Self-Esteem In The Scarlet Ibis By James Hurst: Literary Analysis

The family realized that Doodle's disabilities undoubtedly make him different from other people, but this story questions whether these differences even matter. His brother insists and continues to push him right past his breaking point in the interest of conformity. He gives an example of the theme Do not let pride overrule love. A bird called the Scarlet Ibis appears, it forms a strong connection with Doodle. The ibis's death and Doodle's response to it, is the most impactful piece of foreshadowing in the story.

C.S. Lewis once quoted, “A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and of, course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.” This exemplifies the genuine idea of what pride can do to a soul. Many never fully acknowledge the sincere people who sit around them, and the beauties these individuals hold. Similarly, in Hurst’s, “The Scarlet Ibis,” Doodle’s older brother, the narrator, is driven to push Doodle to succeed in various activities, because he cannot seem to see Doodle’s “inner beauty.” As the thought of making Doodle the best he can be, and displaying his “inner beauty,” eventually leads to a horrific tragedy.

In the story “Scarlet Ibis,” the narrator is flawed in his inability to let go of his desire to have a normal brother. The narrator has a little brother named Doodle, with an extreme amount of disabilities. Before Doodle was born, the narrator fantasized about having a little brother who would be his playmate. Doodle, however, was not the ideal brother. He could not walk or do much on his own.

He felt no sympathy for Doodle until he died and even then he doesn’t even mention that he loves him. Poor Doodle, he put all his faith in his brother thinking that he was trying to help him get stronger because he loved him and wanted to see him get better, but in reality he was just pushing his limits so he didn’t have to roll him around school. “ 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 355) The narrator had no feelings of the brotherly love for Doodle.

The narrator has already proved shame in having a “crippled brother” and having self-centered motives for teaching Doodle how to

There are 56.7 million people in the United States have a physical disability, that is 19 percent of the population of the whole country. Imagine each and every one of those people being hated and shamed by their family, specifically their older siblings. Older siblings are supposed to be a role model for the younger children in the family but in “The Scarlet Ibis” the narrator was a prideful, spiteful, and murderous person who held shame and hate in his heart for his invalid younger brother. The narrator was the older brother to an invalid child who could not even walk, yet the narrator hated him for what he was and felt shame that he had to associate with a kid such as his brother. The narrator was the cause of his younger brother’s death

The theme in “The Scarlet Ibis” is the duality of pride, and the idea that although some pride is good, when you let it control you, it can be devastating. The narrator in “The Scarlet Ibis” is reflecting on his life with his brother Doodle, who was born with physical disabilities.

Would you ever think a person with a disabled brother would be ashamed of him? Sadly, throughout most of the story the narrator in The Scarlet Ibis” has tried to change him and make him a normal kid. Some of the character traits that the narrator has are that he is generous, ignorant, and dramatic. One of the first things the reader notices is how cruel the narrator is. When the narrator threatens to leave Doodle all by himself.

Have you ever been so ashamed of who you are associated with, that you push them past their own physical limits for your own good? In the short story, The Scarlet Ibis, by James Hurst makes you think about what is truly from the goodness of the brother character’s heart or if he is just being selfish. Ever since Doodle was born, he had no hope from anyone. Brother was the first one to look past his disabilities and see that he had the potential to be normal. Although Brother has to care for Doodle and teach him how to walk, run, swim, and row, it was only because he was sick of giving all of his personal time to the little disabled boy who could not walk.

Scarlet ibis analysis rough draft Imagine you have a sibling that can’t do anything with you because of a disability he has. Brother treated doodle poorly because he was embarrassed of his disability and wanted to get him fixed so doodle was less embarrassing to brother .Brother is not a good brother because he was embarrassed of his own brother and he treated him poorly because of something doodle couldn’t help. Brother made doodle do things he shouldn’t be able to.

The narrator killed doodle effectually. The brother was egoistic and didn’t listen to Doodle when he wasn't eligible to work anymore. Doodle unpleasantly died because of his condition which was hard for him to cure because he was born with a condition that he could never walk. Doodle was born October 18 , 1911 and died in 1918 just before his seventh birthday. Doodle was born with a condition where he cannot walk, and was expected to die as an infant.

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

Thesis Statement Despite the fact that pride is considered an incredible feeling of motivation and happiness, the author James Hurst through his characters, Doodle and the older brother, in his story, “The Scarlet Ibis,” proves ,it is in fact, a masked detrimental and beneficial feeling of selfishness and guilt. II. First Thesis Point- Topic

I ran as fast as I could, leaving him far behind with a wall of rain dividing us”. Hurst was so mad that his plans to make Doodle better failed so he left Doodle far behind in the rain. When Hurst went back for him he was dead because he couldn’t run in the rain. In conclusion the theme of the story is pride can be destructive because since Doodle couldn’t walk and Hurst wanted to show him anyway, out of pride, Doodle

A central topic in “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst is selfishness. For example, the narrator only helped Doodle because he “was embarrassed at having a brother of that age who couldn’t walk.” (Hurst 1) This shows that he was selfish because he cared what people thought of him, not the well being of his brother. Another