Merciless Fate’s Results
James Hurst illustrates a heartbreaking tale of two brothers, Doodle and Brother, in the short story "The Scarlet Ibis." Doodle, originally called William Armstrong, was born a cripple which bothers his older brother, Brother, greatly . As a result, Doodle is put through a training course with his brother to get rid of his disabilities. Along the way, the two siblings encounter a scarlet ibis which Doodle harbors sympathy for. This understanding is caused by the fact that the scarlet ibis and Doodle are in the same situation and share a relationship that transcends the comprehension of a normal person.
Both characters, Doodle and the scarlet ibis, experience the problem of being peculiar. The author illustrates Doodle’s struggles in life when Brother recalls the time, “When he was two, if you laid him on his stomach, he began to move, straining terribly. The doctor said with his weak heart, the strain would probably kill him...”(Hurst 455). A cripple from birth, Doodle struggles to survive the moment he is conceived. His physical disabilities make him different from most other kids and throw him into a minority. The scarlet ibis suffers a similar fate as well which is shown when Brother narrates, “‘It’s a scarlet ibis,’ [Father] said, pointing to a picture. ‘It lives in the tropics --- South America to Florida” (491). The scarlet ibis is different from the other birds in North Carolina because it does not belong there. This sense of not being accepted by the outside world is shared by Doodle who empathizes with the bird.
The two related characters spend the last remaining minutes of their life in similar ways. Brother’s bitterness towards Doodle has catastrophic consequences shown when Brother “ran as fast as [he] could, leaving [Doodle] far behind...Limply [Doodle] fell backwards onto the earth. He had been bleeding from the mouth, and his neck and the front of his shirt were stained a brilliant red” (493). Even though Doodle is tired from Brother’s
Both characters, Doodle and the scarlet ibis, experience the problem of being peculiar. The author illustrates Doodle’s struggles in life when Brother recalls the time, “When he was two, if you laid him on his stomach, he began to move, straining terribly. The doctor said with his weak heart, the strain would probably kill him...”(Hurst 455). A cripple from birth, Doodle struggles to survive the moment he is conceived. His physical disabilities make him different from most other kids and throw him into a minority. The scarlet ibis suffers a similar fate as well which is shown when Brother narrates, “‘It’s a scarlet ibis,’ [Father] said, pointing to a picture. ‘It lives in the tropics --- South America to Florida” (491). The scarlet ibis is different from the other birds in North Carolina because it does not belong there. This sense of not being accepted by the outside world is shared by Doodle who empathizes with the bird.
The two related characters spend the last remaining minutes of their life in similar ways. Brother’s bitterness towards Doodle has catastrophic consequences shown when Brother “ran as fast as [he] could, leaving [Doodle] far behind...Limply [Doodle] fell backwards onto the earth. He had been bleeding from the mouth, and his neck and the front of his shirt were stained a brilliant red” (493). Even though Doodle is tired from Brother’s