...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 places a large focus on humanity and the humane treatment of others. In this short story, the narrator mistreats his younger brother in order to make him more like normal boys who can play, run, and swim. However, this backfires as his younger brother Doodle dies from overexertion because the narrator pushes him past his limits. In “The Scarlet Ibis”, the absence of humanity is a large component and is portrayed in the way Doodle is treated by the narrator. In this story, the narrator’s great pride and lack of humanity is what causes Doodle’s death. Because he is so focused on making Doodle like the other children, the narrator forgets that Doodle has feelings and shortcomings. The narrator is “embarrassed...
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...“Pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death.” (Hurst 318), how can one word have life and death in it? In the story “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, the narrator teaches his disabled brother, Doodle, how to walk. When successfully teaching Doodle how to walk, the narrator pushes Doodle to learn swimming, running, and other physical activities. The narrator takes Doodle into a web of high expectations which both of them don’t come out of till the saddening death of Doodle. Throughout the story the narrator shows the good side of pride, confidence, and the bad side of pride, ego. The helpful side of pride, confidence, which gives people motivation to achieve goals and stand up tall, is shown in the story...
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..."They want me to be perfect, but they don't know that I'm hurting." In the short story, "A Scarlet Ibis," the narrator, also known in the story as "Brother," is faced with the embarrassment of having a younger brother, Doodle, who is not physically able to walk, so the narrator sets out to teach his "disabled" brother to walk, even if Doodle does not agree with it. Brother caused Doodle's death because he was embarrassed,he did not care about Doodle's health concerns, and he left him in the thunderstorm. The narrator causes Doodle's death because he was embarrassed of his younger brother's disability. "Doodle walked only because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother."(419) Over the course of a couple months, after a lot of hard...
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...Within the book Scarlet Ibis, the author scattered the technique of symbolism throughout the novel because one’s love for an object can be so exponential, but an overcasting dislike is casted because of society's out line of being “regular”, and if anything does not conform to the community's rigid guideline, then it is rejected, or practically thrown out of all social animation. Either it was the author's strenuous need for Doodle to walk, or Doodles longing to rest, Doodles disability was not just showed through Doodle but his surroundings; for instance when Doodle first began to move on his own, the author said,“Daddy built him a go-cart and I had to pull him around. At first I paraded him up and down the piazza, but then he started crying to be taken into the yard, and ended up having to lug him everywhere.” The go-kart showed his disability and his weakness because his brother viewed it as a burden and something to be disliked, maybe foreshadowing his hate for his brother....
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...A Fatal Consequence of Selfishness in the Scarlet Ibis How often does one act without regard for those around them? It is incredibly easy to become selfish in one’s actions. “The Scarlet Ibis” shows this in Brother’s actions in regard to his younger brother, Doodle. He only assists him when it benefits himself, and throughout his life Brother forces Doodle into activities and abandons him with no thought as to why this is inconsiderate. James Hurst’s “The Scarlet Ibis” uses foreshadowing and symbols to show how selfishness leads to severe consequences, even fatal ones, and the overall maltreatment of others. The family of Doodle commits many selfish actions which foreshadow the demise of Doodle. Early on in their lives, Brother takes Doodle...
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..."It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences." Audre Lord said this quote which means that you shouldn't judge a story by its cover, the same with the story "Scarlet Ibis" The story Scarlet Ibis was published in July 1960 by the author James Hurst. The theme of the story is if you are different from Doodle and Scarlet Ibis people will act different towards you and even though you are unique you must pay a heavy price. It can also show that his brother is ashamed of him. Some ideas that are developed through the story are how Doodle has physical limitations, how the Scarlet Ibis died, then Doodle buries it, and how Doodle dies. Doodle is different from the others his name....
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...first sentence “It was in the clove of seasons, summer was dead but autumn had not yet been born, that the ibis lit in the bleeding tree” uses the season’s changing to imply that Doodle will die before autumn.The last sentence “The last graveyard flowers were blooming, and their smell drifted across the cotton field and through every room of our house, speaking softly the names of our dead”is another foreshadowing of it.And his name William Armstrong ,“which is like tying a big tail on a small kite. Such a name sounds good only on a tombstone” is absolutely the hint that he will die.Other important foreshadowings are mainly about the the scarlet ibis.For example,the arrival of the red bird and its death,and it’s bad luck gives it a red death, “it tumbled down, bumping through the limbs of the bleeding tree …death did not mar its grace, for it lay on the earth like a broken vase of red flowers”, which imply the way of Doodle’s death,because at the end of the story, the sentence “He had been bleeding from the mouth, and his neck and the front of his shirt were stained a brilliant red”shows us the similarity between the death of the scarlet ibis and Doodle. The symbols in the short story are also important to help the author illustrate the theme of it.The scarlet ibis which stands for Doole,is one of these symbols.They have some similarities.For example,The scarlet ibis is small and fragile,which is just like Doole.And the way how they dead is also similar.The color,red,is a...
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...The Scarlet Ibis is a short story about a baby named Doodle who’s born with disabilities and how his brother and family treat him. Doodle is very determined, and wanted to be like everyone else. He learns and copies many things that his brother did. Throughout my essay I’m going to show how Doodle becomes a part of the family and learns how to do many things that are hard for him, but simple tasks that are easy for his family and regular people. Doodle is determined to learn new things. Since he had many problems with growing and learning things at the right age he had learned to crawl late. The passage says that,”When he crawled, he crawled backward, as if he were in reverse and couldn’t change gears.” The passage also says that, “Although Doodle learned to crawl, he showed no signs of walking, but he wasn’t idle.” Doodle also had learned to talk and when he did the passage says that, “He talked so much that we all quit listening to what he said.Doodle was determined to learn to walk so his brother says that,”Within a few months Doodle had learned to walk well and his go-cart was put up in the barn loft (it’s still there) beside his little mahogany...
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...What is the real price of pride? Does pride sometimes make people make the wrong decisions? In the story “ The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst the main character Doodle’s brother is embarrassed of Doodle. Doodle could not walk, run, swim, or be exposed to harsh sunlight. The narrator set out on a mission to teach Doodle to do these things, so Doodle would not embarrass him when school rolls around, and in the process of teaching Doodle something terrible happens to Doodle and it is all the narrators fault. The theme of the story is regrets and it is best revealed through the element of important statements. Even though the narrator loves Doodle he is still cruel to him, because of his own selfishness. The narrator is embarrassed by Doodle....
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...Pride is like a rosebush; thorns and flowers both grow from the same bush. The Scarlet Ibis, by James Hurst, makes a perfect example of this. Old woman swamp symbolizes the safe place that love grows in, but along with love, pride also grows. The swamp is where the narrator's pride grows. At first, this pride is out of selfishness, but later on, it is pride of the abilities of Doodle, like his storytelling. An area in which my point is proven is when the narrator teaches Doodle to walk. "They did not know that I did this for myself . . . that Doodle walked only because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother." (4) The narrator teaches Doodle to walk in old woman swamp, but only out of the pride in his heart. That people would not look at him with a rude eye for his 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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...Children born with birth defects or “slower” than others are usually criticized more. Children who are disabled have to be treated with a lot of care and can’t do the things normal kids can do. In James Hurst’s “The Scarlet Ibis,” Doodle is born different from other people. All his brother ,the narrator, wanted was a brother to run and fight with. Doodle was a disappointment for his brother. Doodle spent his whole day laying in a room since he couldn’t walk or talk. The narrator set out to teach him to walk because he was ashamed of him. The Narrator is guilty for Doodles death because he pushed him to his limit, knowing he could only do certain things. The Narrator was ashamed of his little brother because he had been born different....
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...In the “Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst the main plot of the story is that the narrator had a brother and that brother was a cual baby.The narrator didn't like his brother but he did take him everywhere even though he didn't want to.The topic for this essay is if the narrator is solely to blame for Doodle’s tragic death.No! The narrator is not to blame for Doodle’s tragic death. The narrator is not to blame for Doodles tragic death.One reason he is not to blame is”Mama,he smiled. He’s all there! He’s all there! And he was.”(416)This piece of evidence shows that he isn't to blame because everyone told that narrator that if Doodle stayed alive he wouldn't be all there and when he saw him smile he believed that he was all there and this shows that...
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...Brother left his younger sibling all alone in a storm after they went boating in a river. In “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, the main characters, Brother and Doodle, are at odds. Brother wishes his younger sibling, Doodle, was never born. While it is not abnormal for siblings to be in spite, Brother takes it too far. If on trial, the evidence would show that Doodle died at the hands of Brother, who has a background of strong hatred toward him. Brother could have deliberately killed Doodle when he left him all alone in a raging storm. In the story, it says “The knowledge that Doodle’s and my plans had come to naught was bitter, and that streak of cruelty within me awakened. I ran as fast as I could leaving him far behind with a wall of...
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