“The Scarlet Ibis,” by James Hurst is a story that centers on the competitive goals Doodle and his brother. Doodle, is a misfit, and his brother does everything possible to make sure that Doodle will fit to his standards. Eventually, the tasks that the brother gives Doodle wear his heart out and he dies a bloody heap on the ground, a scarlet ibis. Why would Doodle let his brother push him to the very brink of death? There are three reasons why Doodle strove to achieve his brother’s goals, he wanted to make his brother proud, he wanted to be accepted into society, and Doodle wanted to prove his worth to his family.
The activities planned for Doodle were rigorous and draining, but Doodle loved his brother and wanted to make him proud. Despite being told he couldn’t walk, Doodle went along with his brother’s training. He had the complete trust that only comes from pure love. “Oh yes you can, Doodle,” I said. “All you got to do is try. Now come on, and I hauled him up once more.” Doodle went along with his brother, even though it sometimes hurt. He never gave up, and if he tried his brother was always there to press Doodle onward. In a way, I think the love of Doodle should have been much more precious to his brother than the activities they planned. Every second with one who came so close to death should be revered and held tightly. The narrator is locked in a battle with what he feels socially acceptable and his love for his little brother. This sought after, “social acceptance,” drove the brother to push away Doodle’s dependency on him. This was how Doodle died, but he never stopped loving his brother. “Brother, brother, don’t leave me! Don’t leave me!” Doodle cries out into the vicious storm. He doesn’t say to his brother somet...
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...ried to walk and swim. The reason Doodle kept up with the competitive antics of his brother was to gain a sense of worth and belonging within his family.
Doodle died a tragic death. Could it have been prevented? The narrator probably asks himself this everyday as he seeks sympathy from the fluent writings of, “The Scarlet Ibis.” Doodle loved his brother and wanted acceptance from the people around him. That is part of the reason why he died such a tragic death. People also debate that it wasn’t the brother’s fault at all, but the storm that caused the root of their problems. Either way the end result is the same. There are three reasons why Doodle strove to achieve his brother’s goals, he wanted to make his brother proud, he wanted to be accepted into society, and Doodle wanted to prove his worth to his family.
Works Cited
The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst
Throughout “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, Doodle is met with kindness and cruelty when interacting with his brother. The shifting attitude of Doodle’s brother is a wonderful example of the shifting emotions of the people around the world. Just like Doodle’s brother, people are happy, sad, jealous, prideful, angry, cruel, and kind. Although times and circumstances may change, people can’t live without their
Ever since the beginning of Doodle's existence Brother planned to kill him. The story proves this when Brother says "I began to make plans to kill him by smothering him with a pillow". Brother felt embarrassment toward Doodle because he didn't like the idea of having an invalid brother that could never play with him and do activities that other children his age would do for fun. When Brother had the chance to leave Doodle behind he did it because his cruelty against Doodle began to rise and he didn't want to see Doodle in that
The Mother is among a family of four who lives on a small farm and takes immense pride in what interests her, however her passion does not particularly lie in her two children; James and David; nor in her husband and their interests; but instead lies within her chickens. Though chickens bring the most joy to the Mother, they are not the sole animals that live on the farm. The animal that draws the most interest from the father, James and David is their horse, Scott. At a young age, Scott was used as a working mule for the family and grew up alongside the Father and two Sons. To the father, Scott was like one of his own sons, and to James and David, Scott was like their brother; but according to the Mother, “He’s been worthless these last few years”(Macleod, 267). Ever since Scott was young, he was a burden on the Mother’s lifestyle; she never took a liking to the horse even when he served as a source of profit for the family. The Mother had never appreciated the sentimental value that Scott possessed because he had never been a particular interest to her. Once Scott had aged and was no longer able...
So instead of being gentle he Makes doodle do things that he is not supposed to do. For example, the narrator’s dad made doodle a go cart so that the narrator could pull him around, but the narrator taught doodle to walk out of pride just because he did not want to pull him. So with more things that doodle does, the more he suffers and eventually leads to his death when doodle’s weak heart could not handle when doodle tried to run from the storm.
No matter how malicious he is, like all siblings, he has some love for his brother. The narrator showed Doodle Old Woman Swamp
Brother’s, alongside his family’s, perceptions towards Doodle are shaped by society’s unrealistic expectations. “Everybody thought he was going to die.” (pg. 1) From the beginning of The Scarlet Ibis, Doodle’s entire family has repeatedly expressed the unlikelihood of Doodle surviving. Society had great influence on the doubts that were present in the thoughts of his family, especially after witnessing Doodle’s ‘tiny body which was red and shriveled’.
Doodle's brother was never able to accept him for who he was. Even very early in the story, shortly after Doodle was born. His brother's unhappiness with Doodle was mostly because he wanted a brother with whom he could play and run. The thought of a brother who could barely move and probably never walk was embarrassing. He even states that Doodle, "....
Doodle’s health is not good and you can see that in this piece of text. (Topic Sentence) The author writes, “He didn’t answer so I placed my hand on his forehead and lifted his head. Limply, he fell backwards onto the Earth. He had been bleeding from his mouth, and his neck and the front of his shirt was stained brilliant red.”(172)(Textual support- 5). Doodle is harmed and it’s because his brother’s pride got in the way of his health and well being. (Commentary)
Brothers spend more time outside running, wrestling and playing sports. They enjoy doing things that take physical skill. Even if Doodle went outside, she probably wouldn't be interested in running through the forest and climbing trees. Chances are that she would be more into picking wildflowers and feeding the squirrels. There are rare occasions where you will find a real special brother-sister relationship, especially at the age Doodle and his brother were at.
“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.” (Hurst 50). This supports the claim that this is Brother’s fault, because if he were never ashamed of Doodle in the first place, he wouldn’t be given all of the extra stress running has brought his body. The narrator was very strict, and hard on Doodle because he wanted a brother that was “all there.” Brother would have been much nicer, and understanding if his decision to teach Doodle to do things like the other children was based on
...ttachment or emotion. Again, Heaney repeats the use of a discourse marker, to highlight how vividly he remembers the terrible time “Next morning, I went up into the room”. In contrast to the rest of the poem, Heaney finally writes more personally, beginning with the personal pronoun “I”. He describes his memory with an atmosphere that is soft and peaceful “Snowdrops and Candles soothed the bedside” as opposed to the harsh and angry adjectives previously used such as “stanched” and “crying”. With this, Heaney is becoming more and more intimate with his time alone with his brother’s body, and can finally get peace of mind about the death, but still finding the inevitable sadness one feels with the loss of a loved one “A four foot box, a foot for every year”, indirectly telling the reader how young his brother was, and describing that how unfortunate the death was.
It is the first time that Lizabeth hears a man cry. She could not believe herself because her father is “a strong man who could whisk a child upon his shoulders and go singing through the house.” As the centre of the family and a hero in her heart, Lizabeth’s dad is “sobbing like the tiniest child”She discovers that her parents are not as powerful or stable as she thought they were. The feeling of powerlessness and fear surges within her as she loses the perfect relying on her dad. She says, “the world had lost its boundary lines.” the “smoldering emotions” and “fear unleashed by my father’s tears” had “combined in one great impulse toward
James Baldwin, author of Sonny’s Blues, was born in Harlem, NY in 1924. During his career as an essayist, he published many novels and short stories. Growing up as an African American, and being “the grandson of a slave” (82) was difficult. On a day to day basis, it was a constant battle with racial discrimination, drugs, and family relationships. One of Baldwin’s literature pieces was Sonny’s Blues in which he describes a specific event that had a great impact on his relationship with his brother, Sonny. Having to deal with the life-style of poverty, his relationship with his brother becomes affected and rivalry develops. Conclusively, brotherly love is the theme of the story. Despite the narrator’s and his brother’s differences, this theme is revealed throughout the characters’ thoughts, feelings, actions, and dialogue. Therefore, the change in the narrator throughout the text is significant in understanding the theme of the story. It is prevalent to withhold the single most important aspect of the narrator’s life: protecting his brother.
James Hurst is the author of the heart breaking short story entitled “The Scarlet Ibis”. “The Scarlet Ibis” is a short story about two brothers; one brother is healthy, while the other is physically handicapped. The short story is centered on the idea that the older, healthier brother’s selfishness and pride ultimately led to the death of his younger brother, Doodle. Numerous quotes throughout the story demonstrate Hurst’s use of symbolism and foreshadowing to portray and predict Doodle’s untimely and heartbreaking death.
Mrs. Mallard’s repressed married life is a secret that she keeps to herself. She is not open and honest with her sister Josephine who has shown nothing but concern. This is clearly evident in the great care that her sister and husband’s friend Richard show to break the news of her husband’s tragic death as gently as they can. They think that she is so much in love with him that hearing the news of his death would aggravate her poor heart condition and lead to death. Little do they know that she did not love him dearly at all and in fact took the news in a very positive way, opening her arms to welcome a new life without her husband. This can be seen in the fact that when she storms into her room and her focus shifts drastically from that of her husband’s death to nature that is symbolic of new life and possibilities awaiting her. Her senses came to life; they come alive to the beauty in the nature. Her eyes could reach the vastness of the sky; she could smell the delicious breath of rain in the air; and ears became attentive to a song f...