Who Is The Antagonist In The Scarlet Ibis

In the short story, “The Scarlet Ibis,” James Hurst uses the characterization of the narrator to illustrate that when a person’s choices are driven by pride, he may overlook the love around him, possibly leading to permanent loss and regret. As the story begins, the narrator recalls finding it “unbearable” that his disabled brother “possibly was not all there” and begins “to make plans to kill him by smothering him with a pillow.” (1) Hurst uses the adjective “unbearable” to express his focus on his own embarrassment with his brother’s disabilities. Combining this negative emotion with thoughts of murder illustrates the narrator’s strong pride leading to a cruel disregard towards the life of his brother. As Doodle physically grows, the narrator