The Scarlet Ibis By James Hurst: Character Analysis

There is a saying that goes “you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone”. In “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, the narrator’s feelings towards his younger brother, Doodle, changes after Doodle’s death. The narrator, who we only know as Brother, treats Doodle with cruelty throughout their childhood because of Doodle’s physical disabilities. Brother, afraid that he will be taunted at school for having an impaired brother, starts training and teaching Doodle physical activities. The Brother’s feelings change from childhood hatred to regret as he reminisces about the events that caused his abhorrence to start.

Brother didn’t immediately start to dislike Doodle until events in the story where Doodle could not meet Brother’s standards. Brother, who had always “wanted more than anything else someone to race to Horsehead Landing, someone to box with, and someone to perch with in the top fork of the great pine behind the barn [with]”, could not find that in Doodle, who was weak and frail (Hurst 30-34). Because Doodle seems inadequate in Brother’s eyes, he starts resenting Doodle for all the activities he could not do
This is shown when he clutches Doodle’s body in a sign of remorse. Where he had often left Doodle behind in the past, he hangs on to Doodle’s corpse and tries to shield it from the rain and the world. Since Brother changed his action, it is shown his feelings for Doodle changes from childness resentment to shame for his actions. The tone of guilt also shows in the afterthought in the story after Brother finishes telling an event, like when he reveals that he “[taught Doodle how to walk] for himself… and that Doodle walked only because [he] was ashamed of having a crippled brother” (182-184). Because he regrets treating Doodle the way he did, he laments about his past actions and paints an ashamed tone over the events. By showing the feeling changes of Brother, Hurst makes the story more