Many people everyday worry how they’ll be seen in the world. You will either be loved for being the ideal person, or live a life of shame and sorrow because you chose or have to be different than others. I believe that the theme of the story is best represented as, Don’t conform to society, allow society to conform to you. In the tragedy genre short story “The Scarlet Ibis” written by James Hurst we receive a first hand account of how cruel a society can be. Doodle died only because someone tried too hard to change someone who didn’t want as much to be changed. The opinions of society can completely alter how one’s life will play out. Doodle is definitely in a Man vs. Society situation as he is constantly at odds with the society around him. …show more content…
For this reason the reader is put at a more personal level with Doodle than they would’ve been if he was a ‘normal’ boy. The reader could even go as far as comparing themselves to Doodle due to the fact that they themselves might be pitted against society. The narrator said, “...Doodle walked only because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother.” (pg. 419)(Hurst). The narrator offered to teach Doodle to walk all on his own. This does seem sincere at first, but the narrator’s intentions were completely wrong. The narrator cared much more of what his friends and peers would think of Doodle, rather than truly wanting to help his brother through a tough time. The narrator literally pushed Doodle until he broke down. This directly follows the theme in the sense that Doodle was forced to conform to society, rather than having society accept who he was. The problems faced by characters in this story are not all directly shown in the words of Hurst, symbolism is used to portray the author’s ideas in forms that embody the same principles. This can allow the author to get their point across in more relatable ways so that the reader can truly live the story. The Narrator said,”How many miles it had traveled to die like this, in our yard, beneath the bleeding tree.” (pg.424). The Scarlet Ibis represented Doodle, while the hurricane embodied the Narrator. Both the Narrator and Hurricane pushed something, caused it to exert an enormous amount of energy, and eventually led the thing to die. Doodle and the Scarlet Ibis were these things that were killed by a pushing force. The only reason Doodle was pushed in the first place, was to conform to the society his brother cared so much about. If the Narrator had shown solidarity with Doodle, he might’ve been sitting in the garden with his brother. Not everything is always as it seems.
Someone might’ve had an intention to do nothing but good, and then ends up doing a terrible deed. Situational irony can completely shock and surprise the reader and their expectation of the story. This could be an easy and entertaining way for the author to show a character’s failure, or even a character’s unexpected success. The narrator had said,”I ran as fast as I could, leaving him far behind with a wall of rain dividing us.” (pg.425) This quote helps to represent the stories theme because it talks all about irony and how things don’t end up as they are supposed to. It was obviously ironic when the Narrator caused the breakdown of Doodle while he was the one trying to build Doodle up the most. Or even how the Narrator thought he would be stuck with Doodle his whole life, and then he becomes the reason why Doodle is gone from his life permanently. The Narrator does something completely unexpected and leaves Doodle behind in the rain. Throughout the whole story we knew the Narrator didn’t really like Doodle in the beginning, but he still stuck with him. Now when the Narrator and Doodle are at their closest point yet, the Narrator decides to abandon him. It is ironic how if Doodle wasn’t pushed towards societal betterment, he would still be
alive. You must let yourself control the life you have and don’t change because you might be different from others. You also shouldn’t solely worry about how you’ll be seen in the world. If everyone expresses their individuality, we would live in a much more interesting, diverse, and happy world.
Doodle was like a shooting star in the night sky. He was rare and special. Doodle was a unique person that was different and didn’t fit in. Doodle was born sick and no one thought he would live, but he did end up living and his brother spent much of his time helping Doodle become stronger and learn to walk. Over time in the story Doodle got stronger, but in the end he eventually died. In “The Scarlet Ibis” James Hurst uses creative symbols such as the color red, the scarlet ibis bird, and the seasons to represent the life of Doodle.
Doodle and Simon have many similarities. They both have heart conditions and have to adjust to their lives but that is really the only similarity. In the movie Simon Birch by Mark Steve Johnson, the character Simon never has a completely normal life because of his disability. In the book “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, Doodle never came close to normal because of his heart condition. Doodle and Simon have similarities but are different in many ways.
The author uses many examples of humorous things in the story, like irony. An example is everyone thought Casey was an awesome baseball player, as well as himself. In the end it turned out that he wasn't as good as everyone thought and or hoped.
For example, in the beginning of the story, Pete, Jesse’s cousin, was talking about marine life and how he rescued a beached dolphin, but Jesse hated Pete talking about dolphins. He “...tried to block out his cousin’s voice...” (Pg. 19) Later in the story, Pete’s lecture came in handy when Jesse rescued the beached dolphin. Another instance of irony is, that Jesse hated pep talks from people, but then was giving the dolphin pep talk in the end. He told the dolphin, “Bud, you’ve got to save yourself… Nobody going to do it for you. If you give up, you’re finished...” (Pg. 23) This pep talk he gave the dolphin made him realize he needs to do the same. Most ironic things happen when you least expect
...en a person enters a society different from their own. This is demonstrated with the narrator, though he understands the Yanomamos way of life, he does reveal moments of being uncomfortable with the way the society works.
“Pride that dines on vanity, sups on contempt”-Benjamin Franklin. When pride, a gained sense of importance, within a person reaches a point where one deludes oneself with a sense of infallibility, then any sense of consideration for others will be scorned. Similarly, in the book, The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst, the narrator drags Doodle into the depths of his pride, ignoring any pleas for help, and left him to drown. Though the narrator showed some forms of love, he is undoubtedly and ultimately responsible for Doodle’s death because of the unrealistic expectations he sets upon his little brother.
Symbolism Symbolism can be defined “as the use of symbols to signify ideas and qualities by giving them symbolic meanings that are different from their literal sense” (C. Bavota). James Hurst gives us many examples of symbolism in his short story “The Scarlet Ibis.” James Hurst was born in 1922 and was the youngest of three children. He attended North Carolina State College and served in the United States Army during World War II. He had originally studied to become a chemical engineer, but he realized he had a passion for music and became a student at the Juilliard School of Music in New York.
In the short story The Scarlet ibis, the author James Hurst suggests how choices can affect an individual’s life.
The purpose of this irony is to shock the reader, since ironic things are by definition unexpected, it works well as a twist in the story.
Irony is probably one of the most used literary devices in this book and is used throughout. One example of when the author uses Irony is on page 143 when he writes, "It's the teachers, they're the enemy. They get us to fight each other, to hate each other. The game is everything. Win win win. It amounts to nothing.... deciding whether we're good enough or not." This shows irony because as a reader you know the teachers are trying to help the kids and train them. But the kids in the story believe that the teachers are actually trying to hurt them. This is ironic because the teachers are looking at the situation as a whole and are training them to fight the buggers not hurt them, they want the kids around to fight the buggers so they have to put them through these difficult situations. So by using irony the author keeps the reader entertained.
1. Irony is a useful device for giving stories many unexpected twists and turns. In Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour," irony is used very effectively in her story. Situational irony is used to show the reader what is assumed to happen sometimes doesn't. Dramatic irony is used to hint to the reader something is happening to the characters in the story that they do not know about. Irony is used throughout Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" through the use of situational irony and the use of dramatic irony.
To begin, in The Scarlet Ibis, Doodle strives for these goals because he wants to make his brother proud. Every little sibling wants to feel accepted by their older brothers or sisters, as well as by their parents. When something is expected from you, it is human nature to want to fulfill those expectations. Doodle’s brother says some things that make him want to be a sufficient brother. For example, he writes, “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.” (Page 389). This shows how the narrator’s attitude about helping Doodle creates internal conflict between his desire for pride and his knowledge that it is wrong.
In “The Scarlet Ibis,” Hurst demonstrates that expecting too much of others will push them past their breaking point through the use of characterizing the narrator as conceited and self-centered through his forceful actions, mainly due to pride, towards his brother Doodle. Throughout the story, the narrator manages to push his brother to his limit by continuously forcing him to take part in activities beyond his athletic abilities, which eventually leads to his downfall. After the narrator’s attempt to run a development program for Doodle,
...hese characters we better and more pure, bad things would might have not happened to them like they did. In this situation, cosmic irony is used to show how someone’s fate can be decided by the life decisions they make. It was only destiny that brought the Misfit and the family together.
Irony is a useful device for giving stories many unexpected twists and turns. In Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour," irony is used as an effective literary device. Situational irony is used to show the reader that what is expected to happen sometimes doesn't. Dramatic irony is used to clue the reader in on something that is happening that the characters in the story do not know about. Irony is used throughout Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" through the use of situational irony and the use of dramatic irony.