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Interpersonal communication analysis of a relationship
Interpersonal communication analysis of a relationship
Interpersonal communication analysis of a relationship
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Sabbah Haq
Mrs.Monteleone
Period 3
9/18/15
The Scarlet Ibis Essay
Siblings are very challenging and complex to deal with. Somedays you love them to the the moon and back, other days you are mad and you want to punch them. This is found in “The Scarlet Ibis”, a short story by James Hurst. The narrator and his brother Doodle seem to have a complex and confusing relationship. Based on the events in the story Brother seems to be a ruthless and selfish person.
Brother had tried to kill Doodle because Doodle was not able to walk and he felt ashamed and discomforted because of this. At one point Brother says “It was bad enough having an invalid brother, but having one who possibly was not all there was unbearable, so I began to make
plans to kill him by smothering him with a pillow.” (Hurst, 555) This quote shows how Brother hated that Doodle was not able to walk and partially paralyzed. At one point Brother also threatened Doodle that if he doesn’t touch the mahogany coffin, he will leave Doodle. “Doodle studied the mahogany box for a long time, then said, It's not mine. It is, I said. And before I'll help you down from the loft, you're going to have to touch it. I won't touch it,he said sullenly. Then I'll leave you here by yourself, I threatened, and made as if I were going down. Doodle was frightened of being left. Don't go leave me, Brother,he cried, and he leaned toward the coffin... so I put him on my shoulder and carried him down the ladder, and even when we were outside in the bright sunshine, he clung to me, crying. Don't leave me. Don't leave me.”(Hurst, 558)
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.
Have you ever had a sibling that you were jealous of or disliked? In “The Scarlet Ibis” The narrator reminisces about his feeble and sickly brother, their time together, and how he felt about. In the short story “The Scarlet Ibis”, author James Hurst uses Doodle’s brother to show that Doodle’s brother can be kind and cruel to Doodle.
The narrator’s pride had a negative effect on Doodle. The narrator said, ”Shut up, I’m not going to hurt you,”(Hurst 3). Here the narrator is telling his little brother to shut up, but that is cruel and an ineffective way to deliver the message. Next, “‘I won’t touch it,’ Doodle said, ‘Then I will leave you here” the older brother replied (Hurst 2). The situation is that when Doodle was little, the family did not think Doodle would survive, so Doodle’s family made the decision to
Some people are selfish in such a way that affects only their own selves, but others’ selfishness can hurt those they care about. One of these such people is Brother in “The Scarlet Ibis”. In James Hurst’s “The Scarlet Ibis”, Brother is selfish and only teaches Doodle to walk to benefit himself.
In the story, the narrator's pride sometimes takes him over and eventually kills his brother Doodle. At the end of the story, the narrator " as I [He] lay sheltering my fallen scarlet ibis from the heresy of rain" (176).
All siblings are cruel to one another in many different ways; but the story written by James Hurst called "The Scarlet Ibis" takes the idea to a whole new level.
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
Brother doesn’t realize that his pride has done damage until the damage has been done. Brother looks back years later and he realizes that his pride got the best of him, and he won’t be able to get his brother back. When brother is younger he doesn’t realize how he has impacted Doodle’s life sometimes in a positive way but mostly in a negative way.
Have you ever thought about murdering one of your siblings, or close family members? Brother took it all the way in “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst. Doodle, Brother’s younger sibling, was expected to die since birth; he was a premature child. The family didn’t name him for three months because they were afraid that he was going to die any second. Doodle learned how to talk way before he could walk, forcing the narrator to pull him around in a gocart everywhere he went. Brother became embarrassed of Doodle and taught him to walk. Doodle dies at age six, and Brother is responsible for his death. The narrator is responsible, because he knew about Doodle’s undeveloped organs, and over-worked him. Brother’s only motivation to teach Doodle to run, swim, climb and walk was the fact that he was embarrassed to have a crippled sibling. Finally, he was aware that Doodle was afraid of being alone and left him to die.
Mom’s words and doctor’s advice did not become a way to obstruct the narrator and his pride. Paying no attention to Mom and the doctor’s warning, the narrator took his crippled brother out and trained him anyways regardless of Doodle’s physical restraints, because he is embarrassed. “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 (Hurst 204).” Even worse, the narrator knew it was his pride that made him to force Doodle into cruel training, “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 206).” In addition, due to his embarrassment, the
...verything” (Hurst 1). The brother only cared about himself and having fun, and did not think about the affect his actions had on Doodle. The brother decides to “teach him [Doodle] to run, to swim, to climb trees, and to fight” (Hurst 3). Readers can begin to infer that the brother’s careless actions will later lead to serious injury or the death of Doodle.
Most children experience agony and hope as they face the struggles of sibling rivalry throughout their childhood. This situation has been experienced by children, of whom may or may not have siblings, for hundreds of years. Several stories represent this crisis, including the Biblical story of Abel and Cain which was written over 3000 years ago. Abel of whom was forced to be Cain’s ash-brother. Cain had developed an intense feeling of jealousy of Abel when his offering to the Lord was rejected while Abel’s was accepted. This caused him great agony, but he wasn’t the only one. The fairytale “Cinderella” encompasses the ideas of sibling rivalry as well as the agonies and hopes that correspond with it.
Imagine having a little brother with a heart problem causing him not to be a like normal kids. Imagine being the Brother to that kid and having to deal with him and his disabilities everyday. Now imagine being that Brother and deciding to do something about it. That’s exactly what Brother decides to do in James Hurst’s short story “Scarlet Ibis”. Brother tries to help Doodle, his little brother become more normal. Brother is six years old when Doodle is born. Brother is determined Doodle is going to die and his Father, even builds a coffin for him. After Doodle was born Brother plans on killing him until he finds out he is “all there” (Hurst 1). Doctors say Doodle will never be able to walk, but Brother thinks he can teach him how to before
The short story, "The Rich Brother," by Tobias Wolff represents the same concept that everyday people all over the world encounter. This portrays how having siblings can be an enormous part of a persons life. The rivalry between siblings is often very competitive, but at the same time similar to magnets. When they are not connected it may seem they are independent and whole, but when examined closely it is obvious they are really relying on each other to function properly. Although Pete and Donald's life are separate and completely different, they are in fact very dependent on each other.