Guilt Quotes In Scarlet Ibis

589 Words2 Pages

For someone to feel guilt for something they did is truly a horrible feeling. It is something that will carry on with that person for the rest of his life. In James Hurst's "Scarlet Ibis" Brother, the main character, feels that terrible guilt towards the way he treated his younger brother Doodle. Brother since the beginning let his pride take over and make Doodle do things that were almost impossible to learn in his condition. The story tells about two brothers growing up together and how the older brother let his pride push his handicapped brother a little to far. Brother is guilty for letting his pride get in the way of what was right and wrong. Also for letting his pride hurt someone he loves, his baby brother Doodle. There was many ways that Brother could be fined guilty for his brother's death, and this is one. Brother would always try to find a way to get rid of Doodle, "To discourage his coming with me, I'd run with him across the ends of the cotton rows and careen him around corners on two wheels." (596). He was ashamed of having to take his little brother everywhere he went. He also didn't want to have to carry his little brother who wasn't like others around everywhere he went, in fear he would slow him down. He thought if he could scare …show more content…

This is another way he is guilty. Brother decides to teach Doodle to walk, because they are both getting older, "When Doodle was five years old, I was embarrassed at having a brother of that age who couldn't walk, so I sat out to teach him." (597). With Doodle not being able to walk still, but so close to starting school it scared his Brother. It scared him, because he didn't want to be teased because of his brother's condition. He thought he would teach him even though the doctors told him and his family that Doodle couldn't learn to walk, because it can be mentally and physically harming for

Show More
Related

  • Scarlet Ibis Doodle Quotes

    684 Words  | 2 Pages

    Doodle’s brother is presented as a cruel person in “The Scarlet Ibis”. For example, when Doodle is born weak and on the verge of death, Doodle’s brother who wants a normal younger brother to play with “began to make plans to kill him by smothering him with a pillow” (Hurst 555). This quote shows that Doodle’s brother is willing to kill his newborn brother because he isn’t strong

    Read More

  • The Scarlet Ibis Quote Analysis

    566 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the short story ‘The Scarlet Ibis” Doodle's older brother, the narrator, pushes Doodle too hard. The setting of the story is in the country, near a swamp and the ocean. The scarlet Ibis, casket, and bleeding tree are significant symbols which reveal the theme: don’t push too hard, all people have breaking points.

    Read More

  • Scarlet Ibis Pride Quotes

    576 Words  | 2 Pages

    The narrator reflects,”I did not know then that pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two things life and death,”(Hurst 3).This quote showed that at first the narrator thought pride was good but later he became self centered and ashamed of his disabled brother and pushed him far beyond his limit.The short story called The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst is a drama where the narrator, or older brother, wishes his younger brother wasn’t disabled. Because he is so fueled by pride, the older brother ends up pushing his brother beyond his capabilities to his death. In this story, we will learn how the narrator’s pride led to the tragic death of Doodle.

    Read More

  • Why the Brother in The Scarlet Ibis is Selfish

    387 Words  | 1 Pages

    Brother is too engulfed in his selfish desire for a ‘better’ brother that he does not give Doodle a chance to rest. “I made him swim until he turned blue, and row until he couldn’t lift an oar.” This excerpt shows the reader how ruthless Brother is in the training he has set up for Doodle. Brother appears to care more about him being capable of doing these ‘fun’ things than his brother having fun doing them does. “Success lay at the end of the summer like a pot of gold” When Brother says this, he relays how he is greedy for a better brother and will do anything to get what he wants.

    Read More

  • James Hurst's The Scarlet Ibis

    497 Words  | 1 Pages

    Blood is thicker than water, but sometimes pride is thicker than both. Such is the case with James Hurst's "The Scarlet Ibis." This is a dramatic short story about two brothers, in which the older brother manipulates and is later responsible for the death of his younger brother, Doodle. These actions proved that he did not love Doodle.

    Read More

  • Pride And Pride In The Scarlet Ibis By James Hurst

    943 Words  | 2 Pages

    In order to represent that the narrator's pride caused him to act with ill manners towards Doddle, Hurst creates the internal conflict which portrays the narrator’s struggle to choose what is more important, his pride or his brother. As the narrator confessed his past to the reader, he described a memory about how Doodle walked and he announced to the family that the narrator was the one who taught him. The narrator thus responds with: “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 419). It is important to note how the author compares the narrator to a “slave” of pride, the word slave connotes that the narrator is imprisoned by pride and creates the appearance that the force is inescapable. Throughout the story pride dictates the narrator, if

    Read More

  • Thesis For The Scarlet Ibis

    632 Words  | 2 Pages

    (Support) He states, “ When Doodle was five years old, I was embarrassed at having a brother of that age who couldn’t walk, so I set out to teach him.” (166)(Textual support- 2). This shows that brother didn’t want to teach Doodle how to walk to help him, but he wanted Doodle to walk so Doodle wouldn’t embarrass him. Brother is selfish and doesn’t care about Doodle, he cares more about himself and this is a character trait for Brother that runs throughout the entire story. (Commentary)

    Read More

  • The Scarlet Ibis Character Analysis

    824 Words  | 2 Pages

    Humans are never perfect, and their emotions often conflict with their logic. In “The Scarlet Ibis”, the narrator receives a physically disabled brother, Doodle, thus trains Doodle physically so that he could live a normal life. Throughout the story, the narrator’s actions and thoughts reveals his true personalities to the audience as he slowly narrates the story of himself and his scarlet ibis, Doodle, whose existence he dreaded. In the story written by James Hurst, pride, love, and cruelty, these conflicting character traits all exists in Doodle’s brother. And the most severe of all, pride.

    Read More

  • The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst

    1677 Words  | 4 Pages

    Have your parents ever told you that you needed to improve at something? It could be a sport, activities, or even how well you do in school. This is a vile thing for parents to do to their children. Sometimes parents just need to back up a few steps and let you be yourself. The same can happen with an older sibling! That is the case in The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst. The narrator of this story has a younger brother called Doodle, who has some health issues. Big brother pushes little brother to be better than he is. In The Scarlet Ibis, Doodle strives for the goals that his brother sets for him for many reasons, which reflects the conflict in the story.

    Read More

  • The Scarlet Ibis Analysis

    1013 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Doodle's Brother Guilty Analysis

    595 Words  | 2 Pages

    Doodle’s brother guilty or innocent you ask? Well let see here hmmm… GUILTY, GUILTY, and umm oh yea GUILTY! I mean helllloooo he's so guilty you couldn't even give evidence that he's not , I mean sure he might have said he loved his brother but would someone who loves their brother say that they were going to kill him? Let me teach you something I call it “Lying” and “lying” is where someone says one thing but never does it, I wonder where you might find that… oh yea DOODLE’S BROTHER. By now you’re probably saying something like smart like “Oh yea then he could oh lied about killing his brother than huu.” but sorry for I have evidence to prove that that wasn't a lie.

    Read More

  • Edward Bloom Guilt Quotes

    475 Words  | 1 Pages

    In a quote by Dave Grohl “Guilt is cancer. Guilt will confine you, torture you, destroy you as an artist. It's a black wall. It's a thief.” In the novel Big Fish by Daniel Wallace The readers can see that one of the main characters, Edward Bloom, was consumed by the guilt of never being there for his family and never settling down, cancer had to be the one to finally hold him down from run awaying from this problem.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Pride In The Scarlet Ibis

    244 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the story The scarlet Ibis, the theme is that pride can be a destructive measure when not used productively.”to discourage him coming with me, id run him across the ends of the cotton rows and careen him around corners on two wheels” (hurst 417) A specific example of pride being used counterproductively is when the author has too much pride to be seen with his brother, Doodle, so he would attempt to discourage him from coming by putting Doodle in dangerous positions. Another example of having to much pride is when the author begins to believe he can lead Doodle to do anything. “I began to believe in my own infallibility” (hurst 421). This can be hurtful because, with so much pride he might push Doodle to fr even though he cant do alot

    Read More

  • Pride Of The Narrator In 'The Scarlet Ibis'

    579 Words  | 2 Pages

    . Pride can be a marvelous but dreadful thing, and can perchance a seed that bears two vines, of life and death. Unfortunately, the encouraged strong pride of the young narrator cost a boy named Doodle his life. Even though Doodle may have had a pitiful disability and his brother, the narrator, was still a young boy. There is no doubt that the narrator is truly responsible for the tragic death of Doodle. All because of the actions of the narrator, Doodle felt lesser, frighten of being left, far behind, and the need to prove himself to not fall behind. Even though the narrator loved Doodle very much he is still guilty and should be held censurable for the death of Doodle.

    Read More

  • Symbolism In The Scarlet Ibis

    470 Words  | 1 Pages

    “-, I lay there crying, sheltering my fallen scarlet ibis from the heresy of rain.” This quote shows that the author began to appreciate his brother too late. Throughout the story, it's noticeable that the author overlooks Doodle’s disability, which he admits he was ashamed of and it is this shame that leads to him pushing his brother too far. For, on the day of Doodle’s death he had done many strenuous things and even told his brother, he was feeling tired. The author, ignoring his brother’s pleas and then purposely leaving him behind, is what lead to his death. In The Scarlet Ibis, Doodle is symbolized by the bird in many ways, such as them both having a disability, dying alone, and their deaths being caused by overexertion.

    Read More

More about Guilt Quotes In Scarlet Ibis

Open Document