William Armstrong, more casually known as Doodle, was born very weak and was subsequently abandoned by his parents, especially his mother. After he was born, his aunt was convinced that he would live, however the first few years of his life were spent lying in a bed with…
"The Scarlet Ibis" has a rather poignant plot. It focuses on how a physically disabled child, born William Armstrong, later referred to as Doodle, grows up with much influence from his older brother. The story is written in the eyes of his unnamed brother, and begins with the narrator's words of grief that fade into his memories when his brother was still alive, when William was first born. The older brother was first extremely disappointed to have an "invalid" brother and was so raged at this that he had planned to actually kill him. But when he saw his brother smile and look straight at him, he gained hope that his brother might be the kind of brother he had always wished for. When William was around the age of 2, his older brother had observed…
In James Hurst's “The Scarlet Ibis”, a tragic tale is told about the Narrator’s younger, disabled brother who he teaches to walk. The whole story has a sad nostalgic shadow cast across it due to many symbols, motifs, and foreshadowing. Doodle, the young boy was born in a cual and wasn’t thought to survive he looked very strange when he was born, “ He seemed all head with a tiny body, which was red and shriveled like an old man’s” The mention of red is throughout the story leading up to the appearance of the ibis, as the story continues on we see more possibilities of how Doodle is going to meet his end. Red and death are brought up in contrast to happy memories of Doodle, almost representing the ibis before it arrives. The ibis appears out…
Throughout, the progression of "The Scarlet Ibis" Doodle struggled to compensate for the high expectations that his older brother has placed onto him as a method to make him "normal" after succeeding in teaching him how to walk. Although this proved to backfire as Doodle wasn't able to succeed all of his brother's goals which transpired a seed of cruelty within the eldest brother acknowledging that the hopes that he and Doodle shared…
The narrator is unable to accept his disabled brother. The pride the narrator has convinces him to teach Doodle how to be normal. Once Doodle learns to walk, he goes on to teach Doodle other things. One day, the family finds a scarlet ibis that dies.in front of them. Later in the story, Doodle and Brother are at Old Woman Lake when the weather changes and Brother leave Doodle behind. Once he's done this he goes back only to find Doodle dies just like the Scarlet Ibis…
The Scarlet Ibis is a short story written by James Hurst, noted particularly for its abundance of symbolism. The Scarlet Ibis is narrated through the eyes of an unnamed character we only know as "Brother", who has a physically disabled little brother named Doodle. Brother is ashamed of Doodle’s shortcomings and pushes his physical strength often during their childhood. One stormy day, Brother’s cruelty, pride and impatience spurred him to abandon Doodle in the rain. Upon returning to the place he left Doodle, Brother was met with the sight of Doodle’s corpse—bloody, pallid and curled up in the rain. Throughout the passage, Brother’s behaviors were primarily egotistical and self-motivated. At six years old, he machinated to murder Doodle, though those fell through. Growing up, Brother not only ignores Doodle’s fragile condition, but for the sake of his own interest explores its limits.…
James Hurt’s use of figurative language in the short story, “The Scarlet ibis” contributes significantly to the reader’s understanding of the characters. One such instance of figurative language is shown through symbolism and can be found in the rising action of the story, during a hurricane:” Cotton balls were wrenched from the stalks and lay like green walnuts in the valleys between the rows, while the cornfield leaned over uniformly so that the tassels touched the ground.” This use of figurative language helps provide a vivid image for the reader, as well as represent something much larger. The storm itself represents the misery that the entire family went through, and how out of place Doodle was by comparing him to the cotton balls that were wrenched from the stalks. Another example of symbolism of Doodle can be seen in his comparison to the Scarlet Ibis bird, both mentally and physically. Both Doodle and the Scarlett Ibis were destined to die, and both died in the same position. In addition to this example of figurative language, Hurst’s use of simile’s help add to the reader’s knowledge of the character of Brother: “Keeping a nice secret is very hard to do, like holding your breath.” In this conflict, simile is used to compare the act of holding your breath to that of keeping a secret, and the reader can tell that Brother is apprehensive about telling the family of his accomplishments. Brother clearly wants the family to see what a great job he did, but he really just does not want to have a crippled brother. The use of simile in the story helps the readers illuminate the characters’ actions, this giving the reader a better appreciation of the characters. One instance of personification can be found in the beginning of the story: “They did not know that I did it for myself, that pride is whose slave I was, spoke to me louder than all of their voices; and that Doodle only walked because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother.” This use…
“The Scarlet Ibis” is about a kid named Doodle and his brother. “The Scarlet Ibis” is about a normal family that had a kid who was born and at the age of five he still wasn't able to walk. The older brother always takes care of him. The older brother calls his little brother Doodle because he crawled like a doodlebug. The older brother went through many troubles to help his little brother Doodle. They are different in many ways and are similar at the same time.…
The quote, “The knowledge that Doodle’s and my plans had come to naught was bitter, and that streak of cruelty within me awakened. I ran as fast as I could, leaving him far behind with a wall of rain dividing us” is where it comes to Brother’s attention that his plan to train Doodle ultimately failed, and in a quick moment of cruelty and selfishness based on his bitter pride, he left Doodle to die by leaving him behind in a thunderstorm (Hurst 475). Brother, in the end of the story, leaving Doodle behind to be dead because of his hurt pride in knowing that his plan to train him failed is ultimately symbolism for how one’s pride can eventually bring down others. Since Brother’s pride in himself was based around his success in training Doodle to be an ideal sibling, Hurst further exemplifies his overall message in the story by having Brother kill his beloved sibling Doodle out of selfish pride. All in all, in “The Scarlet Ibis”, James Hurst uses motifs about Brother bringing Doodle to death as a way to symbolize his message that pride can lead to the downfall of…
For The Scarlet Ibis, I think it was the narrator’s fault that Doodle died. The narrator made Doodle run too hard, the narrator did not care for Doodle, and the narrator ran as fast as he could so he could get away from Doodle.…
These details from “The Scarlet Ibis” give people reasons to believe that it wasn’t the older brother’s fault that Doodle died. This may not be true for other people as different details give us different views on the story. The author leaves it up to the reader to decide about whether or not Doodle’s death was his…
In the passage "The Scarlet Ibis," the Old Woman's swamp was a get away, and a place where Doodle secretly learned many things from his brother. From learning how to walk to learning how to canoe, the swamp was always the perfect place for them to go. The older brother wanted to share the only beauty he knew with Doodle which was the Old Woman's swamp. The swamp itself was a lot to take in at once. The sight was so pretty that Doodle shed tears when he first saw it. Without the Old Woman swamp, Doodle wouldn't have learned to walk, canoe, or swim.…
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…
The way Hurst uses figurative language proves that pride can be deadly. When Doodle’s brother teaches him how to walk, the family is so happy they are crying of joy. They are thanking the boy for helping his little brother, but he does not cry with joy because of guilt. He helps Doodle for himself, “that pride, whose slave I was, spoke to…
In the short story “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst brothers pride gets in the way of his caring for his little brother. The narrator gets a new brother, but he is not all there. He’s ashamed at first but his pride leads him to love his brother. Then the narrators pride leads him to teach his brother doodle to walk. He then believes he can teach him to do everything. But then a terrible fate happens to the narrator‘s brother, which concludes “pride is a terrible, wonderful thing” “that bears two vines, life and death”. The narrators pride blinds him of the fact that doodle is not running as fast and that he has over worked him.…