Symbols In The Scarlet Ibis By James Hurst

How would you feel if you were in someone's shoes that was different than normal. In “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst Doodle is symbolized by the bird and the actions that is a static character because he never changed by his appearance and feeling throughout the story.

A symbol is an object that represents or symbolizes another object. In the short story, the scarlet ibis, by James Hurst, the scarlet ibis is a symbol for Doodle because it represents him in life, in person, and in death. One example of the scarlet ibis symbolizing doodle is the fact that both the Scarlet Ibis and Doodle are out of place. For example, when doodle’s father reads the bird book, he states, “It is a Scarlet Ibis, it lives in the tropics [South America to Florida]. A storm must have brought it here, A Scarlet Ibis!

In the short story, The Scarlet Ibis, by James Hurst there were many symbols that enhanced the reading experience with their connotations. The mahogany coffin, the scarlet ibis, and the color red help to relate aspects of the story to underlying themes. The mahogany coffin represented the somewhat pre-determined destiny of the narrator’s brother, Doodle. Doodle was expected to die early due to being a cripple, but he came back from his disability.

Doodle shows from the beginning that he is abnormally special and determined. Doodle was expected to die very young, he looked like an old man all head and no body. Everyone thought Doodle was a big disappointment except Aunt Nicey who knew he would live since he was born in a caul, or membrane enclosing a baby at birth. Dad had a little mahogany coffin built for Doodle anyway, which now sits up in the barn loft covered in Paris green, and has an owl nest built inside of it. One day Doodle and his brother went up into the barn loft to see the casket.

“The Scarlet Ibis” is a short story about a physically disadvantaged boy and his big brother in early 1900s Eastern North Carolina. The framing device is the big brother telling a story about him and his physically disadvantaged brother. The big brother talks about, in the story, his brother’s birth, his brother’s years as a toddler, his brothers physical disabilities, his relationship with his little brother, the adventures of him and his little brother, and his little brother’s death. In the “Scarlet Ibis”, Brother, whose name is never told to the audience, is characterized as loving, ambitious, and cruel.

The symbolism in The Scarlet Ibis adds to the deeper meaning in the story. For example, Hurst uses the scarlet ibis to symbolize Doodle. The scarlet ibis travelled far

Symbolism is often used by authors to get an idea or theme across to the readers. In “The Scarlet Ibis”, Brother has an ill sibling named William Armstrong, or as Brother would call him, Doodle. When Doodle was born everybody thought he was going to die, until he seemed coherent to what was going on around him. Brother then wanted to teach him to walk and run before school started, so he was normal like other kids. He succeeded in doing so, but he was ashamed because he did it for selfish reasons. One day while they were eating lunch, they saw a beautiful ibis outside their window. They went to go see it and discovered that it was dead, Doodle decided to bury it. Brother was pushing Doodle too hard and consequently, his body could not take

The use of symbols helps create a deeper tone and meaning to the overall story. Through out the “Scarlet Ibis”, the author describes Doodle as a very weak “invalid” brother to the narrator. Doodle and the narrator had spent a great deal of time in achieving their goal for Doodle to finally become normal. However, at the ending, Doodle could not be strong enough and died like the scarlet ibis, stained in a “brilliant red” (pg. 13). The author also describes how the scarlet ibis had traveled so far just to “die like this”, showing the comparison between the Doodle and the scarlet ibis. Doodle had worked incredibly hard in order to discard the label of being a

Doodle ended up getting hurt to save his brother's reputation. What the narrator did was selfish and he should have thought of his brother's well-being and safety, the narrator should have accepted his brother for how he was instead of trying to change him. In the short story, the narrator shows both love and cruelty by trying to save his

In the story, The Scarlet Ibis Doodle is a boy who was said to die at a very young age because he had many disabilities, but he somehow survived and his brother tries to help him do things that he isn’t able to do. They are shocked that he didn’t die and they are very happy for him. They train every day to see if eventually he will be able to walk. Slowly, but surely he learns to walk. When they tell their parents about it they say that it is impossible for him to learn to walk, but somehow he did. They never believed in him, but his brother did. No matter how hard something is never stop trying and you will succeed.

Gone, But Not Forgotten The short story, “The Scarlet Ibis,” is a compelling somber story of two brothers living unparalleled lives. It is written by James Hurst, but is told in the point of view of a nameless narrator. The narrator is the oldest brother who goes by the title of Brother. Brother is 24, and is reminiscing on his life as a young boy.

The narrator regrets how he pushed Doodle far beyond his limits. Now that the Brother is older, he knows how pride can affect him. “I did not know then that pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death.”(4) When the Brother got Doodle to stand, he was confident in Doodle to accomplish any physical movement. So he expected more and more out of Doodle. But he didn’t know the pain and the danger of trying to exceed the limit of one’s body. Now, after all the years have passed by, the narrator realize that his love for Doodle. “But sometimes (like right now), as I sit in the cool, green-draped parlor, the grindstone begins to turn, and time with all its changes is ground away--and I remember Doodle.”(1) The years have taken away the cruelty and selfishness in the Brother’s early year and he was sorry for how he forced and threatened Doodle. The narrator looks over the cruel moments he had with Doodle and blames Doodle’s death on himself. “They did not know that I did it for myself; that pride, whose slave I was, spoke to me louder than all the other voices, and that Doodle walked only because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother.”(5) The voice here is very regretful of his sins, and wants to fix what he had already

The despondent mood at the beginning of the story, mirrors the loss of innocence of the narrator because he had to face the responsibility and guilt of Doodle’s death.

Symbols are ideas used to represent a different person or object. They can develop essential facets of a story such as plot or characters. In “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, symbols are utilized mostly to incite readers on Doodle, as well as other characters. Hurst includes symbols such as the scarlet ibis and the weather to represent and foreshadow Doodle’s death and to develop his conflicted relationships, especially those with the members of his family.

In “The Scarlet Ibis,” James Hurst uses the ibis as a symbol for Doodle in order