Sneaky Symbols “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst is full of abstract symbolism to help the audience understand the passage clearer. This story is about a disappointed boy who finds out his brother is invalid. The baby by was thought to die at birth, but he ends up living. They named him William Armstrong, but the brother believed that that was a terrible name for a disabled child. Doodle, William’s nickname his brother gave him, could not walk. The boy was determined to teach Doodle how to walk because he thought of Doodle as an embarrassment. The doctors believed Doodle could not be overworked, or he would die. During the training, Doodle could not keep up with his older brother. Doodle fell to the ground from being tired, and slowly died …show more content…
The color red can mean countless things, but in “The Scarlet Ibis” I think it symbolizes death. The text states, “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” (The Scarlet Ibis, Hurst, James, Page One). In this quote from the passage, I can find multiple words symbolizing red. These are clove, dead, autumn, born, ibis, lit and bleeding. Because Doodle bleeds from the mouth while he is dying, I think the author hints about this by using red items. From these items, we gain knowledge that something might happen with blood or …show more content…
It had traveled so far to die defenseless. This definitely symbolizes Doodle's journey to learn how to walk and him falling to the ground unable to move as he died. Doodle had been so worn out for the training, that when he needed it most, he was too exhausted. “A scarlet ibis! How many miles it had traveled to die like this, in our yard, beneath the bleeding tree” (The Scarlet Ibis, Hurst, James, Page four). The abstract idea the scarlet ibis portrays is Doodle. We gain knowledge about this bird and how it dies weak, only later to find Doodle dies the same