In “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, the narrator is an abuser to his younger brother Doodle. For example, a few weeks before school was to begin, Doodle experiences sleepless nights and wakes up crying from nightmares as a result of his brother’s goal to teach Doodle to walk. It is understandable to try and have Doodle learn to walk day by day, but the stress Doodle is under to please his brother shows how the narrator puts his own pride above Doodle’s well-being. Considering that the narrator doesn’t take Doodle’s responses to his activities into account as he teaches, the narrator knows no boundaries as to what is helpful and what is treated as abuse. In addition, the narrator runs out of Horseshoe Landing leaving Doodle alone in the rain
The second reason for my statement is, "’It lives in the tropics-South America to Florida. A storm must have brought it here.’" (Hurst 137). Although this quote doesn’t exactly come out and say the relationship between Doodle and the scarlet ibis, it has to be interpreted. My interpretation of this is that the bird came a long way, all the way from South America or Florida.
Avelina Proshak Ms. Watson English 9 / Block 4 28 February 2023 Birds and Doodle. In his short story, “The Scarlet Ibis” author Hames Hurst uses birds as a symbol for Doodle’s current emotions by showing Doodle’s fear of being left alone and not being protected. Doodle, the narrator's brother, was born with a rare disease; however, instead of dying as a baby he ended up growing up with his family. Nevertheless, Doodle was weak and fragile and the use of birds as symbols helps us understand Doodle’s current emotions.
In the short story The Scarlet Ibis, James Hurst uses symbolism to compare the scarlet ibis and the narrator's younger sibling Doodle. There are many parts in this story that refer the scarlet ibis to Doodle symbolically. To begin with, The Scarlet Ibis and Doodle should've never been in the environment they had died in. When Doodle was born everyone knew he wasn’t going to make it much longer in his short span of life “Everyone thought he was going to die”(416). Therefore his family built Doodle a coffin, Later on this represents an older Doodle when he was burying the scarlet ibis “The bird wasn’t supposed to be here….it couldn't handle the climate”(425).
In the story, “The Scarlet Ibis”, the author, James Hurst, used a scarlet ibis to symbolize Doodle. The scarlet ibis in the story was an injured bird that was weak just like Doodle. Throughout the story Doodle shows that he is also gullible and a big dreamer along with being weak. Doodle from “The Scarlet Ibis” is gullible, weak, and a big dreamer.
The Scarlet Ibis The theme in the story "The Scarlet Ibis", written by James Hurst, is that too much pride can become destructive in one's life. In the story, the theme is demonstrated through the use of symbolism. The first symbol is the coffin, which is introduced to the reader at the beginning of the story when Doodle was born, as no one believed Doodle would live long. The coffin supports the theme of the story as the narrator, also Doodle's brothers, takes Doodle to see his coffin and makes him touch it by using emotional blackmail when he says "Then I'll leave you here by yourself, I threatened, and made as if I were going down", as Doodle was afraid to be left alone in the attic.
The symbol that best represents doodle in ”The Scarlet Ibis” is I think is love and compassion which is also the Scarlet Ibis. I think that it is compassion because he has love and compassion towards the things that he does and towards his family because he had love for the bird. For my first example I have. “Brother, Brother, don’t leave me!”” (Hurst 132)
James Hurst creates The Scarlet Ibis with an abundance of many literary devices, but a main device is symbolism. Nature and the Color red are the main symbols that Hurst uses throughout his short story. Hurst provides many symbols in his story and they all have a significant meaning, mostly relating to death. Throughout the story, the author makes multiple references to the color red, not only symbolizing death, but also provides hints of Doodle’s Death. The first encounter with this dreadful color can be traced to the second paragraph when Hurst describes Doodle after being born as a “tiny body which was red”(pg 1).
How the narrator killed his own brother without knowing it Don't ever go against the doctors orders or you will face the consequences of your choice. The reason I say this is if you do decide to go against the doctors orders, you or a relative will face severe consequences or even death. You will understand more as you read "The Scarlet Ibis" written by James Hurst. The story is based on the narrators choices and determines the fate of his brother. The narrators name is Henry and his brother,doodle are the main characters in the story along with their parents.
The short story of “The Scarlet Ibis” is a story of two brothers, in which the older brother pushes his younger brother, Doodle, to be perfect and to be just like the other boys. This story is expressed through many different symbols that have meaning throughout the story. “The Scarlet Ibis” uses symbolism in birds, death, and the color red to show the conflict of one older brother pushing his younger brother to be perfect. Birds are used throughout “The Scarlet Ibis” to symbolize how fragile and unique the lives of creatures in nature are. “On the topmost branch a bird the size of a chicken with scarlet feathers and long legs was precariously”(Hurst).
After a long day of training to go back to school, Doodle and the narrator were enjoying lunch when they both hear a squawking sound coming from the outside that led to them seeing a scarlet ibis perching upon the bleeding tree. Much like Doodle at the time, the bird looked “tired” and “sick” and just like Doodle’s movements the birds “wings were uncoordinated” leading the narrator and both their parents to watch as “Its long, graceful neck jerked twice into an S, then straightened out, and the bird was still.” (351-360). The scarlet ibis is uncoordinated, tired, sick, and awkward just like Doodle. One of the occurrences where Doodle holds similarities to the scarlet ibis was when he died because he was described as laying “very awkwardly,” with a “vermilion” neck, equivalent to the red feathers of a scarlet ibis.
The scarlet ibis symbolizes Doodle. “It lives in the tropics. How many miles it has traveled to die like this, in our yard, beneath the bleeding tree,” (424). Doodle, like the scarlet ibis, does not belong in his environment. He is mentally and physically impaired, which makes him different and stand out.
The quote said “he was looking up into the tree”. “It’s a great big red bird” he called”. Later after Doodle said that, the bird fell through the tree and died. While everyone looked at the Scarlet Ibis, the reader can see a similarity in the bird and Doodle. They were both weak and Doodle was born a shade of red, as the Ibis is.
Such ending of The Scarlet Ibis is surprizing for both the narrator and the reader. In fact, the death of Doodle after growing up is unexpected by neither the narrator nor the reader. (Hamdi, DeAngelis, 2008, Page
Doodle became fascinated with this bird in Old Woman’s Swamp. The bird looked exotic, as if it belonged to another environment. I did some research on the newfound animal and discovered that its name was the Scarlet Ibis, a species of birds that live in tropical areas. That’s when I realized a connection between Doodle and the Ibis. Just as the Scarlet Ibis was different from the dank, bland landscape of Old Woman’s Swamp, so was Doodle when he was born into the family.
