The Scarlet Ibis Analysis

The author’s use of flashback is most effective. First, Hurst employs it to evince the narrator's actions of guilt in retrospect to Doodle. The narrator recollects a scene where he had done a cruel injustice to Doodle where he has felt “ within [him]” something he has seen only from others before “ a knot of cruelty borne from the stream of love” (557). In addition, there is an admission of his

Hurst’s use of figurative language throughout this excerpt helps provide the readers with the extensive characterization of the narrator and Doodle. Within this passage, the narrator proves to shift from negativity to complete determination. In the passage, Hurst writes the eldest brother saying, “... It seemed so hopeless from the beginning that it’s a miracle I didn’t give up.”

Doodle was born prematurely, so early that he was severely disabled, which his brother never failed to remind him every chance he got. He was made a casket shortly after he was born, as he wasn’t expected to live for a long period of time. The narrator highly disliked is brother, so much that he made him touch his casket, leading to him to realize how he could use Doodle. ‘Doodle was paralyzed, so I put him on my shoulder and carried him down the ladder, and even when we were

The relationships shared by brothers and sisters can often be very complicated. We sometimes have expectations for our siblings and are disappointed when these expectations are not met. In the short story "The Scarlet Ibis", James Hurst writes about the struggles and hardships of two young brothers. The younger of the two children, Doodle, is born physically handicapped and has many struggles throughout his life trying to do everyday things like walking or just being a kid. His older brother is cruel to him but Doodle responds by thriving and becoming more capable of everyday activities in spite of the treatment, until he dies trying to please Brother.The narrator in the story causes Doodle's death by being jealous, disappointed, and because of his pride.

The narrator is ashamed of Doodle. When Doodle is born he is born weak, and his family assumed he was going to die but he didn’t. The narrator’s mother tells him that Doodle was either going to die or be not all there. The narrator wants a brother that can adventure with him. He explains, “ 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 with a pillow”( ).

The “Scarlet Ibis” is a short story about a boy born with a medical condition, and his brother, who means well but is self absorbed. The story starts off about a grown man who recalls to the time when his little brother, Doodle is with him. It shows his guilt about Doodle’s death, his sorrow surrounding it, and it reflects on the good times they had together. In the “Scarlet Ibis” Brother is characterized as cruel, caring, and prideful.

After the scarlet Ibis lands in Doodle and Brother’s yard, their father looks up the type of bird and realizes how far the bird traveled just to die. Doodle and Brother's father points to the picture in the book and says, "It's a scarlet ibis. It lives in the tropics-South America to Florida. A storm must have brought it here." (Hurst 5). The scarlet Ibis travels to an unsuitable environment in which it can live, resulting in it’s death. Hurst uses the death of Ibis to foreshadow Doodle’s fate. Like the scarlet Ibis, Doodle lives in the wrong environment because his disability is unique-unlike everyone and everything around him. After Doodle's family discovers that the bird traveling from afar is a scarlet Ibis, Doodle and Brother’s father exclaim, "A scarlet ibis! How many miles it traveled to die like this, in our yard, beneath the bleeding tree."(Hurst 5). Hurst is telling the reader that despite the distance a bird flies or the lengths one may go, people can not change their ultimate fate. Hurst portrays that this is especially true when one lives in the wrong environment and one’s differences are not

In James Hurst’s The Scarlet Ibis, symbolism is used throughout the story through a bleeding tree and a scarlet ibis. In the beginning of the story, we meet a character named Doodle which is the narrator's brother. Doodle has many health problems and had a very minimal chance of even being born. Doodle continues to live and hope begins to build that he will live to be a normal boy. One day, the family comes across a scarlet ibis which lives in the Florida Tropics which is hundreds of miles away from where the story takes place. The bird proceeds to die by falling out of a bleed tree, thus where the theme of false hope starts to develop. On page 28, the theme is supported in the quote ¨ How many miles it had traveled to die like this, in our

The Scarlet Ibis Theme Essay Selfishness is a quality that affects both the person who possesses it and the people around them. When this selfishness is caused by pride, the results can be fatal. James Hurst’s short story “The Scarlet Ibis” narrates the story of Doodle, a young child born with a disability that prevents him from walking.

In addition, it took knowing that Doodle was “all there” to stop the brother from continuing with the aloof emotions towards Doodle (Hurst 2). Through indirect characterization, the readers are able to infer the older brother’s traits, but also get insight into the intoxicating pride that sticks with him throughout the text using the narrator’s thoughts. On the other hand, Hurst doesn’t just use the

The first use of characterization by James Hurst is soon after Doodle’s birth. The narrator little brother, William Armstrong, affectionately nicknamed “Doodle”, was born shriveled and weak, and many had feared he would not survive through

Brother is showing Doodle’s unwillingness along with the cruel attempts to point out his flaws. When Brother made doodle touch the coffin, he knew the reaction he would get out of him. “Even when were outside in the sunlight, he clung to me, crying, ‘Don’t leave me. Don’t leave me” ( ). Doodle is very afraid of the coffin and brother knows that. By making him touch the coffin, he is clearly implying to Doodle that he will never be normal like the other kids. On the other hand, no matter how cruel Brother’s actions may be, he still shows interest toward teaching Doodle many tricks. But these actions are clearly for his self gratification. “What are you crying for? asked Daddy, but I couldn’t answer. They did not know that I did it for myself, that pride, whose slave I was, spoke to me louder than all their voices, and that Doodle walked only because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother.” Although brother teaches Doodle how to walk, it is entirely for his own sense. Ashamed by Doodle’s crippledness, Brother attempts to fix Doodle’s many imperfections, without acknowledging his view and

The first and one of the most important literary devices you can detect in this writing, is the usage of flashback. Hurst uses flashback to develop the whole story, relationship between Doodle and Brother, and explain what happened to Doodle. A majority of “The Scarlet Ibis” is told through this flashback and past tense. The flashback improves the story and is used in a way to show Brother at the beginning and how much his past with Doodle still affects him. We really get to see that guilt and even his maturity when he is older, because he goes back to all these places where him and Doodle played and grew up. Yet even though it's so far in the past, going to his old home and fields brings back painful memories. *

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.

movement from Doodle occurs, Brother’s heart begins to race and he begins to weep. Deep down, Brother loves Doodle, however he is aware this is not always expressed through his selfish actions.