The Themes Of A Brother In The Scarlet Ibis By James Hurst

Multiple times throughout this story the narrator attempts to leave Doodle scared and alone, and Doodle calls out to his brother, “Don’t go leave me, brother” (Hurst 418).This shows not only the dependency Doodle has on his older brother, but also the lack of empathy and care that he bestows on Doodle. When the older brother declares that he is going to teach Doodle to walk, his response is, “‘I can’t walk brother”’ (Hurst 418). This shows that, in the beginning, Doodle has little hope for himself, and that he based his accomplishments off of what others thought of him.

The second reason is the narrator knows he should have appreciated his brother more. Although Doodle did his best to make his brother proud, it was never good enough for the narrator. The narrator wanted to force him to be like a normal, healthy person. Once Doodle learns how to walk, the narrator is too swollen with pride and wants to teach Doodle to run, swim, and many other complicated tasks. The narrator should have valued Doodle more. It was already extraordinary that Doodle even got to walk. That should have been good enough for him. Unfortunately, the narrator kept on pushing him and pushing him.

Have your parents ever told you that you needed to improve at something? It could be a sport, activities, or even how well you do in school. This is a vile thing for parents to do to their children. Sometimes parents just need to back up a few steps and let you be yourself. The same can happen with an older sibling! That is the case in The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst. The narrator of this story has a younger brother called Doodle, who has some health issues. Big brother pushes little brother to be better than he is. In The Scarlet Ibis, Doodle strives for the goals that his brother sets for him for many reasons, which reflects the conflict in the story.

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

“The only difference between a hero and the villain is that the villain chooses to use that power in a way that is selfish and hurts other people” (Chadwick Boseman). In Hurst’s “The Scarlet Ibis,” the narrator chooses to use his power in a way that hurts his invalid brother, Doodle. While living in a time period where different is improper, the narrator cannot mentally handle the fact that Doodle is different from others. Being the older sibling, the narrator takes on the responsibility to help Doodle become ordinary. He teaches Doodle to walk, run, climb, and swim, because he is ashamed of having a brother with disabilities. As a result, the narrator serves as a villain by forcing his invalid brother, Doodle, past his limitations, which ultimately causes the

In the short story “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, Hurst illustrates the struggle of one boy with his disability and his and his brothers expectations.

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 only thing that the Brother wanted was a sibling with which he could play with. But when Doodle arrived all of his hopes were shattered. As a result, he makes Doodle pay for it on many occasions. He makes him touch his own casket that was laying in the lay loft being reserved for

Doodle’s Brother’s selfishness causes him to be ashamed of Doodle’s disabilities. Doodle’s brother felt “embarrassed of having a crippled brother of that age who couldn’t walk so (he) set out to teach (Doodle). (132)” Doodle was born with a tiny body and a bigger head. Everyone believed he would die. Brother is embarrassed of Doodle because he is different than others. He wants Doodle to fit in society and does not accept Doodle for how he is. Brother is selfish because he was an only child, he never learned the correct way to share and accept others. Brother’s parents put a lot of pressure on him, so he

The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst is a story between a boy and his little brother. Doodle is helpless, and is required to be assisted by his older brother. At first, his older brother was irritated about taking him where ever he went, but he grew with it as it went on. Doodle’s brother was tired of having a crippled brother so, “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 112). What the brother did was caring and compassionate, but it resorted back to evil since it was done for the wrong reasons. Doodle’s brother was tired of Doodle being different, and wanted to have a normal brother, which he knew he couldn’t have. He finally figured out when he showed his family that Doodle could walk that his actions were for the wrong reason. In that moment Doodle’s brother realized the truth about pride, “I did not

Brother showed pride throughout the story. In the story it states “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

Brother showed him just how incapable he thought Doodle would be by taking him to see his coffin that he would have been buried in if he died. “One day I took him up to the barn loft and showed him his casket, telling him how we all had believed he would die.” (Hurst 3) Just the words that James Hurst wrote “how we all had believed he would die” shows how his family never believed Doodle would be anything. Doodle’s family did not ever give him a chance to prove how capable he was because he had a few issues with his health and he wasn’t as normal as other little boys his age. Doodle seems to be a very passionate person and it’s cool that a little kid like him could care so much and show so much emotion toward a bird like he did with the dead scarlet ibis that he found. “Now we were watching him through the front window, but he didn’t know it. His awkwardness at digging the hole with a shovel whose handle was twice as long as he was made us laugh, and we covered our mouths without hands so he wouldn’t hear.” (Hurst 7) This shows how cruel his family was because laughing at someone is rude and mean. Instead of them seeing the how cute it was that he cared so much about a bird they just thought he was awkward because the shovel was really big for him and her was burying a bird that he didn’t even know. His family is not the nicest most accepting between taking him to see

Brother is showing Doodle’s unwillingness along with the cruel attempts to point out his flaws. When Brother made doodle touch the coffin, he knew the reaction he would get out of him. “Even when were outside in the sunlight, he clung to me, crying, ‘Don’t leave me. Don’t leave me” ( ). Doodle is very afraid of the coffin and brother knows that. By making him touch the coffin, he is clearly implying to Doodle that he will never be normal like the other kids. On the other hand, no matter how cruel Brother’s actions may be, he still shows interest toward teaching Doodle many tricks. But these actions are clearly for his self gratification. “What are you crying for? asked Daddy, but I couldn’t answer. 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.” Although brother teaches Doodle how to walk, it is entirely for his own sense. Ashamed by Doodle’s crippledness, Brother attempts to fix Doodle’s many imperfections, without acknowledging his view and

“Life delivered me a catastrophe, but I found a richness of a soul.” - Michael J. Fox, famous Canadian-American actor familiarly known for his role in Back To The Future. Michael is expressing how even when handed the worst of a situation you can find something positive. In the story “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, Brother the main character has a sibling, Doodle born sick lives his life experiencing physical disadvantages leaving him estranged from normal children. This is challenging not only for Doodle but Brother as well, due to his longings for a “normal” sibling that he can do average everyday things with. In the story, Brother is characterized as cruel and loving seen through his words and actions towards Doodle.

First, the narrator spends most of all of his time hanging out with Doodle wherever he goes. “Doodle was just about the craziest brother a boy ever had.” (pg 1) Doodle was a crazy brother no matter what or where, he just loved to hang out with his older brother. “Don’t leave me, brother.”(Pg 1) Doodle favored his older brother a lot, and never wanted to be separated from him. “And before I'll help you down from the loft, you’re going to have to touch it.”(pg 2) Brother spends so much of his time with Doodle that, he threatens him to touch something he does not want to.