...The Two Meanings of Pride The story, the “Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst is about a young boy teaching his physically disabled brother, Doodle, how to become “normal.” The story surrounds the most powerful emotion, pride. The narrator was full of pride for his brother at times when he abled him to learn new things. The story expresses the idea that it is good to be full of pride for others, however, pushing people past their limits can be harmful. In the “Scarlet Ibis,” Doodle was pushed over his physical limit and suffered consequences. Several quotes in the story draw attention to the emotional theme, pride. Pride comes along with embarrassment. “When Doodle was five years old, I was embarrassed at having a brother of that age who...
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...Excessive pride causes devastating ruin and can be deeply harmful, not only to the person in which pride in habits, but also to those surrounding them. Through the elder brother’s pride and shame of having an invalid brother, he pushes Doodle to his breaking point, and therefore is a contributor to Doodle’s tragic death though that is not his blunt goal to murder his own brother. This is very evident in James Hurst’s short story “The Scarlet Ibis”. The elder brother of any family has the highest rank among the siblings and holds the most responsibility for the younger children. The elder brother in “The Scarlet Ibis” is no exception. His “pride, whose slave [he] was, spoke to [him], louder than all [his family’s] voices” (2) and the brother...
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...Jennifer Kang Ms. Ferdinandsen Honors English 9 6-4 17 October 2017 Theodore Parker, a minister in the 1800’s once said the wise words, “Pride is both a virtue and a vice.” The effects of pride are experienced by two characters, Brother and Doodle in James Hurst’s short story “The Scarlet Ibis”. Doodle, a physically and mentally handicapped character is constantly pushed to his limits by his brother’s pride. With a noble cause pride can be beneficial to one’s goal, however a corrupt impetus can have detrimental effects. Doodle overcame his physical impairment of walking because of Brother’s pride. His pride began when Doodle was just a baby, where his pride sparked, “He looked straight at me and grinned... ‘Mama, he smiled. He’s all there!...
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...types of pride, both good and bad. ‘Good pride’ represents our dignity and self-respect. ‘Bad pride’ is the deadly sin of superiority that reeks of conceit and arrogance.” In the “Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, the main character and narrator, Brother shows how his pride affects his life and those around him. The reader can see William Armstrong (Doodle)’s character through Brother’s eyes. Brother shows pride by direct words he expresses towards Doodle and the people around him. Brother also shows pride by his thoughts and the third most important way that the main character shows pride is by his actions. Words can mean a lot depending on the way they are delivered. The direct words that Brother...
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...“The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst illustrates pride as the Narrator struggles to have love and compassion with his overpowering pride. Throughout the story, the Narrator displays selfishness. His pride for a good reputation is the only reason why he helps Doodle. “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,” Narrator states (2). The Narrator is too “embarrassed” because his brother is unable to walk when people expect him to walk. All of the hours the Narrator spends with helping Doodle walk is for the sole purpose of wanting a “normal” brother; rather it is not to make Doodle feel normal.The Narrator’s main point is to make Doodle more accepted, and to make...
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...The authors purpose of writing “The Scarlet Ibis” is pride can be very confusing. Pride is linked into shame and embarrassment. We are not suppose to be so proud that we look down on others and not see our own flaws. It can be nice to proud but if we push people into the things that they are not in their best interest or doing, that's when it can be most harmful. Doodle was born with a tiny body which was red and shriveled. He was a disappointment and the family thought he was going to die because of his weak heart.“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.” Doodle’s brother would take him to the Old Woman Swamp and teach Doodle how to walk. By Doodle’s eighth...
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...The short story, “The Scarlet Ibis” tells of an older brother who fights the war of pride over love upon his younger brother. Throughout the story Brother’s haughtiness gradually shrinks as his love for his younger sibling grows. However, the issue with pride lasts too long. Brother’s pride ends up as the root cause of Doodle, his little brother’s death. Once Doodle passes on, Brother no longer feels shame towards Doodle, but rather himself. Brother, during the beginning moments of the story, finds pain and embarrassment in his brother, Doodle, due to his disability. This shame causes Brother to pursue violent actions towards Doodle. When attempting to murder Doodle, Brother stops; due to the smile on his little brother’s face. “However,...
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...Argumentative Essay-Scarlet “Pride is a wonderful terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death” James Hurst wrote this quote in his short story The Scarlet Ibis. In other words, James Hurst is saying, Pride can be both good and bad depending on how you look at it. This quote sums up the effects of pride on human life, both the good and bad. Pride enables a person to accomplish tasks. Pride assists one in achieving goals. Also, pride motivates a person to grow confidence. Acknowledging the other view of ways pride could be an unattractive quality to possess. Too much pride can damage other’s and one’s self. Referring to a quote from page 172 in “The Scarlet Ibis” states “don’t hurt me brother” he warned “oh shut up...
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...The Scarlet Ibis Have you ever let your pride overcome who you are? Pride allows us to enhance the way we act and look. However, it can cause us to look down upon others when things don’t turn out the way we want it. For instance, “ The Scarlet Ibis” shows how pride can motivate us to strive for achievements and still be the source of harm towards ourselves and our loved ones. The story is told through the brother’s eyes in which he continuously persists his brother, Doodle, into doing “normal kid things,” despite Doodle’s physical limitations. “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst is a story that revolves around pride. To begin with, Doodle’s brother wanted to teach Doodle how to live like a “normal boy.” Doodle’s brother was resolute as he...
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...“Pride is the mother of arrogance” (Toba Beta). Pride is a feeling that everyone has felt in their lifetime, whether it be because they finally solved a question in math or because they finally graduated from college. That’s pride in it’s best form, but then there’s also the bad kind of pride, the kind mentioned in the quote above, that leads to arrogance and can sometimes be harmful. The tale The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst is a great example of how pride can be harmful. The Scarlet Ibis revolves around two brothers, Doodle (who is disabled), and his older brother, the narrator. In the story, the narrator tries to teach Doodle to do things like an abled person. He succeeded with teaching Doodle to walk, so then his ego/pride starts growing...
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...Throughout the short story of “The Scarlet Ibis” James Hurst portrays that pride can be a constructive or a destructive thing. During this story, the character Brother uses his pride in ways that are helpful to Doodle, but in ways that are also harmful. As readers, people come to know the character Doodle as a delicate yet a beautiful being. There are things that others need to be careful of when with Doodle. There was “a long list of don’ts [that] went with him, all of which [Brother] ignored once [they] got out of the house.” This quote shows that Brother knew Doodle had limits, but decided to ignore them out of pride. Also, once Brother taught Doodle how to walk, there was a sense inside of him that made him believe that he could accomplish...
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...Literary Analysis: “The Scarlet Ibis” Can pride affect others in a bad way? The topic of the short story “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, the narrator helps his brother Doodle(William Armstrong) to accomplish things no one thought was possible because of his bad heart. But in the end he pressured his brother too much and Doodle dies, all because he wanted pride from it. The theme adolescents that pride can both be a good and a bad thing, which you can see through the plot of the story. The narrator reflects on his actions and realizes how selfish he was towards Doodle. In one line it shows that the narrator is planning on teaching doodle more but he saw it as his own victory instead of Doodles victory, “Once I had succeeded in teaching Doodle...
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...“The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst is about William Armstrong, also known as Doodle, who had a physical and mental condition. When he was born William’s brother was six years old, and when William died his brother was thirteen. The story is called “The Scarlet Ibis” because the family saw a bird dying in their backyard which was far away from its native land, and William died away from his home. Mr. Hurst was born in North Carolina at a farm by the sea. He studied singing and in Italy and he became a banker. During his thirty four years as a banker he also published a few short stories including “The Scarlet Ibis”. I personally did not like how the story went but I do like how Mr. Hurst wrote it. I also like how he referred the scarlet ibis...
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...fallen Scarlet Ibis from the heresy of rain.” In James Hurst’s short story; “The Scarlet Ibis”, two brothers create a good relationship over a short amount of time. There are three main concepts within the short story. Pride, love and death. Pride; there’s not much to say. Brother ends up doing anything to Doodle for his own pride. Brother has done actions for his own pride instead of doing it for Doodle’s well-being. When Brother and Doodle showed Mama, Daddy and aunt Nicey that Doodle can walk brother thought, “They did not know that I did it for myself, that pride.” When Brother taught Doodle how to walk he did it for his own pride. Little did Doodle know Brother wasn’t...
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...Jessica Lange, a famous actress once beautifully stated, “Acceptance and tolerance and forgiveness, those are life altering lessons.” Acceptance and tolerance mean appreciating the differences in people and respecting people for who they are. When one is tolerant, they understand and reverence others that have a different gender, ethics, feelings, and behaviors than them. In the stories “The Scarlet Ibis” written by James Hurst, and “Raymond’s Run” written by Toni Cade Bambara, the authors depicted the relationships with disabled siblings. These relationships could have a significant impact on these siblings’ life later on. Notwithstanding bearing the fact that Doodle’s brother and Squeaky previously displayed infinitesimal tolerance towards their younger siblings’ incapacity, the differences that it unfold in their stages of tolerance as the stories continue are relatively remarkable. Initially, a similarity relating to tolerance found in “The Scarlet Ibis” and “Raymond’s Run” is how both Squeaky and Brother both take care their disabled sibling. In the short story “The Scarlet Ibis,” Doodle was the younger brother who was born with physical disabilities. The narrator, who was known as Brother in the story supervises Doodle because he was determined to make Doodle to become his ideal brother. Specifically on paragraph 10 Brother remarked, “ 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.” This...
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