Doodle's Pride In The Scarlet Ibis By James Hurst

Swiss poet Johann Kasper Lavater said, “When pride begins, love ceases.” Pride is a dangerous road, it can either lead to danger, or it can lead to a positive life. For instance, Doodle from ‘The Scarlet Ibis” and this quote are interconnected because his older brother’s pride impacted Doodle both positively and negatively. Doodle always wanted to be around him , so he kept pushing himself which resulted in his tragic demise. Though it benefitted Doodle, it caused him to meet his untimely demise. Beknownst to the older brother, Doodle was a good brother. In the short story “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, Doodle is an excellent brother because he is caring and forgiving. One of Doodle attributes was his ability to forgive. On

He never told his mom when the older brother had hurt him. Doodle’s brother said “Sometimes I accidentally turned him over, but he never told Mama. (Hurst)”, this was around the time Doodle was three, so he cared about his brother even when he was very young. Furthermore, Doodle is caring because he buried the scarlet ibis after the bird died. Doodle and his family have crowded around this exotic, mysterious bird, “Daddy, Mama, and I went back to the dining-room table, but we watched Doodle through the open door. He took out a piece of string from his pocket and, without touching the ibis, looped one end around its neck. Slowly, while singing softly "Shall We Gather at the River," he carried the bird around to the front yard and dug a hole in the flower garden, next to the petunia bed. (Hurst)”, Doodle’s family watched went back inside, refusing to touch the bird. However, Doodle stayed and felt sympathy for the scarlet ibis, which resulted in a clumsily dug grave and quiet burial. Doodle was the only one that stayed, the one that didn’t give the bird a quick glance then moved on with his day. He took time to give this beautiful bird a grave because he cared for the bird. In summary, Doodle’s ability to let his brother’s malicious nature towards him slide and digging the scarlet ibis a grave is proof that he’s a caring