Character Analysis Of Doodle In The Scarlet Ibis

The narrator of the story, The Scarlet Ibis, Doesn't give his name, but he tells about his time with his brother, Doodle. Doodle is a complex character in many ways, he was born a cripple but was, by some accounts, blessed, and Doodle also had the element of being a genius for his circumstances. On October 8, 1911 Doodle was born with a heart condition that left him physically and mentally disabled, and wasn't expected to live past infancy, but, by defying the odds, Doodle survives his first few years of his life. Some of the characters believe that this is because when he was born, he had been born in a caul. Which leads to the fact that, Doodle, was very smart and soon learned to talk and even walk.

When Doodle was born on the aforesaid October 8, he was not named Doodle. A few months after his birth, and only because he didn't die, his parents gave him a name. They named hime William Armstrong. As said in the story, “They named him William Armstrong, which was like tying a big tail on a small kite. Such a name sounds good only on a tombstone.” The parents told Doodle’s brother that he might not be “all there” because of his deficiencies but one afternoon the narrator was watching Doodle, and Doodle looked straight at him and

When he was two he learned how to roll over, and in the story “The doctor said that with his weak heart this strain would probably kill him, but it didn’t.” Then he eventually learned to crawl backwards, and that was his mode of transportation unless he was being carried or pulled around in his cart. Doodle began to talk soon after and, as described in the book, would not stop talking. Then one day Brother, the narrator, decided to teach him how to walk. And Doodle did learn how to walk, and also skip and run. Doodle was also a skilled at lying which is basically storytelling. He would make up lies all day long and tell his family so many that they eventually stopped