Theme Of Pride In The Scarlet Ibis

In the short story, “The Scarlet Ibis”, James Hurst demonstrates that the confidence that comes with pride is an inspiration for growth, however, overconfidence can lead to one’s downfall. Despite a year of seemingly hopeless attempts to teach Doodle how to walk, Brother manages to persist because he has “[Doodle] to be proud of” (Hurst 419). Although Brother teaching Doodle how to walk was not altruistic, it was his pride that allowed it to happen in the first place. If Brother and Doodle did not have their pride to fuel their desire for success then they would have accepted what everyone else said about how Doodle would not be able to walk which even Doodle agreed with at first. Without pride, one would not have the inner desire for success

Pride, which becomes a major life lesson that is being taught throughout this book, concludes that pride it self is a life changing characteristic that one may chose to attain. In attaining pride one may seem arrogant or stubborn or one may chose to toss the pride aspect of life aside, yet seem somewhat less respectable. This book entails that pride should be taken into serious consideration since it has a major impact in everyday

Many times we think pride is a good thing, but in this case, it can hurt the ones you love. Webster Dictionary’s definition of pride is, “a feeling or deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one’s own achievements.” In this story, I will talk about one boy’s pride that comes from the achievements of his brother rather than his own. Rather than celebrating the glory of his brother’s achievements, he lets the pride get to him. This makes him act narcissistic. In “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, the narrator lets his pride and ambition ultimately destroy his brother.

In the the story “The Scarlet Ibis” by James, Hurst shows his audience that self pride is a positive aspect in this story, it can help people get through difficult obstacles they have in life, but when people worry too much about their self pride it can lead to hurting others physically and mentally.

A father smiling down at his son; a teacher learning from his pupil; a soldier gazing up to his country’s flag. Or a woman masking her face with makeup; a man boasting endlessly of a talent; a child mocking another’s impediment. All textbook illustrations of pride. Nevertheless, the first trio is of outward pride—pride not of one’s own accomplishment, but the achievements of something or someone else. Moreover, the second trio consists of an inner pride—a vain, arrogant, conceited, egotistic, narcissistic feeling. Another crucial aspect of different prides is Jane Austen’s Pride vs. Vanity. She says, “A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.” Although “pride goeth before the fall”, pride, being outward or being competent to ourselves, is a healthy feeling unless provoked into vanity and narcissism.

Brother from the story “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst is motivated by his pride. Brothers pride is motivated to help Doodle walk. Brothers pride pushed Doodle to do good things such as walk but also bad because it pushed him to a breaking point where he couldn’t go further and eventually died. “I did not know then that pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death.” (Hurst 3) Brothers pride is what’s keeping him going. Brother teaches Doodle how to walk because of his pride. The bad side of pride is he didn’t do it out of the kindness of his heart. The whole story is wrapped around Brothers pride. “They did not know that I did it for myself, that pride, whose slave I was…” (Hurst 3) This quote explains

Pride is an attractive trait to possess. Acknowledging the other point of view of ways pride could be an unattractive quality to possess. Too much pride can damage others and even yourself. In the short story “The Scarlet Ibis,” the narrator stated, “Let’s go Doodle, he didn’t answer… he fell backward onto the earth, he was bleeding from his mouth to his neck (pg 176).” Doodle was scared and frightened of what his brother would do.

Pride carries two branches, life and death. In the short story, "The Scarlet Ibis", by James Hurst, the reader gets a front row seat as Brother, the narrator, learns the dangers of pride the hard way. Doodle quickly became Brother's source of pride from the minute Brother realized Doodle had a shot at being normal. Faced with the fear of being tantalized for having an invalid brother, Brother doggedly pushed Doodle far from his capacity going as far as to abandoning him. In the same way the scarlet ibis was pushed by the need to survive to continue to fight for its goal.

By using pride in a bad way, people can be using it to hide emotions. By saying that people are going one place but actually going to another to hide the fact that they don't want to be embarrassed. Or by saying that the narrator taught his brother how to walk, but his brother actually taught himself. In the short story, “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, “Doodle told them it was I who taught him how to walk, so everyone wanted to hug me, and I began to cry.” The narrator says this because he wants his family to be proud with him and not doodle.

When you have too much pride it can then overtake your better judgement, and cause you to do things you will regret later on. Brother is so self absorbed and worried about his pride, everything he does for Doodle is for his own reputation. ‘“Aw, come on, Doodle,” I urged. “...Do you want to be different from everybody else when you start school?”’(471.Ll 254-255) Brother is not only pushing Doodle physically throughout the story but mentally as well. He is trying to get inside Doodles head to make him think he needs to change, when in reality Brother just doesn’t want to be seen with a handicapped sibling. Near the end Doodle is pronounced dead, and Brother is shocked.“....I lay there crying, sheltering my fallen scarlet ibis from the heresy

Pride is a good thing to have but having too much pride is detrimental. some may ask why this is bad it is because a bloated pride will lead you to path you don't want to follow. There are many examples pride getting in the way. As in the story of “The Scarlet Ibis”

Pride can be considered a fundamental flaw in human nature, causing individuals to not admit to their wrongdoings, act on impulse, and essentially not think in the right mindset. In the story “The Necklace,” written by Guy De Maupassant the protagonist of the text suffers from a dilemma, in which an unwilling prideful mentality leads her to refuse to admit to a wrongdoing that later becomes a great cost to her and her spouse. Another text titled “The Cask of Amontillado,” written by Edgar Allan Poe, a man by the name of Montresor is inclined to murder a companion for no apparent reason, this man is murdered and is a prime example of how pride can drive a man to idiocracy. Lastly, in “The Odyssey,” written by Homer,

"Desiree's Baby", by Kate Chopin, is a story about the effect love and pride have on our actions. Love changes people for the better. "Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." Pride, however, can have the opposite effect. Pride is spurred on by a dislike of falling below your standards. Pride doesn't leave much room for mercy and kindness and it makes people think of "self" first

Some people don’t even realize they have pride or never even thought about it. When you have pride in something you cherish it, you also defend it to the best of your ability, but most of all you never give up on it. My definition of pride came from my experience of finding out that of who I am. Throughout that journey I learned that having pride

An overly proud person looks down on people and as long as he looks down, he cannot see that which is above him. On the other hand, an individual with too little pride has an attitude of mediocrity and this hinders self-realization. Disproportionate pride blinds moral judgment, creates intolerance and deters relationships. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin is a novel that portrays individual characters who demonstrate a lack of balance in the way they perceive themselves and as a result they create ruin.