The Scarlet Ibis is a very well – elaborated and splendid story written by James Hurst. The author has describes the events in perfect, precise detail with an outstanding form of writing which makes it even more astonishing. Throughout the story, the inner thoughts of the narrator will be slowly unravel, revealing the deep symbolism that was embed in and uncover the deep meaning behind it. It will make the readers cogitate about the symbols that foreshadowing the future events, also human pride and its dire consequences that will make us take a moment and reflect about it.
A thing that makes this story one – of – a – kind is its characters. The narrator isn’t the mainstream type of brother, heroic character who excels at everything and defends their younger sibling that usually seen in fictional stories. He is a normal human being, with feelings and mistakes. With pride and ego, with envy and hatred.
It’s autumn at that time, the crimson leaves falling, painting the garden with various shades of red. The story begins as Brother sees a grindstone and he remembers about his brother Doodle:
A grindstone stands where the bleeding tree stood, just outside the kitchen door, and now if an oriole sings in the elm, its song seems to die up in the leaves, a silvery dust. The flower garden is prim, the house a gleaming white, and the pale fence across the yard stands straight and spruce. 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.
A grindstone is “a round sharpening stone used for grinding or sharpening ferrous tools, usually make from sandstone.” The narrator compares his mind to the grindstone. When he sees it, his memories are sharpened and came back to him. Everything seems clear, vivid, reliving the days back then when Doodle was alive. As he remembers it, just like a grindstone that sharpens,