As I lay on my deathbed, I imagine that I will have my share of regrets. Many relationships and friendships have changed significantly throughout my life, and it seems the only consistency is inconsistency. Few of the friends I experienced my formative years alongside still occupy my current friend circle. I enjoyed the overall story and the characters appeared very realistic to me. I have experienced some dependent relationships, and I understand the motivation within the narrator for his selfish actions. I also know what it is like to experience the death of a close loved one, similar to the narrator. The tone and style of the story seem unique and weighed on my human emotions. Yes, I may have shed some tears during my first read of the ending. …show more content…
The somber tone within the story touches upon the larger issue of death. I think the true message within the sadness of the story is to always appreciate what you have before it’s too late. This message resonated with me because I have experienced unexpected loss, and I still retain some regrets and guilt about that situation. I especially enjoyed the imagery within the story. “The Scarlet Ibis” holds realistic themes, relatable characters, and an incredibly unique style. Each of these combine together to create an incredible short story which carries a lot of weight beyond the …show more content…
The narrator’s motivations are understandable. I see the reasoning to attempt to teach doodle how to be a normal child. From the beginning of the story, everyone believes that Doodle won’t be able to live at all, much less a normal life. I, personally, love a good underdog story and Doodle becomes the ultimate underdog to root for. I believe that, although the narrator had some selfish motivation, he also simply wishes for his brother to be normal and defy his apparent destiny. Aunt Nicey foreshadows the ending by stating that caul babies like Doodle can become a saint. Typically, saints don’t live long lives, but they are especially fulfilled and close to God. I believe that Doodle exhibits some saintly characteristics within the story. Even after his mother forbids him from going to help the ibis, Doodle still goes out to bury the bird. I feel as though this is an allusion to many of the stories within the bible; Jesus heals the leper, for example. The choice of the word saint brings about views of the bible in my eyes, so I believe that Doodle’s actions are definitely saintly. The narrator also mentions that “People in his (Doodle’s) stories all had wings and flew wherever they wanted to go.” I feel as though this alludes to angels which are also
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.
I always looked at death as such a sad thing that is eventually going to occur to everyone. However, after reading this book, it made me realize death can actually be a beautiful thing. Death allows a person to go to a next life, one where they will be loved and others will be there for them. It was interesting to be able to read about stories that these hospice care workers witnessed themselves. I have experienced a few deaths within my life and I never coped with them very well. After reading this book, I honestly believe I will be able to look at the positive side of death and be able to deal with my emotions better. I can also help others surrounding me deal with a death that they are experiencing. This book was filled with information that I loved learning. For example, I never knew that a dying person can choose a time to die. The thought of this never occurred to me before. I always thought that when it was someone’s time to go, they had no choice. But, a dying person can “put off” passing on until they see a certain person or event that has great significance in their life. Nevertheless, there are still people who will wait to die until they’re all alone in the room. This book makes you think of real life situations and think what you would do in them. Taken as a whole, it was a very in depth book that changes the way you would naturally perceive
He also exhibits kindness and love toward Doodle during parts of the story. For instance when Doodle’s brother tires of carrying Doodle in a go-cart, he decides to teach Doodle how to walk. Although Doodle fails numerous times, his brother keeps trying and and encourages him after a particularly disheartening fail when he says “Yes you can Doodle. All you gotta do is try. Now come on,” (Hurst 558). In this quote Doodle struggles to walk by himself. However, his determined brother stays with him the entire time and encourages Doodle to make sure he never gives up and can learn how to walk by himself. The evidence shows that Doodle’s brother does care for Doodle and that he is not always mean and cruel. The quote exemplifies Doodle’s brother’s ambivalent attitude toward his brother. The author is trying to show that Doodle’s brother grows fonder of Doodle with each passing day. Doodle’s brother’s growing love for Doodle becomes more evident as the story progresses. After Doodle learns to walk well, he and his brother, “roamed off together, resting often, we never turned back until our destination had been reached” (Hurst 559). This quote shows that Doodle’s brother grows fonder of Doodle and the two become inseparable. They go everywhere together and Doodle’s brother takes care of Doodle when they go on their journey. Hence, Doodle’s brother becomes a kind, loving brother who takes care of Doodle and tries to make Doodle have a happy life.
Author James Hurst once quoted, “I did not know then that pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death.” Why does life end out the way it does when pride infects it with its poison? In “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, pride proves to be more wonderful than terrible for the characters.
It's about sunlight. It's about the special way that dawn spreads out on a river when you know you must cross the river and march into the mountains and do things you are afraid to do. It's about love and memory. It's about sorrow. It's about sisters who never write back and people who never listen.” -pg. 85
Pride of the narrator teaches a physically deprived little boy Doodle how to walk and gives him the same amenities as every other normal child. The pride of the narrator, "I [he] am going to teach Doodle how to walk" (170). Pride, in this instance, gives the narrator enough courage and vigor to help another human being in a positive way. The world needs more people such as the narrator, who is willing to benefit other's lives in a tenderhearted way, to make another's life better and happier. For example, "It's so pretty, so pretty, pretty, pretty" (170). One's pride can truly take the simple pleasures in life and make someone happy. The narrator does a simple task by taking his brother down to the swamp. By that action, Doodle is enthralled in happiness because he sees something he has never seen before. Having pride can be beneficial in many ways; however, having too much pride can be pernicious.
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.
Doodle was known to be fragile and had many problems in the beginning of the story. He was born with a large head and small body. His head was red and Doodle’s brother was worried because he wanted to have a normal brother. In the story it says, “Everybody thought he was going to die, everybody except aunt Nicey, who had delivered him” (Hurst 462). They had even went to the extent to build him a coffin. Doodle was highly doubted and this leads part of me to think that this is the main reason he had tried so hard, besides the
Symbolism is used in many stories for authors to help convey a message for reader and for the story to have more value after it is read. The story “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst is a story filled with symbolism, and one symbol is where the two main characters went every day in the summer: Doodle and Brother. Another symbol used by James Hurst is the wagon. The story is about a relationship of two brothers with one being disabled causing him to be much weaker and not being able to do things such as swim, run, and go to school. The character, named Doodle,could not even stand up until his brother who is unnamed, help him learn after a lot of practice. The theme of the story would be to not be too prideful of yourself or someone else. James Hurst uses the swamp and the wagon as symbols to convey more meaning to the story.
The Scarlet Ibis bird symbolizes Doodle; this symbolism can be seen by the authors description of both Doodle’s and the Scarlet Ibis’s appearance after death. After the Scarlet Ibis fell from the bleeding tree his “long, graceful neck jerked twice into an S, then straightened out,” (Hurst 4) and he died. After Doodle’s death his brother finds “him huddled beneath a nightshade bush beside the road,” (Hurst 4) where he lay dead. The way Doodle fell made “his vermilion neck appear unusually long and slim,” (Hurst 4). Much like the long legs of the Scarlet Ibis, “his little legs bent sharply at the knees,” making them seem “so fragile, so thin,” (Hurst 4). This description of Doodle allows the reader to imagine him like the Scarlet Ibis, with his seemingly long neck and thin, fragile legs. Both Doodle and the Scarlet Ibis have this appearance after they fall to their death. Hurst utilizes very similar descriptive words when describing both the Scarlet Ibis and Doodle’s appearance after death, so that readers can better see the symbolism of the two.
In “The Scarlet Ibis,” written by James Hurst, Doodle, a boy born with health problems, experiences cruel actions from his older brother who wishes Doodle would have been born as normal as possible with no health conditions. As Doodle grows his older brother tries to teach him to be as normal as Doodle portrays to be capable to be, such as teaching him to walk, although this affects Doodle’s health severely, which eventually leads to his early death. The narrator in “The Scarlet Ibis” causes Doodle’s death by leaving Doodle in the rain, teaching him things that affects his health, and creating a sense of curiosity.
“-, 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.
. This story embodies how the author saw her experiences that she had lived through.
The act of dying is quite simplistic, whereas the concept of death is overly complex. For this reason, it is a common theme for novels and articles to include. Death is not only inevitable, but it is also relatable. Almost everyone will experience the death of another person, pet or plant. So, incorporating some variation of that within a text will instantly give a connection to its readers. Of course, the perused death may be sorrowful, but it is often the emotions and reactions from spectator that intrigue readers. This is because it is typically the characters who have witnessed a death that advance a story’s plot. However, the prime exception to this is when there is a death from within a character—when a piece of someone’s identity dies. Incidentally, George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eight-Four exhibits both of these
how Doodle loved his brother, and that he did not want to be separated from him.