The Scarlet Ibis Character Analysis

Brother is a considerate character. He is considerate because when he found out that Doodle would live he changed his name from William Armstrong, which was a name that “only sounded

Did a young boy actually kill his own brother? “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst. In this story the main characters are boy named Brother and his younger, disabled brother Doodle. Brother is on trial for killing Doodle. Brother planned to kill Doodle because he always ashamed of having a disabled brother. Brother is guilty of killing Doodle because he didn’t want a brother who was disabled so he always planned to kill him.

The brother’s criteria for being normal is very precise, as Doodle is expected to be indomitable. This creates conflict between Doodle and society, which is external conflict.

On page 350, Brother tries to train Doodle to be able to keep up with the other kids at school. “School was only a few weeks away, and Doodle was far behind schedule … Wherever we went, I purposely walked fast, and although he kept up, his face turned red and his eyes became glazed. Once, he could go no further, so he collapsed on the ground and began to cry. ‘Aw come one Doodle,’ I urged. ‘You can do it. Do you want to be different from everybody else when you start school?’ ‘Does it make any difference?’ ‘It certainly does,’ I said.” page 350. This quote shows that Brother isn’t just afraid for himself. Brother is afraid for Doodle as well. Brother wants Doodle to fit in at school, knowing that the other kids at school could be cruel to Doodle because of his disabilities. Later in the story, after Brother pushes Doodle far beyond his limit causing him to die, he regrets what he did Doodle. “I began to weep, and the tear-blurred vision in red before me looked very familiar. ‘Doodle!’ I screamed above the pounding storm, and threw my body to the earth above his. For a long, long time, it seemed forever, I lay there crying, sheltering my fallen scarlet ibis from the heresy of rain.” pg 354. This quote shows that Brother cares about Doodle and loves him, because seeing Doodle die made him feel very sad and guilty about how he pushed Doodle far beyond his limit, leading to

When Brother set out to teach Doodle to walk and realized he had succeeded he became so proud and was convinced that he could teach Doodle anything. The only thing is Brother didn't teach him anything that he did for Doodle's benefit he did it for his own satisfaction. When Doodle had failed and couldn't get up Brother let his pride control him. "I ran as far as I could, leaving him far behind with a wall of rain dividing us" (604). The only reason Brother left Doodle is because of his pride. He felt he had spent so much time teaching him things so he could be normal all for nothing, and that aggrevated him. Doodle had just shown extraordinary success by rowing against the current and running as far as he did but for some reason that wasn't enough for Brother. The least that Brother could have done was went back and picked him up helping him back to the house considering all of the energy he had exerted. The only thing that Doodle ever asked of his brother was not to leave him and that is exactly what he

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

"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" (597). Brother didn't teach Doodle to help him, he did it because he was embarrassed. When Doodle finally showed his family that he could walk, Brother cried when everyone praised him for showing him how to walk. Brother felt guilty for knowing that he did it because he had so much pride and was so embarressed, He did it for

Doodle’s brother taught him these things because he was tired of having a brother who couldn’t do anything. So he taught him, and he pushed Doodle harder and harder so that he didn’t have to deal with him. Showing his family that Doodle could walk, and Doodle’s brother realized what he could accomplish. Doodle’s brother continued to push him until one day, he pushed too hard. He knew a storm was coming, but hesitated at returning home because of Doodle’s failed attempts of running and walking. The brother recognized that a, “streak of cruelty within me awakened. I ran as fast as I could, leaving him far behind” (Hurst 117). This revealed the side of pride that resulted in death. That too much pride will fill you up, and you will keep continuing it until it

At times, Doodle’s brother takes advantage of his loving and forgiving nature and is cruel to him. “There is within me […] a knot of cruelty born by a stream of love, much as our blood sometimes bears the seed of our destruction and at times I was mean to Doodle” (Hurst 3). Although Brother truly loves Doodle, he takes advantage of Doodle’s kind and naïve personality. This metaphor from Brother equates cruelty coming from a source of love to a bad situation coming from a mistake that one made, for example, his bullying behavior to Doodle. Brother, looking back, has deep remorse for being cruel to Doodle, because each time Doodle would come back to him out of trust and admiration for his sibling. Doodle’s love for his brother leads him to be easily manipulated to do what his brother wants, even if it is not out of loving intent. “Then I’d paint for him a picture of us as old men white haired, him with a long white beard and me still pulling him in a go-cart, this never failed to make him try again” (Hurst 4). Brother’s form of

Eventually, Doodle decides to show his parents and everybody rejoices at Doodle’s accomplishment, except Brother, who describes, “Doodle told them it was I who taught him to walk, so everyone wanted to hug me, and I began to cry... They did not know that I did it for myself: that pride, whose slave I was, spoke to me louder

At the beginning of the story, Brother is hateful. Doodle is born and Brother is extremely disappointed by his disabled brother. He always dreamed of having a brother he could run and play with, and

While Doodle walks to the dinner table on his own, Brother says: “They didn’t know that I just did it because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother” (Hurst). The quote shows how big brothers pride overcomes his love and acceptance of Doodle… How Brother felt humiliated of the disability Doodle was born, additionally, how he was a slave to his own pride. He didn’t want to be acknowledged as the boy with a disabled brother. Brother has been encouraged to help Doodle for his own selfish motives, but at the same time he also experienced guilt for doing

Brother let his pride get the best of him and "... I began to believe in my own infallibility, and I prepared a terrific devolpment program for him ..." (599). With all these things brother was wearing Doodle out. Doodle was a special kid and only pushed himself because of his brother's pride. Doodle couldn't really do anything but Brother was ashamed of having a crippled brother and pushed Doodle too hard. Brother's "devolpment program" was the thing that was killing Doodle. Doodle couldn't resist all the pressure and his heart was slowly getting

Brother even said, “Doodle walked only because, I was ashamed of having a crippled brother.” Technically Brother helped Doodle learn how to walk, but not in the right way. He helped him only because he was embarrassed for people to see that his brother couldn’t walk. Brother was so embarrassed of his brother being crippled that Brother had to teach him to walk before school started. On top of Brother being embarrassed and Brother not loving Doodle, he also pushed his brother closer to death than he already

The narrator feels humiliated and embarrassed because he has a brother who is not like the others, and this leads him to become selfish and prideful. For example, the narrator is embarrassed and insecure about “having a brother who could not walk,” so he “set out to teach him.” The narrator did not appreciate Doodle for the way he was and wanted a “normal” brother which uncovers his selfishness. The narrator is like any other kid because he has insecurities and does not realize that Doodle is special. In addition, when Doodle was not accomplishing what the