Doodle In The Scarlet Ibis

In the story “The Scarlet Ibis,” the character Doodle is born with some mental and physical disabilities. While his family and doctor all believe him to die or not live long he learns to do things such as walk and talk with the help of his older brother, that may not have been predicted he would be capable of. The main character in this story wants to help Doodle be “normal” and do the things other children can do before Doodle starts school. While the character helps his brother out of shame and selfish reasons, he does make progress with Doodle until his pride gets the better of him and Doodle passes away. In the story the family finds a Scarlet Ibis in their yard that had passed away the same day that Doodle is pushed to his limits and
dies. The Scarlet Ibis is the symbol that best represents Doodle from “The Scarlet Ibis”.
Firstly, both the bird and Doodle when they’re found dead are described in very similar ways. In the following quotes their necks were lying awkwardly, along with their legs bent, and their fragile appearances, the resemblance is very
alike. “Its long neck jerked twice into an S, then straightened out, and the bird was still. A white veil came over the eyes and the long white beak unhinged. Its legs were crossed and it claw like feet were delicately curved at rest.” (Hurst 137).
“He lay very awkwardly with his head thrown far back, making his vermilion neck appear unusually long and slim. His little legs, bent sharply at the knees, had never before seemed so fragile and thin” (Hurst 139). The next quote describing where the bird came from supports the idea that the bird was not where it was intended to be.“‘It lives in the tropics--South America to Florida. A storm must have brought it here’” (Hurst 137). “Everybody thought he was going to die” (Hurst 129) is a quote about Doodle supporting that same idea that is he wasn’t expected to live and was thought to be somewhere he was not suppose to be(living). Thirdly, the color of both the bird and Doodle when they were lying on the ground dead were explained in detail, explaining how Doodle’s neck and body appeared red from his blood and the bird’s crimson feathers. “He had been bleeding from the mouth, and his neck and the front of his shirt were stained a brilliant red” (Hurst 139). “his head thrown far back, making his vermilion neck appear unusually long and slim.” (Hurst 139) “Even death did not mar its grace, for it lay on the earth like a broken vase of red flowers” (Hurst 137). “How many miles it had traveled to die like this, in our yard, beneath the bleeding tree”
(Hurst 137). Next, this quote described how the bird was pushed beyond limits to fly all the way from it’s home and how exhausting it must’ve been.
Doodle was also pushed beyond his own limits by his brothers pressuring in the following quotes, “Doodle was both tired and frightened, and when he stepped from the skiff he collapsed onto the mud” (Hurst 138) and “I heard Doodle, who had fallen behind, call out, ‘Brother, Brother, don’t leave me! Don’t leave me!’”(Hurst 138). In the end of the story and of Doodle’s life he was pushed farther than his body was able to handle resulting in his death, the same reason that the Scarlet Ibis died. Lastly, in a final quote from the main character he himself compares his brother to the Ibis, “For a long time, it seemed forever, I lay there crying, sheltering my fallen scarlet ibis” (Hurst 139). The quotes and details above support the idea that the Scarlet Ibis is the symbol that best represents Doodle in the story.