The Scarlet Ibis Literary Analysis

¨At six years old, when his brother is born, the narrator tells the reader that from the first, Doodle was "a disappointment." When he learns that Doodle is possibly mentally and physically challenged, the narrator begins his plan to kill his brother; however, his plans are soon discarded after Doodle smiles at him¨. (James Hurst) The main conflict of "The Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst is Brother's inability to deal with Doodle's disabilities.

Brothers main struggle in the story is between Doodle being a disappointment to him, or his brother that he loves. Through the story he seesaws back and forth between cruel ways of “fixing” Doodle and loving him. This is best shown when the are in the swamp for the first time and Brother says “‘Shut up. I’m

The author of “The scarlet Ibis,” James Hurst, suggests through the actions of his characters and his use of language the theme that too much pride can lead people to do things that can have devastating results. James Hurst quoted, “But all of us must have something or someone to be proud of, and Doodle had become mine.” The narrator has a need to make Doodle better to give himself something to be proud of and receive recognition for his actions. The narrator is talking about an event that happened in the past when he tried to teach his brother, Doodle, to walk. He looks back on it with the insight of an adult who has struggled with the consequences of his prideful actions.

Firstly, Brother's assertion that his pride drove him is supported by the text when he states, "pride, whose slave I was, spoke to me louder than all their voices." This indicates that Brother's desire to teach Doodle to walk is, in part, fueled by his

“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.

Can pride kill the people others love and cherish? In the story "' the scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst, the Brother knew that doodle should not go through strenuous work and he ignored the rule many times before Doodle died. Brother didn't teach Doodle all those things to help Doodle become more normal, he was doing them for himself. Brother didn't want to have a brother that was disabled from the things that he liked to do. After Doodle died Brother realized that he had been pushing Doodle too far for his own good.

“The Scarlet Ibis” is the story of two brothers and their complicated relationship. The younger of the two, Doodle, is developmentally delayed and struggles with everyday tasks. His eldest brother teaches Doodle how to accomplish these tasks. Brother’s initial intentions to teach his invalid little brother to walk start out of love, but soon are formed from prideful motives. Despite his brother’s pride, Doodle strives to please him by cooperating, because he loves his older brother. After Doodle’s passing, Brother’s tangled web of pride is straightened out again to reveal his pure brotherly love and how much he misses his little brother. In James Hurst’s “The Scarlet Ibis”, the most prominent emotion is love because of the powerful role it plays in the brothers’ interactions with one another.

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.

He made Doodle touch the coffin that would have been his. Brother was going to smother Doodle with a pillow. Brother leaves Doodle behind and is ultimately the cause of his death.

Doodle's Reason to Succeed Do you ever feel like an outsider? Well, that is how Brother portrays Doodle, a disabled boy in the story, "The Scarlet Ibis". Brother referred to him as this because he could not walk until he was about six or seven.

The reason behind this is Doodle looked up to his brother. This meant anything his brother said, did, or felt he went along with. Doodle was very empathetic and impressionable which is shown through conflict and characterization

In the tragic story “The Scarlet Ibis”, two young boys growing up during the great depression are met with challenges., especially that one of the boys (doodle) can’t walk. Due too Doodles disabilities his older brother becomes embarrassed,and selfish.

When he reaches Doodle in the pouring rain, he is curled up and seems to have had a heart attack. This is the first time readers see Brother showing love, compassion, and care towards his brother. The narrator explains, “His little legs bent sharply at the knees, had never before seemed so fragile, so thin”(183). Not only emotionally, but Brother also begins to physically see the weakness of Doodle and what he has been doing to him this whole time. Until this moment, Brother’s eyes have never been opened to who Doodle really

Think about the word delicate. What comes to mind? To some, it may be a word they use to describe their mom’s glass vase. However, delicate has a greater meaning, a condition of a beautiful, precious, living thing which must be preserved, valued, and cherished. In the short story, “The Scarlet Ibis”, written by James Hurst, the author highlights the life of a young boy named Doodle, who was born disabled, and his older brother, the narrator. The narrator, referred by Doodle as Brother, lacks the understanding of how Doodle is extremely fragile, and often neglects his needs and safety while trying to train Doodle to be “normal.” Hurst uses many literary devices, such as flashback, foreshadowing, and symbolism, which develops the theme, how delicate things are beautiful, and should be cared for with love and respect.

Only you can change yourself, no one can do it for you. People will try to change abilities, looks, and features. But the only one who should try to be changing themselves should be them. It's your decision to make, no one else. In the short story, “The scarlet Ibis” a little boy with a disability is trying to be changed by his older brother. Another author writes the short story “Harrison Bergeron”, and tells a story that is about a world that they change everyone (handicap) so all people have the same abilities and no one person is smarter or better than anyone else. The authors suggest that trying to change people will end negatively.