Preview

Short Story Comparison Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
690 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Short Story Comparison Essay
Short Story Comparison Essay

After reading “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst and “Raymond’s Run” by Toni Cade Bambara, there are some similarities and differences that stood out. Both stories include disabled brothers. Also, both stories include characters that act out of pride. The stories have different settings and have characters with different motives. The main lesson of this essay is not to let pride take over your character. There are a few similarities the two stories share. First, both stories involve a character with disabilities. In “The Scarlet Ibis” Doodle’s disabilities are described, “The doctor said he mustn’t get to excited, too hot, too cold, or too tired and that he must always be treated gently. A long list of don’ts went with him…” In “Raymond’s Run” Squeaky describes Raymond, “But as any fool can see he’s much bigger and he’s older too. But a lot of people call him my little brother cause he needs looking after cause he’s not quite right.” These two quotes show a similarity in the two stories by explaining the disabilities with each character, Doodle and Raymond. Another similarity the two stories share has to do with pride. In both stories, the main character’s actions are derived from pride. In “Raymond’s Run” Squeaky explains, “There is no track meet that I don’t win the first place medal…The big kids call me mercury cause I’m the swiftest thing in the neighborhood…In the first place, no one can beat me and that’s all there is to it.” In “The scarlet Ibis” the narrator explains, “When doodle was five years old, I was embarrassed at having a brother of that age who couldn’t walk, so I set out to teach him…I did not know then that pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death.” These two quotes show us a similarity because they explain how both characters act and feel they way they do because of pride. As you can see, there are some similarities the two stories share. In addition to

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In the story “Scarlet Ibis” written by James Hurst, a theme is shown to the reader that sometimes, pride can be a destructive weapon in life if we use it to look down on others. The narrator starts the story by jumping into the past, he tells a story where he was ashamed of having a mentally and physically disabled brother, and spends all summer teaching him how to walk. However, he does this out of embarrassment and shame not out of love. One stormy night, Brother leaves Doodle behind alone forcing him to run faster, but he pushes too far, causing Doodle’s death. From Doodle’s death, he realizes how his pride got in his way of accepting Doodle for the way he is not for what he isn’t. In the story, he admits “I did not know then that pride…

    • 288 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the world, there are so many moments that can lead to love, and unfortunately, also regret. Many of these moments begin with pride. In the short story, “The Scarlet Ibis”, there are many events that lead to both of these things. Doodle and his brother are both put in positions where they have to make a decision on what matters to them the most. The author, James Hurst, from ¨The Scarlet Ibis¨ uses diction and figurative language to prove that pride is something that allows people to love, yet can also lead to regret.…

    • 432 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In James Hurst’s “The Scarlet Ibis,” the first-person narration enables the reader to see the narrator’s emotional changes as he grows up with his “invalid” brother. The story was told by the brother, who helped Doodle overcome many challenges he faced due to his disability. For instance, The narrator was seen as self-centered. “When Doodle was five years old, I was embarrassed at having a brother of that age who couldn’t walk, so I set out to teach him.” (Hurst, n.d., 4) For the reader, it seemed selfish of the brother that he taught Doodle to walk to benefit the narrator himself, not necessarily Doodle. As well, because the story was told only by the brother’s perspective, there was no way to know how the other family members handled Doodle’s…

    • 184 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Scarlet Ibis Theme Essay

    • 840 Words
    • 4 Pages

    "I did not know then that pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death," the author implies. In the short story, "The Scarlet Ibis" the author, James Hurst demonstrates, through life several mistakes and decision, create a thankful or regretful feeling. The author uses symbolism, characterization and flashback to develop the theme.…

    • 840 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Pride In The Scarlet Ibis

    • 438 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In conclusion, the narrator uses both positive and negative pride in the short story, “The Scarlet Ibis.” The narrator is both caring and self-centered, because he was happy when his brother smiled for the first time, but he wanted a normal brother to play with. These are some reasons why, “pride is a wonderful, terrible…

    • 438 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One is extremely sensitive and attention-wanting, while the other is mature and mellow. One takes an idea way too far and causes an extreme internal conflict, which he will never hear the end of, while the other unintentionally causes a short-term external conflict which barely includes himself. These two characters also learn completely different things. One learns of his actual strength and that he doesn’t have inflammatory rheumatism, where the other character doesn’t lear anything except maybe to be more careful where and how he sets up his cot. When you think about it, though, there are also some big similarities between the two. For example both of these characters, intentionally or not, are the main responsibility for the story’s conflict. Both of the characters’ conflicts also involve their families. Lastly, they both lie during the story and learn it doesn’t pay off in the end. The similarities and differences between these two characters is just one small example of the many different characters in short stories. Next time you read a short story, think about what they do, and do not have in…

    • 606 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Scarlet Ibis Theme

    • 154 Words
    • 1 Page

    The short story “ The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst narrates the theme pride is the good and bad of a person. The story starts out introducing the narrator, his brother Doodle, and his parents. During the beginning we find that Doodle is a disappointment to the narrator and was not expected to live a long time. As the story progresses the narrator helps Doodle learn to walk, run, swim, climb trees and fight. One day when the two brothers went outside a storm rolled in, making so they couldn’t be outside anymore. They were running back when the narrator pulled ahead of his brother and left him behind, he stopped and turned around and couldn’t see Doodle anymore, so he went back to find him. When he got there he found Doodle sitting against the…

    • 154 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Comparative Essay

    • 1396 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In “The Birth Mark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne and Jamaica Kincaid “Girl”, the theme gives a sense of meaning and importance in the two short stories. The theme of striving for perfection is what shapes the characters and makes them act in different ways. In “The Birth Mark”, Aylmer, being the main character, wants his wife, Georgiana, to be viewed as flawless so he does everything in his power to remove the birth mark that she is possessed with. In “Girl” , the mother is teaching her daughter how to be the perfect women in society. In order to fully understand how both short stories incorporate the same theme, female stereotypes, persuasion and visual imagery must first be examined. Once this has been done, it will be clear that perfection is the main theme in the stories.…

    • 1396 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Compare Contrast Essay

    • 810 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Lena that he still goes out to fight Spunk with a knife while having knowledge…

    • 810 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Sad sotry

    • 456 Words
    • 2 Pages

    “But all of us must have something or someone to be proud of…. I did not know then that pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death.” The short story The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst shows how one brother’s embarrassment of the other can lead to hopeful and disastrous consequences. Sadly, his brother, who’s pride gets the best of him, can’t be satisfied with a crippled brother, causing him to push Doodle to his limit and face the consequences.…

    • 456 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Short Stories Compared

    • 660 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The most obvious theme of "The Most Dangerous Game" is that which arises from the relationship of the hunter and the hunted. At the very beginning of story, Rainsford and Zaroff are presented as equals. Both characters are well-accomplished big-game hunters. As the story unfolds, however, their roles change. Rainsford is thrust into the position of the hunted. However, he tries to undermine the game by setting traps for the hunter. Rainsford's form of hunting is passive whereas Zaroff's is active.…

    • 660 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Comparison Essay

    • 384 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Continental philosophy, Pragmatic philosophy, and Analytic philosophy are all three forms of philosophies that are in response to Hegel. The differences began within English speaking countries and European speaking countries, which off-set into two separate traditions. Continental philosophy is the most different in its response to Hegelian idealism in Europe in the 19th and 20th century. The main schools of philosophical thought are existentialism, phenomenology, hermeneutics, deconstruction, and critical theory, being that existentialism and phenomenology are the two prominent schools. Some of the themes of existentialism include “Philosophy must focus on the individual in her or his confrontation with the world,” and “Senselessness, emptiness, triviality, separation, and inability to communicate pervade human existence, giving birth to anxiety, dread, self-doubt, and despair,” (Moore, B. N., & Bruder, K. , 2011, p. 154). Continental philosophers do not agree that science is the best way to describe the ways of life and emphasize on metaphilosophy. To me, Continental Philosophy is difficult to describe because it seems critical instead of expressive. Next, Pragmatic philosophy is the main tradition of philosophy in the United States. Overall, Pragmatic philosophy speaks of the lack of an absolute truth. The truth can change accordingly to any situation depending on the time and place. The three best known pragmatists are C.S Peirce, William James, and John Davey. Instrumentalism, which is Dewey’s product of pragmatism, says that human activity and human thoughts are instruments used by humans to solve practical problems. They believed that truth varied from person to person depending on where he/she wanted to progress in life. Lastly, Analytic philosophy is the main tradition of philosophy in England and later in the United States. Of course the main purpose of Analytic philosophy is analysis, which expresses complex concepts into more…

    • 384 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Comparison essay

    • 763 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Budge Wilson’s “The Metaphor” and Alice Munro’s “An Ounce of Cure” are very similar. Both short stories show how young teenage girls sometimes do not get along with their mothers. They also show how people try to commit suicide when they are emotionally hurt. One last thing they have in common is that they show how most teenage girls overreact in certain situations.…

    • 763 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Kate Chopin, as a writer, is well known for her literature work about the limited perception that the nineteenth-century society had on the female gender. During that time, people were very restrictive about the views of a woman?s place in the society. Furthermore, women of that era did not have voice of their own. They were made to believe that their role in the society was to serve their husbands. In the stories, The Storm and The Story of an Hour, Chopin portrays how this restrictive perspective of women affected them and their views about life and marriage. The settings of the two stories are drastically…

    • 1141 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Similarities in this particular comparison overcome the differences; the similarities which are clearly seen between these two short stories are how the society belittles people and stereotype them simply due to their identity. Another common theme between both stories is multiculturalism and how it’s faced. The difference however is how each author dealt with this stereotyping and how they defined their own identity despite of how people interrupted it for them.…

    • 729 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays