The Scarlet Ibis Literary Analysis

James Hurst’s short story “The Scarlet Ibis” illuminates how too much pride can cause us to treat our loved ones in cruel ways. The narrator, or Brother, begins with his brother who he named Doodle that was a disappointment or invalid as he was physically different from the other kids. As Doodle and Brother grew up they went everywhere together and the narrator was embarrassed by of Doodle, so he felt as if he would teach him the things they thought he wasn't capable of to be like the others such as to walk. Once Brother had taught Doodle to walk he decided to create a development program for Doodle before school would start. The narrator one day took Doodle to learn how to swim at Horsehead Landing, until a storm came and they decided to go back home once it was worsening. The narrator had started to
Even though Brother saw Doodle as a crazy brother that you would see in your dreams he was mean to him by making him do things he didn't want to. Too much pride had ridden over Brother as he did his best to change Doodle into an ordinary boy for he was ashamed of him even if it meant he was cruel and harsh in the process. Another example is after Brother had finally taught Doodle to successfully walk on his own. The narrator says “They did not know that I did it for myself; that pride, whose slave I was, spoke to me louder than all their voices, and that Doodle walked only because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother”(3). What Brother had done for Doodle was great, but Brother had been mean to him in the process of teaching Doodle how to do anything like a normal boy. The narrator had too much pride for himself instead of his brother that everything he did was for himself simply because he was embarrassed. The short story “The Scarlet Ibis” written by James Hurst displays that too much pride has us treat our loved ones in a cruel