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The Scarlet Ibis Quote Analysis

Decent Essays

Many people have siblings. There are many silly stories of misadventures through the garden between brothers to the horrid karaoke sessions of sisters. “The Scarlet Ibis” is one of these stories. It is a bittersweet tale spun about the relationship between two brothers, Doodle and Brother. The main reason for this is because of the change of a cherished relationship between brothers to a neglected one. Brother changes from a loving part of Doodle’s life to an angry part of his life because his desire for a “normal” brother overtakes him. The exhaustion of Doodle is a product of the holds of pride and love. Brother’s attitude towards Doodle changes from loving to negative. For example, while Brother is reminiscing about the past, he says, “Doodle and I spen[d] lots of time thinking about our future. We [decide] that when …show more content…

For example, when Brother is reminiscing about the past, he says “I did not know then that pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death.” (Hurst, 177). The narrator himself says that pride is a terrible yet wonderful thing. The quote implies that his pride was the reason why he slowly drifts away from Doodle. In addition to his pride, he is frustrated at Doodle and the deadline of school inching closer, saying “So we [come] to that clove of seasons. School [is] only a few weeks away, and Doodle [is] far behind schedule… We [decide] to double our efforts, to make that last drive and reach our pot of gold. I [make] him swim until he [turns] blue and row until he [can’t] lift an oar. Wherever we [go], I purposely [walk] fast…” (Hurst 180). Brother states that he pushes Doodle to the point of exhaustion. This is because of his ambition to have a “normal” brother to play with, which shows his excessive pride. Brother’s pride and ambition is what leads to his drifting away – and abandoning – of

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