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Forshadow Doodle's Death In The Scarlet Ibis By James Hurst

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In “The Scarlet Ibis”, by James Hurst, a narrator tells a story in flashback of his childhood experiences with his brother, Doodle. He makes us aware of how Doodle was expected to die because of his weak heart, but he lived. Doodle learned to crawl, but he couldn’t walk or do many of the most common physical activities because of his disability. When Doodle was five, Brother taught him to walk and they decided to set a deadline of when Doodle should be able to box, run, swim, and row a boat. They struggled to reach the deadline and the work was very laborious for Doodle. One Saturday, a few days before the deadline, a scarlet ibis flew into their yard, only to die after coming from the tropics. Doodle seemed to have a special connection and sadness about the bird’s death; he was depressed for a long period of time afterwards. They continue to persevere until the night before the deadline. That …show more content…

Of course, this statement brings to question, why did James Hurst do this? First, these references foreshadow Doodle’s death to us, to make us less surprised. Also, it makes you think about the story’s connection to the real world.Something else is that this pattern could be give the story more meaning. If Doodle were to just die without any warning in the hidden clues that we notice, we would be very confused and possibly sadder than we already are when we read the end. Also, it makes you think about the story’s connection to the real world. Not only do its references to red make us think about the story when we see red, but it makes us think about death in more depth, which of course is an issue that affects everybody’s lives. Lastly, we can interpret it do mean Brother has found some closure even though he blames himself for Doodle’s death. He has learned over time to think about death as a whole and realize that it isn’t just about the ending of Doodle’s

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