The Scarlet Ibis displays this concept, and how “bad pride” can lead to guilt and tragedy. The Scarlet Ibis is a story about a boy and his little brother, Doodle, who has a deformity that causes his head to be abnormally large and his body small. When Doodle dies at the end of this story, a question remains to the reader: was Doodle’s death the brother’s fault, because of his pride? It is the brother’s
The narrator is responsible for Doodle’s death because he overworked Doodle and expected
It's the narrators fault for the following reasons: he was selfish, he was embarrassed of him, and he pressured him. The narrator was being selfish as he admitted that he did it for himself because he was ashamed of Doodle being crippled. Doodle looks up to his brother and would do anything for his approval. The narrator knows that his brother's heart is weak, forces Doodle
Turning from a prideful boy to being merciful toward his dead brother. In fact, it all began when his brother was born, “with a tiny body which was red and shriveled like an old man’s” (595). Doodle is weakened and incapable of doing activities normal kids do at his age. The narrator encourages Doodle to keep on pushing, but no sooner does the narrator learn that pushing Doddle over his limitations will sooner or later kill him. The narrator kills Doodle indirectly, as a consequence of the lack of knowledge he has about Doodle’s medical issues, and as said before, being enveloped in pride.
The Brother tells you that the pride he had in renaming his brother because no one expected anything from him. This is another reason why his brother caused his death by having little concern for what he done and he left Doodle in the rain. The narrator from "The Scarlet Ibis", causes Doodles death because he left him off in the rain. The brother was angry doodle had failed his expectations. Doodle stepped off the boat and collapsed onto the mud.
Knowles uses symbols such as the breaking of Phineas’s leg and Phineas’s untimely death to show that Gene and Phineas’s friendship is slowly breaking apart. “Eventually a fact emerged; it was one of his legs, which had been ‘shattered’,” (61). The break being described as shattered can also represent the friendship and show Gene’s betrayal of Phineas. Now that Phineas has fallen out of the tree, possibly because of Gene, this begins to rip apart their friendship, Phineas refusing to believe his best friend could do it, and Gene is unsure if he caused it and thinking something else was to blame. “As I was moving the bone some of the marrow must have escaped into his blood stream and gone directly to his heart and stopped it, “ (193).
“Then I’ll leave you here all by yourself.” Another way the reader knows the narrator is cruel is when he leaves his fallen brother behind. “I run as fast as I could, leaving him behind with a wall of rain dividing us.” This is cruel because his brother can’t fend for himself because of his disability.
Hurst suggests that expectations are also a form of egotism that can lead to resentment; hence coming into conflict with one’s identity, such as alteration and remorse. Doodle’s desire was to be loved and supported by his family. He was invalid - he could not walk; thus everyone had low expectations towards him and thought he would die except for Aunt Nicey. His brother (the narrator) tried to kill him as he saw him an unbearable disappointment and his father had built him a mahogany coffin. For instance, “It was I who renamed him [...]
“It is better to lose your pride with someone you love than to lose someone you love with your useless pride” - Unknown “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst is the story of a boy and his sickly younger brother, Doodle. The older brother (the narrator) was embarrassed that Doodle was unable to do normal, physical things. The narrator set off to teach his brother to walk, swim, and run, but his pride caused him to push his little brother too hard, which eventually led to Doodle’s death. The narrator was heartbroken that he caused his brother to die.
I screamed… For a long, long time, it seemed forever, I lay there crying sheltering my fallen scarlet ibis from the heresy of rain.” (Hurst 426). The way the narrator details his brother’s body is an exact description of the scarlet ibis’ dead body. For example, the scarlet ibis is red, its neck is long, and its legs are curved, just like Doodle’s dead body.
In “The Scarlet Ibis,” by James Hurst, Doodle is sensitive and is a static character. A scene in the story that shows this character trait is when the doctor was telling them of what he can and can’t do in order for him to stay healthy. “He mustn't get too excited, too hot, too cold, or too tired and that he must always be treated gently.” This reminds me of an elderly person and how sensitive their bodies are. This event is a good example because it shows that Doodle is fragile.
James Hurst in "The Scarlet Ibis" uses the brother to illustrate that both selfish and caring motivations can help someone succeed. Not only caring acts, but also selfish acts can help people succeed. The brother actions leave positive and negative results that affect Doodle’s life. In spite of his natural feelings of pride, or perhaps because of them, the brother cares and loves Doodle.
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.
In “The Scarlet Ibis”, James Hurst shows that one should not take the easy way out by submitting to one’s obstacles because in the end, it won’t be worth it. “I heaved him up again collapsed… ‘I just can’t do it.’ [Doodle says]” (Hurts 598). An example of the theme is when Doodle submits to his obstacle, which is his brother setting a goal for him he doesn’t care to achieve. By not facing his problems, The narrator’s younger brother’s problems get worse, and somewhat lead to his death.