Brother In The Scarlet Ibis By James Hurst

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.

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.

In James Hurst’s short story “The Scarlet Ibis”, the Brother pushed Doodle to learn how to walk, swim, run and various activities so that Doodle would not seem to be crippled. Through the Brother's characterization, conflicts and eventual resolution, Hurst suggested that one's overwhelming selfishness, pride and cruelty can result in the death of a loved brother.

In “The Scarlet Ibis,” James Hurst uses symbolism to develop the theme that one can push themselves to overcome things but don't push beyond their limits because one could hurt someone and might not get what had been hoped of. Hurst’s characterization of ‘Brother’ communicates the message that don’t let pride get in the way of ones actions and do what one thinks is right.

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.

In “The Scarlet Ibis,” Hurst narrates how Brother’s pride and selfishness ultimately leads to the death of his disabled brother Doodle. As Doodle grows throughout the story, his brother teaches him how to be normal so he does not feel embarrassed about having a disabled brother. The selfish narrator pushes Doodle to the limits, blinded by his own pride, to have Doodle trained and ready for kindergarten. There are many pieces of text in the story which show the author’s use of foreshadowing and symbolism to portray Doodle’s terrible and despairing death. Primarily, Hurst hides clues in his text which establish that pride and love can end up being harmful.

Brother’s pride in Doodle drove him to help Doodle surpass his physical incapabilities and his mental barriers. Doodle’s condition kept him from walking; however, Brother decides to bring it upon himself to help, as he explains, “When Doodle was five

Doodles brother was very selfish throughout the story. He had a crippled brother that could not walk,so he was embarrassed by him. “When Doodle was 5 years old, I was embarrassed at having brother of that age who couldn’t walk” James Hurst page 353. Since he was so embarrassed to have a crippled brother, he was selfish enough to teach him how to walk. He would take doodle to the Old woman swamp everyday and teach him how to stand up, then walk. His mom would make him take Doodle with him wherever he went and he hated that. He would have to pull his brother in a wagon everywhere he went which made him feel

In the Scarlet Ibis, Brother didn’t love Doodle and never treated him correctly. On page, 345, it says, “He was a burden in so many ways.” When a person says that, it normally means they don’t like that person, much less love them. It would seem as Brother didn’t love Doodle, and never wanted him around. From the passage on page 345, it also has Brother dreaming about killing sweet little Doodle. It states, “It was bad enough having an invalid brother, but having one who possibly was not all there was unbearable, so I began to kill by smothering him with a pillow.” That part of the story shows us big time that Brother does not love Doodle, and he could care less if Doodle died. Not only does Brother not love Doodle, he was a little embarrassed of having Doodle as a brother.

James Hurst’s “The Scarlet Ibis” is about selfish pride and reveals that sometimes doing a good thing can be done for the wrong reasons as demonstrated by his use of symbolism. Specifically, Hurst’s use of Doodle suggests that the scarlet ibis is connected to him in many ways. James Hurst’s reference to the scarlet ibis is illustrated when the narrator sets out to teach Doodle to walk, “It seemed so hopeless from the beginning that it's a miracle I didn't give up. But all of us must have something or someone to be proud of, and Doodle had become mine. I did not know then that pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death.” After teaching Doodle to walk the narrator has pride for being able to teach Doodle even though it didn’t seem possible at the beginning, but he is also filled with guilt because he had done something good for a bad reason.

In the short story, “The Scarlet Ibis,” James Hurst indirectly characterizes the narrator as prideful and sadistic through his thoughts and actions, to convey the idea that an excessive amount of pride causes someone to be deceitful, and act for their own personal gain at someone else’s cost. The abundant amount of pride the narrator has blinds him, ruining his perspective of his brother, Doodle. “The Scarlet Ibis” revolves around the narrator reminiscing on his past memory of Doodle, his “invalid” younger sibling. The narrator longs for someone to run with, play with, and fight with; a brother to be proud of. However, the birth of a frail and severely disabled younger brother is a disappointment. The narrator’s pride along the storyline leads him further into believing in his own infallibility, after been emboldened by the success of Doodle.

of the story when “Brother” is teaching Doodle how to swim, after doodle has given up “Brother”

“The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst compares one of the protagonists, Doodle to a bird called the Scarlet Ibis. Doodle has heart problems and during the 1900s medical care is not as advanced as it is today so he is not able to receive the proper medical care that he needs. Despite popular opinion, Doodle survives and constantly falls behind all of his classmates. Doodle’s brother always dreamed of playing catch and games together is determined have a “normal” brother. Brother pushes and pushes until Doodle can’t take it anymore and sadly dies alone on the side of the street similar to the Scarlet Ibis. This bird arrives in their family’s yard and is too weak to continue which can be compared to Doodle. Through appearance and symbolism the Scarlet

When he reaches Doodle in the pouring rain, he is curled up and seems to have had a heart attack. This is the first time readers see Brother showing love, compassion, and care towards his brother. The narrator explains, “His little legs bent sharply at the knees, had never before seemed so fragile, so thin”(183). Not only emotionally, but Brother also begins to physically see the weakness of Doodle and what he has been doing to him this whole time. Until this moment, Brother’s eyes have never been opened to who Doodle really

A symbolic comparison is used in a piece of writing in order to make the story more interesting or to further the reader’s understanding of the plot or events occurring. In “The Scarlet Ibis,” the narrator does this by comparing Doodle to the scarlet ibis throughout everything Doodle does. As Doodle dies, Brother mentions how Doodle leaning against the tree, dead, reminds him of the bird that died earlier that day. This was when the narrator introduces the symbolism to the reader, and from there the reader is able to make their own connections of the symbolism between the ibis and Doodle. The author, James Hurst, uses this symbolism between the ibis and Doodle to emphasize to the shocked reader how Doodle has changed since the beginning of