Simon And Doodle Essay: The Scarlet Ibis, By James Hurst

Simon and Doodle Essay
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.
Simon had a more active life than doodle. Simon really did see what the real world was like because he was in it and did everything that everyone else was doing. Doodle lived in his own little world, where he was so innocent and ignorant of what was actually happening

around him. Simon got in trouble many times because he understood what trouble was. Doodle was so innocent that he didn't even know how to get in trouble, he couldn't even if tried.

Doodle always learned new sports but never played on any teams. Simon was apart of a team, a baseball team. He didn't play much. When he did his coaches made him get hit by the ball so he would make it to the base each time. Doodle knew that he could die at any time that's why he was so cautious. So when Doodle was tired he would always say something because he was being alert about his harsh movements. Simon lived a normal life so he never worried about it. He has always wanted to become a hero, he would tell everyone about it but no one believed him. Though they have similar heart conditions they died very different deaths. Even Simon's death was more active than Doodles. He was saving other kids on a bus that had crashed into a lake. At that time the when the bus was in the lake it was wintertime and the water was freezing. And Simons little body couldn’t handle it. He had died of that, but also died of being a hero. Doodle died because he was being over exerted from rowing. His brother pushed him too hard and his body couldn't take all of the work. His brother left his because there was a storm occurring. He was yelling at Doodle and telling him that he would be fine. As Brother was running home he realized when he was calling Doodle there was no

response. He ran back and found him dead against the tree blood flowing out of his mouth. He died because he pushed him too hard. Maybe his family should have let Doodle have more independence like Simon. And maybe Simon’s family needed to be more involved so he didn't have to become a hero for himself everyone else. In all Simon never knew what was coming expect right before it happened. And Doodle always did know it was going to happen but didn't expect it to ever actually happen.
Doodle and Simon had very different motives. As Simon motivates himself while Doodles brother motivates him. Since Simon's family was never involved with him or his life he had to push himself to his own limits. He wanted to push himself. He wanted to see how far he could go. Simon pushed himself too far. He was showing that since he didn't have anyone to do that for him, that he was independent. He had self motivation and didn't need to be cared for. Doodle didn’t know what independence was because he never experienced it. His family babied him, but I guess it was good they did. Doodle was scared of trying new things and taking risks. His brother was his only motivation he had. Doodle always wanted to give up, but his brother never let him. Simon was very religious which helped him motivate himself, and Doodle never was. He was never taught about religion. Simon relied on God and that was where he got his self-motivation. He knew God had a plan for everyone. Doodle didn’t know who God was so his brother had to motivate him. Even though Simon got in trouble a lot, he did it to stand up for what he believed in. In the movie Simon Birch Simon stood up for himself the priest because the priest was doing something he wasn't suppose to. His religion helped him motivate himself. Doodle had nothing to look forward to because he was always worrying about every move he made. Anything Doodle did, every step he made he would be afraid that it would be a mistake.
In all, they had one similarity; they both had bad heart conditions. However they were different in so many ways. They lived in different worlds that would never meet together. Simon was open to the world, Doodle was not. Simon led a more progressive life while Simon had always been very careful. They may have a similarity or two, but overall they were completely different.