The Scarlet Ibis Quote Analysis

In the story, “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, the author made use of symbols regarding death in order to express his message that excessive pride can lead to the downfall of loved ones. Throughout the story, the pride of the main character, Brother, is evident; As he narrates the events of the story a few years after they took place, he takes note of his own past selfish pride and the grade consequences that came as a result of it. A prime example of Hurst using symbols concerning death in order to convey this message is in the beginning of the story where the text reads, “It was bad enough having an invalid brother, but having one who possibly was not all there was unbearable, so I began to make plans to kill him by smothering him with
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