Doodle's Pride In The Scarlet Ibis

Death happens all the time; but whether or not it is someone's fault is the thing to question. In James Hurst's "The Scarlet Ibis", the narrator's pride gets his brother, Doodle, killed. Doodle was a child who was 'not all there' and couldn't do what normal children could. Doodle was forced by the narrator to over-work himself and do a rigorous training to get him on the 'level' he is supposed to be at, which later gets him killed. The only person to blame for Doodle's demise is the narrator.

First example is ”doodle walked only because i was ashamed of having a crippled brother.” (pg 6 paragraph 3). It is crazy that he would do so much just so that he wouldn't have to deal with a crippled brother that he is ashamed of for something that isn't his fault. One of their conversations were “Do you want to be different from everybody else when you start school? Said brother Does it make any difference?

That incident is what caused the narrator to attempt to kill his brother by smothering him with his pillow. He does this because he can’t accept that Doodle is not normal. His pride is abolished when he feels shame and embarrassment through his brother’s lack of success in physical activities.

Throughout the story, The Scarlet Ibis, the narrator known as Doodle’s older brother is attempting to change Doodle for what he thinks is the best. Although he is doing these tasks, he has indeed begun harming doodle. I do not blame the narrator because he is a child himself and there was no immediate harm done to doodle it was all long term. Early in the story, the mother of the narrator said that Doodle may not be all there, implying that he may never walk talk or do any of that.

Furthermore, i think his brother killed doodle he did nothing for him when he called for help. (Hurst). Therefore his brother is not a real brother and at the end did not help him at the end of the story I believe it teaches the lesson that too much pride is bad because it can get in the away of your family and it’s not good for people that know you.

Brother also pushed Doodle just to make him “normal”. Brother said that he was ,”...embarrassed of having a cripple brother”,as stated on page 347. He even

“He was born when I was six, from the outset, a disappointment”. (Hurst, 350) from the moment Doodle was born he was viewed as not good enough for the narrator. The narrator had longings of what a brother would be like, when his new brother was physically incapable to live up to his desire he tried to change him out of pridefulness. Embarrassment and pride were the only reasons that Doodle was taught to walk, not because the narrator thought he was able. “Shut up, I’m not going to hurt you, I’m going to teach you to walk” (Hurst, 354) Doodle’s disability was not something he could ‘fix’, and on account of his brothers ego, Doodle was pushed too far, thus ultimately he could be pushed no

“They did not know that I did it for myself; that pride, whose slave I was, spoke to me louder than all their voices, and that Doodle walked only because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother” (Hurst 468). The narrator was ashamed of his brother who couldn’t do what others around him could. The narrator’s motivation was his selfish pride and shame. The narrator was at times brutal to Doodle because of the embarrassment and shame that blinded him to Doodle’s limitations which led to the dire consequences that arose due to his thoughtless actions.

“The Scarlet Ibis” Literary Analysis Essay As the protagonist unfolds his tale, he paints a picture of himself initially as a malevolent force, planning the smothering death of his crippled brother, to a bully, force-teaching Doodle to walk to satisfy his own ends, and finally a neglectful older brother whose acts lead to Doodle’s demise. It is the central event of his brother’s death that gives full meaning to the title, “The Scarlet Ibis.” In this short story by James Hurst, the author conveys the Narrator’s guilt over Doodle’s life and, more importantly, his death.

Brother was at fault for Doodle’s death for pushing him too hard. Brother kept running in the rain and he left Doodle behind because he couldn’t keep up. Doodle and Brother were out practicing to make Doodle more normal.

Here is my evidence. First reason the narrator is guilty of Doodle’s death is because he was ashamed of him. This is clearly shown when brother makes the statement on page 347 “I was ashamed of having a crippled brother.” This clearly shows the narrator's shame in Doodle. Another statement

Brother planned to spend his entire life with Doodle, They "decided that when [they] were grown [they'd] live in Old Woman Swamp and pick dog-tongue" (Hurst). He wanted Doodle to have pride in himself and be able to do everything Brother wanted to do with him. Brother had pride in Doodle since he was first able to stand on his own and walk. He taught Doodle out of his own selfishness, he was ashamed of having an "invalid" brother and wanted to have "someone to race to Horsehead Landing, someone to box with, and someone to perch within the top fork of the great pine behind the barn, where across the fields and swamps you could see the sea" (Hurst). Brother was ashamed of the way he felt and his self-indulgent efforts for Doodle.

"Doodle!" I screamed above the pounding storm and threw my body to the earth above his. For a long time, it seemed forever, I lay there crying, sheltering my fallen scarlet ibis from the heresy of rain”(Hurst 6).This section shows from the end of Doodle’s life onward Brother has felt guilty. The whole story is Brothers story of the dangers of pride and his personal experience.

Given all the evidence in the story there’s no doubt about it that Doodle’s death was because of his brother’s dislike for him, self-pride, and decisions when Doodle needed his brother most. The Narrator is responsible for his brother, Doodle's, death because he never really liked him to begin with. William Armstrong (Doodle) was born a disabled child when the narrator was 6 years old. The narrator was wishing for a brother that he would be able to do things with and have fun with, but when the narrator was

At first the narrator sees Doodle as a crazy frail brother but as we move into the story, we can observe a lot of varying feelings brother has towards Doodle. Brother described Doodle as unbearable, an invalid brother, a brother who was not there at all, so he started