Summary Of The Scarlet Ibis By James Hurst

Author Shannon L. Alder once said, “One of the greatest regrets in life is being what others would want you to be, rather than being yourself.” This is evident throughout the short story, “The Scarlet Ibis”, by James Hurst. The story starts with the birth of a physically ill brother who has heart problems and is predicted to die. Surprisingly, he survives and his older brother nicknames him Doodle as they set out on their crusade to help Doodle become a normal kid and overcome his health symptoms, but Brother instead takes a dark turn to achieve his goal no matter the cost and the consequences. Brother’s cruel and unforgiving persistence pushes Doodle to the limit both physically and mentally throughout the story to the point of Doodle’s passing.

When Doodle is first born, Brother states how it, “was bad enough having an invalid brother … so [Brother] began to make plans to kill him by smothering him with a pillow,” (Hurst 485). Brother’s cruelty once again alights as he plans to kill his invalid brother for his own reasons and issues. His sense of morality vanishes as his thoughts take a turn for the dark without an ounce of love for his brother. Another example is when Brother thinks at times about how “[he] was mean to Doodle. One day [he] took him up to the barn loft and showed him his casket, telling him how [they] all had believed he would die,” (486). Without contemplating his actions and consequences, he hurts Doodle by showing him the casket he was to be buried in and why. Brother’s cruelness overcomes his senses and alights a fire within him that can only be quenched by the pain of others, which, in this case, is