Morality In 'The Scarlet Ibis'

The storm started to come down, so they took off for home. I heard Doodle who had fallen behind, cry out, “Brother, Brother, don’t leave me! Don’t leave me!” (Hurst 6). Good brothers would come back and get their brother if he was screaming. Brother leaving Doodle behind when he was screaming just shows that he wasn’t being nice enough to his brother.

It is nice to be proud of the people one cares about but if one pushes him/her too far, pride could destroy the relationship between them. The story, “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, shows how one brother’s pride can destroy the relationship between the two brothers. The narrator of the story has a crippled brother named Doodle. Doodle cannot walk properly and is weak because he was born as a caul baby. His body is a reddish hue and shriveled like an old man.

Guilty or Not Can pride be a destructive force? Yes in “The Scarlet ibis” a crippled boy named Doodle died because his brother pushed him too hard Because he couldn 't walk. Others might say that Doodle 's brother did not kill him they will say that he is innocent. I believe that Doodle 's died because of his brother. On page “347” Doodles brother was ashamed of having a crippled brother.

The narrator had illusions of the missed adventures and tried still, to achieve them even though his brother was oftentimes physically unable. The narrator is responsible for his brother’s death because he allowed his own pride and embarrassment drive him to push Doodle because he was not the same as the other children, he was aggressive toward Doodle and at times abusive, and pushed Doodle too far and didn’t understand his limitations.

James Hurst’s short story ” The Scarlet Ibis” tells a story about two brothers who have mixed feelings for each other. Doodle, crippled and mental, really loves his brother and all he wants is to please his brother and his family. Unfortunately, his brother doesn’t like him because he wanted a brother he could play with. He also believes that Doodle is a burden to him because he has to take him wherever he goes and has to take care of him. The theme of “ The Scarlet Ibis” is that too much pride can be destructive.

In James Hurst’s Story “The Scarlet Ibis”, the demand for normality ruins lives. In Hurst’s tale the protagonist is concerned about his crippled brother being seen as abnormal and reflecting badly on the character. In order to prevent this the protagonist starts to train his brother, eventually he begins to feel that Doodle, his brother, is not putting in enough effort. Our protagonist states, “You can do it. Do you want to be different from everybody else when you start school?” Defeated, Doodle questions, “Does it make any difference?” The protagonist replys, “It certainly does” (182).

The “Scarlet Ibis” and Frankenstein Comparison Imagine working so hard to get what you want, only to realize your work was in vain. When wanting something so bad, people let emotions take over, not thinking about the big picture. In Hurst's “The Scarlet Ibis”, and Shelly’s Frankenstein, the main character leaves their work in a no-win situation. In James Hurst’s short story, “The Scarlet Ibis” the narrator teaches his brother to walk because of his selfish desires. When asked why he wants to teach his brother to walk he says he does not want to do more work.

Selfishness of a child is represented as a negativity in Brother’s life when he starts to cry after presenting a walking Doodle to his loved ones. “Doodle told them it was I who had taught him to walk, so everyone wanted to hug me, and I began to cry… They did not know that I did it for myself; that pride, whose slave I was, spoke to me louder than all of their voices; and that Doodle walked only because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother,” (347). At the time, Brother doesn’twant to be known as the boy with the crippled brother, so he does whatever he can to teach Doodle to walk. He cries due to the fact that his family’s glee is only present at the time due to him ashamed. His own desires have taken over his mind, and he acts upon them.

The central main idea is, It’s not easy defending for what you believe is right. The towns people were displeased through the book and trying to change his mind about the trail, but Atticus stayed strong. Later on, a mob was after Atticus, on page 203-204 it states,” ‘Son, I said to go home’ Jem shook his head. ‘I’ll send him home.’ A burly man said and grabbed Jem roughly by the collar…’Don’t touch him!’ I kick the man swiftly. Barefooted, I was surprised to see him fall back in pain.” For deciding to help the Blackman he had to risk his family’s safety.

Is Doodle’s brother at fault for his death? In this story, Doodle is underdeveloped and everyone thought he would die but he didn’t. Doodle was taught by his brother how to walk and run. “Everybody thought he was going to die someday” (Hurst 1) This is showing that people have no hope on others and should not so they can live like normal human beings. Giving up hope only hurts your self esteem.