Scarlet Ibis” brotherhood is a very big topic throughout it and the character “Brother” demonstrates how complicated and strange being prideful, being a sibling, and being a person, is. Through the story he is characterized as considerate and hurtful through his actions and inner thoughts.

¨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.

To improve one’s understanding of how the narrator changes, one must first be acquainted with the situation: Doodle is born with a heart

“The Scarlet Ibis” is a short story written by James Hurst that is a short story about adolescent born with a medical condition who is ultimately dead due to his brother’s lack of ability to accept the positive features and alternately focus on the negative features of his brother, William Armstrong, who he later renamed Doodle as he perceived that the fact that his parents “named him Armstrong...was like tying a big tail on a small kite”( Hurst NP). There are numerous subjects in the story such as pride, brotherhood and selfishness that can demonstrate a theme that states that pride and selfishness can interfere with brotherhood by convincing us to commit cruel things to the ones we love. In the beginning of the story,

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.

Some people can get blinded by their pride and engulf them in a world that makes them unaware of other people and controls their actions and for this reason it lead to cold blooded murder. “The Scarlet Ibis,” by James Hurst is a story of a silent war between two brothers. The setting takes place at a farm during World War 1 a caul baby was brought into this world. The Narrator’s little brother was named Doodle, and he was born with a disability. The Narrator was embarrassed to have a brother that was not normal. The Narrator's pride drove him to make Doodle a normal, ordinary brother. Doodle was never expected to live, but he ended up living to the age of six, however, he still had heart

The background of this story is the Bird because it makes him think about himself. In the story “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst The character Doodle reveals through (dialogue/appearance/inner thought/revealing actions/interaction with others) that he/she is Brave and Dependable. In this story the two traits for the story I Chose were Brave and dependable. I chose these traits because since he can't walk he is brave for that because later in the story his brother tries to teach him how to walk and he Started to catch on and he had to try to stand up 100 times a day. For the other trait he is dependable because he depends on his brother for help because without him he can't do anything because of his leg.

In the short story “The Scarlet Ibis”, by James Hurst, Doodle was born with many disabilities. The narrator was quite embarrassed about having a little brother who could not talk or walk, so he set out to become a mentor for Doodle. The narrator emerges from an arrogant, self indulgent individual to an affectionate, knowledgeable young adult by experiencing the trauma of losing his brother because of his own selfish desires.

Be thankful for the people that you have in life because you never know how long they might have to live. The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst is a story about a kid that was embarrassed and ungrateful because his little brother was different. Doodle’s brother displayed selfishness and love throughout the story.

James Hurst’s “The Scarlet Ibis” is a fictional short story about a boy with a disabled brother named Doodle. He is ashamed of Doodle’s physical errors, so he teaches his brother to walk not for Doodle’s sake but so that he will have more pride in himself. He gives Doodle several challenges and pushes him too hard. When Doodle fails these challenges, the narrator leaves Doodle behind out of anger, and as a result, Doodle dies. The theme of this story revolves around the narrator’s pride and how it influences his actions.

In the book “The Scarlet Ibis”, Brother is portrayed as Selfish, Mean, and Guilty. Doodle, his brother, was born very sick, everyone thought he would die. Doodles parents gave him the name “ William Armstrong” but brother renamed him Doodle because no one will ever expect something great from a boy named Doodle. Brother wanted someone that he could play and have fun with, well when the information given to him that his brother would never be healthy enough to play with him he decides to start a plan to kill him by smothering him with a pillow. Later on in the story Doodle gets old enough to where he can talk and he tells brother to take him outside, when brother takes him outside he takes him to the barn to show

“The Scarlet Ibis” is a short story about a physically disadvantaged boy and his big brother in early 1900s Eastern North Carolina. The framing device is the big brother telling a story about him and his physically disadvantaged brother. The big brother talks about, in the story, his brother’s birth, his brother’s years as a toddler, his brothers physical disabilities, his relationship with his little brother, the adventures of him and his little brother, and his little brother’s death. In the “Scarlet Ibis”, Brother, whose name is never told to the audience, is characterized as loving, ambitious, and cruel.

Since Doodle couldn’t mobilize like the other boys, he dreamed about flying. Brother said, “Although Doodle learned to crawl, he showed no signs of walking, but he wasn’t idle(3).” Doodle started to walk when he was 5 years old, but before that, his older brother had to pull him around in a gocart his father had made. His brother taught him how to walk out of embarrassment. They were talking about lies and dreams when brother mentioned, “People in his stories all had wings and flew wherever they wanted to go(6).”

The short story, “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, shows pride in both a positive and negative way. This can be seen in the beginning of the story when the narrator describes his motivations to help teach Doodle how to walk. The narrator states, “I was embarrassed at having a brother of that age that couldn’t walk, so I set out to teach him” (Hurst 557). This is a negative portrayal of pride. This shows that the narrator’s pride got in the way of his love for his brother, and because he was worried about how other see his brother, he couldn’t be proud of what his brother truly was. His pride forced him to change his brother. Though this is a negative portrayal of pride, the author also incorporates positive pride as well. This is shown when

Think about the word delicate. What comes to mind? To some, it may be a word they use to describe their mom’s glass vase. However, delicate has a greater meaning, a condition of a beautiful, precious, living thing which must be preserved, valued, and cherished. In the short story, “The Scarlet Ibis”, written by James Hurst, the author highlights the life of a young boy named Doodle, who was born disabled, and his older brother, the narrator. The narrator, referred by Doodle as Brother, lacks the understanding of how Doodle is extremely fragile, and often neglects his needs and safety while trying to train Doodle to be “normal.” Hurst uses many literary devices, such as flashback, foreshadowing, and symbolism, which develops the theme, how delicate things are beautiful, and should be cared for with love and respect.