Themes Of Symbolism In 'The Scarlet Ibis'

Hurst utilizes foreshadowing to demonstrate how the brother’s selfishness and pride leads to the death of Doodle. Not long after Doodle was born, the mother explains to the brother that Doodle might be mentally handicapped as well as physically handicapped. The brother could not accept the fact that his brother is different, so he “began to make plans to kill him [Doodle] by smothering him in his sleep” (Hurst 1). From the very beginning, Doodle’s brother is unable to except the fact that his brother is not normal and never will be. His selfishness and pride leads him to want to kill

Symbols are used to represent something else deeper than the actual meaning either in real life or in literature. In the story “The Scarlet Ibis”, Doodle who is mentally and physically disabled was not expected to live. Although, he did live, however, he could not do things other children could do such as walk or talk. Therefore, his older brother set out to teach him because he was embarrassed to have an abnormal brother. However, many years later Doodle is soon overworked until he can no longer go on, and he sadly dies. In “The Scarlet Ibis”, James Hurst uses the caul, the oriole nest, and the blood od Doodle as symbols to offer greater insight into abstract ideas that are difficult to understand on their own.

James Hurst’s use of symbols, imagery, and figurative language in the story “The Scarlet Ibis” creates an extremely dismal tone.

“The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst is a realistic fiction about these two brothers, Doodle, and Doodle’s brother who was the narrator of the story, many symbols are used. A symbol is a materialistic object being put in place for an abstract or complex emotion, or idea. For example the emojis you use when texting are symbols you use to express how you are feeling. In this story, Doodle is being symbolized by the Scarlet Ibis, the Scarlet Ibis is a bird and a symbol for Doodle because of their many similarities. An example of the Scarlet Ibis symbolizing Doodle is when Hurst describes the physical health of Doodle and the Ibis. He describes Doodle as being very sick and weak at the beginning of the story by saying “He seemed all head, with a tiny body which was red and shriveled like an old man's. Everybody thought he was going to die-everybody except Aunt Nicey….” (Hurst page 1). Later on in the story when the Scarlet Ibis is introduced, Doodle’s father describes the bird as: “It looks tired, or maybe sick”(Hurst page 5). By giving Doodle and the Scarlet Ibis such similar physical features, it insinuates that whatever happens to the Scarlet Ibis will more than likely happen to Doodle. Another example of the Scarlet Ibis being a symbol for Doodle is when the Scarlet Ibis dies.” At that moment the bird began to flutter, but the wings were uncoordinated, and amid much flapping and a spray of flying feathers, it tumbled down, bumping through the limbs of the bleeding tree and

To emphasize the positive, high points of Brother and Doodle’s relationship, Hurst utilizes the symbol of Old Woman Swamp, their shared safe haven. Brother introduces his limited

After the scarlet Ibis lands in Doodle and Brother’s yard, their father looks up the type of bird and realizes how far the bird traveled just to die. Doodle and Brother's father points to the picture in the book and says, "It's a scarlet ibis. It lives in the tropics-South America to Florida. A storm must have brought it here." (Hurst 5). The scarlet Ibis travels to an unsuitable environment in which it can live, resulting in it’s death. Hurst uses the death of Ibis to foreshadow Doodle’s fate. Like the scarlet Ibis, Doodle lives in the wrong environment because his disability is unique-unlike everyone and everything around him. After Doodle's family discovers that the bird traveling from afar is a scarlet Ibis, Doodle and Brother’s father exclaim, "A scarlet ibis! How many miles it traveled to die like this, in our yard, beneath the bleeding tree."(Hurst 5). Hurst is telling the reader that despite the distance a bird flies or the lengths one may go, people can not change their ultimate fate. Hurst portrays that this is especially true when one lives in the wrong environment and one’s differences are not

William Armstrong was his, Doodles, real name, it was said by his elder brother “such a name only sounds good on a tombstone” (Hurst 555). When the storm comes the reader can most likely guess that something bad will be happening because in most books, movies, and/or plays a bad weather event happens right before or during an intense scene. The mentioning of the word tombstone makes the reader think of the word death. This automatically gives the reader a want to read more to find out the outcome. When the bird, the Ibis, comes into the narrator's backyard and dies this brings immediate suspense as to why the bird just died. “The wings were uncoordinated” (Hurst 562) Doodle was also uncoordinated showing an immediate

This is the third and final symbol in the story. It is dark, lightning, and pelting rain. Brother has pushed Doodle to his limit by making him run and climb the unforgiving hills of Old Womans Swamp. Doodle is tired from being overexerted and is also frightened by the upcoming storm. During the storm, Brother leaves Doodle behind, begging him not to abandon him.

The symbolism in The Scarlet Ibis adds to the deeper meaning in the story. For example, Hurst uses the scarlet ibis to symbolize Doodle. The scarlet ibis travelled far

There is symbolism shown in the story which means use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities. The Scarlet Ibis

A soft bird, standing in the cold wind ready to be one with the small child. The scarlet ibis is lifted from the world, and once again flying free. James Hurst, author of “The Scarlet Ibis” introduces readers to this very image through the life journey of his main character, Doodle. While Doodle is symbolized by a bird, Hurst also uses other symbols and imagery to create a mournful tone throughout his short story. Hurst uses the coffin and scarlet ibis to show symbolism. Hurst also uses the flower garden to create a better tone. Direct words and thoughts from the characters, and images suggests that James Hurst is mournful to the thought of death.

In “The Scarlet Ibis” James Hurst uses figurative language when developing plot and characters. In the Scarlet Ibis the main character creates a windy scene using phrases such as, “A hawk at the entrails of a chicken”. The author employs figurative language in the story to relate with the reader and create a sense of foreshadowing. Another example of figurative language is when the main character explains the rain around him. , “The sound of rain was everywhere but the wind had died and it fell straight down like rope.”.

To begin with, pride can make something better or worse with symbolism in multiple ways in this story. One of the examples is the color red. When the people hear the color red, the reader might think of blood and death. This is exactly how it was used in the story. Right when doodle was born, everyone thought he was going to die because his disabilities, so when Brother saw Doodle for the first time he described him. Doodle said, “ He seemed all head, with a tiny body which was red and shriveled like an old man’s.” ( Hurst 1) This quote shows symbolism with the word red. They started talking about red whenever they are speaking about death. Brother described Doodle with a red and shriveled body when he was born because Doodle wasn’t suppose to survive. It relates to the theme because Brother had so much pride in having a little brother at first. The color red kept appearing in Doodles life until eventually it appeared for the final time

What is a good brother? Is it someone who tries to kill you? Make you suffer for selfish reasons? Or is it being embarrassed that you have a mentally challenged sibling? Well, the narrator in "The Scarlett Ibis" felt that doing such things was acceptable. The narrator did not treat his brother fairly.

Symbolism is a frequently used literary device, where an object, animal, or even human being is given a deeper meaning to represent various facets of the story being told. In the short story, “The Scarlet Ibis”, James Hurst uses several symbols to reveal a deeper insight about the characters’ emotions towards the current circumstances and towards each other throughout the story. Hurst utilizes numerous symbols as vehicles to delineate numerous obstacles of Doodle’s travailous life, such as dealing with the challenge of completing normal tasks, supposed inferiority and pessimism due to his disabilities, and the doubt and negativity he receives that has engulfed his life at home, which is the only life he knew.