Pride can be a good thing at times, but never have to much of it. It could get in the way of many things. Which is what happens in Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst, when Brother's pride gets in the way of excepting his little brother Doodle. Doodle was born premature and can't do the things that Brother can do. Brother doesn't like the fact that Doodle is so slow at doing things. He threatens him, makes him feel bad for the way he is, pushes him to limits that could really hurt Doodle. Have pride but not so much to where it starts effecting the people around you. Reason #1 Brother was guilty since when Doodle was a baby. The day he was born be thought Doodle was a dissapointment. He thought having a brother that wasn't all there was just unbearable. Brother "began to make plans to kill him by smothering him with a pillow" (595). He was never proud about having a disabled brother. He thought Doodle wasn't one of them if he couldn't do what Brother could do. He didn't except Doodle that way. …show more content…
"When Doodle was five years old, I was embarrassed at having a brother of that age who couldn't walk, so I set out to teach him" (597). Brother didn't teach Doodle to help him, he did it because he was embarrassed. When Doodle finally showed his family that he could walk, Brother cried when everyone praised him for showing him how to walk. Brother felt guilty for knowing that he did it because he had so much pride and was so embarressed, He did it for
The older brother of Doodle was ashamed of Doodle ever since he was born he actually made plans to kill Doodle when he was a baby. He was rough with Doodle on purpose so Doodle wouldn’t want to go with him. He didn’t do anything for Doodle out of love he did it so he wouldn’t have a crippled brother.
Beyond the Ibis In the story “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, the Scarlet Ibis portrays how people must learn to leave those they love alone through representing Doodle and his struggles in life. To begin, in the middle of the story the Scarlet Ibis sits on a tree in Doodle's backyard, and his parents think how “a storm must have brought it [there]” (Hurst 473). First of all, this quote shows how the storm pushes the bird physically since it ends up in a different region from where it typically lives; symbolizing how Brother pushes Doodle out of his comfort zone, which would represent the bird's typical habitat. Furthermore, this push causes Doodle to perish; Brother forces Doodle too much with his teaching, when he should be letting Doodle rejuvenate.
Brother might not have understood but he did and the result of it is Doodle dying. Some people might say that Brother was innocent of killing Doodle, but he wasn't! Brother was being rather selfish and pushing Doodle around. Also, Brother has never really appreciated Doodle.
At one point in the story, Brother even says to himself, “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,” (pg. 389). This quote shows that he only taught Doodle to walk because he was so afraid of what people would think of him since he had a crippled brother. Even after he had the realization that he was only doing this for himself, he still continued to teach Doodle more physical activities for his own benefit. Later on during the story, Brother says to himself, “Once I had succeeded in teaching Doodle to walk, I began to believe in my on infallibility and I prepared a terrific development program for him, unknown to Mama and Daddy, of course,” (pg. 390). In this quote, Brother describes how he goes on to teach Doodle other activities, but he doesn’t think about how Doodle feels about doing this, he just wants to prove that he can do anything without
"I did not know then that pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death. " Pride holds the ability to harm others if you do not set limits to what you will do to achieve it. The Scarlet Ibis, a tale written by James Hurst and that takes place in the early 1900s covers this when Brother speaks of his grievous past--precisely, by overworking his delicate younger brother Doodle. Doodle was born with a health condition, causing him to be initially disabled and later on in life, limited. Specifically, he suffered from a heart condition and was physically weak and unable to walk, the doctor had warned that Doodle must be treated gently and avoid extremes in temperature and emotion.
According to Google Dictionary, selfishness is the quality or condition of being selfish. Selfishness is not always a bad thing but in the case of The Scarlet Ibis the main character Brother’s selfishness is clearly has a negative effect on himself and those he loves.Throughout the story, Brother allows his selfishness to overpower his decisions as he begins to intentionally hurt his younger brother emotionally as well as mentally and he soon stops caring about his feelings all together. In the story, The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst, the theme one's own selfishness can end up pushing away and hurting those close to them is revealed through symbolism.
The biggest reason Brother is guilty for Doodle's death is when he taught Brother to walk. Doodle at five years-olds could barely stand on his own two feet. "Finally one day, after many weeks of practicing, he stood alone for a few seconds" (598). Now because Doodle can walk, Brother thinks Doodle can accomplished many more things like swimming and climbing trees. Brother didn't do it to help Doodle though, he it did for himself. He was completely embarrassed by Doodle. Brother, driven by his pride, helped Doodle everyday hoping that he would learn to be a better person.
One thing that proves Brother is guilty is his selfishness towards his brother. Doodle was born premature and didn't develop as fast as other kids. By
The quantities of pride hidden behind Brother’s “good deeds” would not end successfully. From page 5: “There is within me (and with sadness I have seen it in others) a knot of cruelty borne by the stream of love, much as our blood sometimes bears the seed of our destruction, and at times I was mean to Doodle.” This suggests that Brother knows he can be cruel to his brother, and he knows this relates to his love for Doodle. It also demonstrates how he was mean to Doodle plenty of times. How much could he have loved Doodle to do what he did to him? There is no answer, but one thing is true. It was mean. Very mean. From page 12: “I heard Doodle, who had fallen behind, cry out, ‘Brother, Brother, don’t leave me! Don’t leave me!’ My knowledge that Doodle’s and my plans had come to naught was bitter, and that streak of cruelty within me awakened. I ran as fast as I could, leaving him far behind... Soon I could hear his voice no more” This implies that Brother did indeed have a sense of cruelty, and a very bad one at best. It also shows that his plans to “help” Doodle were only driven by pride and greed. How could someone leave their brother to die only because they could not reach their
What is the definition of pride? If someone were to search the definition they would find that pride is “a feeling or deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one's own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired.” People can experience pride from many things like success, or intelligence, and even simple petty things being the first to turn in their test in a class. In the story the character Brother has a different type of pride, instead of being prideful of his actions his pride is a character trait. Brother is prideful of himself and having his crippled brother Doodle damaged his pride which is a dangerous thing when pride is a trait instead of a feeling. People often forget about how important a family member, especially siblings, are because they haven’t matured enough to understand the complexity and importance of life and family. In James Hurst’s short story “The Scarlet Ibis” brotherhood is a very big topic throughout it and the character “Brother” demonstrates how complicated and strange being prideful, being a sibling, and being a person, is. Through the story he is characterized as considerate and hurtful through his actions and inner thoughts.
Through out the life of Doodle and Brother , the Brother's pride is guilty of many things. The first thing that shows his guilty when the Brother was 6 years old." 'It was bad enough having an invalid brother, but having one who possibly was not all there was unbearable, so I began to make plans to kill him by smothering him with a pillow' "(595).This shows that Doodle is bad to his brother because he tired to kill because he didn't really exist in his family. Doodle's brother planned to kill him because he wanted a brother that could boy stuff with him. Also Doodle's brother didn't like his brother because he couldn't even talk and play with him. That's one part why Brother is guilty of Doodle's death.
At the beginning, Doodle had been very hesitant to go along with his brother’s plans. He tried to argue with his brother. “I can’t walk, Brother,” Doodle said. “Who says so?” He demanded. “Mama, the doctor, everybody,” uttered Doodle. “Oh, you can walk,” The narrator said.” Shortly after that, Doodle began to follow the narrator’s orders and self ambitions. Soon, the narrator had acquired too much ambition, putting Doodle at risk. This is evident with Doodle’s constant cry, “don’t hurt me, Brother.” Little did the narrator know he would be pushing his brother too far. Later in the story, the narrator let his ambition overcome him and decided to keep on pushing his brother. He did not want a brother who could not do what other normal schoolboys could do. He admits to himself, “the knowledge that Doodle’s and my plans had come to naught was bitter, and that streak of cruelty within me awakened.” He believed what Doodle could not do would greatly affect him and his social
When the Brother was forcing Doodle to learn how to walk, Doodle was in pain and he didn’t want to learn to walk at all. “This time [Doodle] did not lift his face up out of the rubber grass. ‘ I just can’t do it. Let’s make honeysuckle wreath.’”(4) From this quote, Hurst shows that Doodle was giving up, Doodle’s body knew that it could not support Doodle to walk yet, he needed to practice for a long time. As a younger teenage boy, the narrator was not well educated and did not understand the capability of Doodle’s body and he often force Doodle to do things that he don’t want to do. “There is within [the Brother] a knot of cruelty borne by the stream of love, much as our blood sometimes bears the seed of our destruction, and at times I was mean to Doodle.”(3) At the time of the story, the Brother was childish and very irresponsible. Just like what he has said in the quotes above, the Brother was cruel to Doodle. He forced Doodle to touch a coffin and threatened Doodle that he would leave Doodle if he doesn't touch a coffin. The coffin was made originally for Doodle, since everyone thought Doodle was going to die very soon. Later in the training program, the narrator wanted Doodle to run, Doodle’s limited physical ability was overwhelmed, the Brother simply ditched Doodle in the heavy rain since he was mad at Doodle for not reaching the goal that they
In the the story “The Scarlet Ibis” by James, Hurst shows his audience that self pride is a positive aspect in this story, it can help people get through difficult obstacles they have in life, but when people worry too much about their self pride it can lead to hurting others physically and mentally.
One example of this theme is in the short story "The Scarlet Ibis." In the story, the leading character was ashamed of having a disabled little brother, believing that other kids would make fun of them. He decides to teach his brother how to walk. After a rough couple of weeks, Doodle, the little brother, learns how to walk. The older brother decides to also teach Doodle how to run, swim, and climb so when he goes to school, he'll be "normal." This is an example of the main character's pride. He doesn't want the other kids to think he is different because he has a disabled brother, so he decides to teach his brother to be normal. While teaching Doodle how to run, swim and climb, the older brother pushes him to his limit. A storm arrives and the older brother leaves Doodle, causing Doodle to panic and pass away. This is another example of pride. The older brother was so prideful of Doodle and wanted him to be the best he could be, but it resulted in Doodle dying.