In the story The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurts the two protagonist were Doodle and Doodle’s brother, the narrator. The relationship of Doodle and the narrator is based on pride. Along with pride the narrator was ashamed and embarrassed of Doodle. As an older brother, the narrator should of taken better care of Doodle. He was crippled and needed extra care. Before Doodle the narrator was a only child. He had no experience with having a sibling. The quote “Take Doodle with you” (Hurst 345) shows that his parents were too busy to take care of Doodle. The narrator’s parents weren’t always there to guide him and tell him what and what not to do. The narrator would run with Doodle to discourage him from coming with him. Even when he got flipped
over we never told his Mama. “A long list of don’ts went with him, all of which I ignored once we got to out of the house” (Hurst 345) showed that he did things to Doodle that he knew he wasn’t supposed to do yet he did. Eventually when he started helping Doodle he overworked him. He set a deadline to do multiple things, that Doodle failed to achieve. In the narrator’s mind, when Doodle was first born he was a disappointment. Doodle was never “normal” in the narrator’s eyes. They all thought he was born with a disorder. In the quote “Mama, he smiled. He’s all there!” (Hurst 345) , the narrator expresses his surprise to Doodle smiling at him. After realizing that Doodle was just crippled the narrator was still embarrassed by him. He made it his mission to help him walk. “Shut up. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m going to teach you to walk” (Hurst 347) showed that even if Doodle complained he wouldn’t take no as an answer. Doodle of course tried to please his brother as much as he could which resulted in his death. In conclusion even though the narrator loved Doodle his embarrassment caused by Doodle was greater. The narrator’s pride and Doodle’s need to please his brother lead to his death.
I believe that all lives are equal. I don’t think anybody is more important than anybody else in this world. It doesn’t matter if you're rich or poor, we are all still the same.
in life and earn respect for ourselves. However, pride also has a negative aspect. Pride can cause misunderstandings and conflicts to erupt between two people and can lead to becoming hurt. For example, in "Rules of the Game" by Amy Tan, Waverly and her mother are constantly fighting and disagreeing with each other because her mother always openly exhibits her pride. And in "The Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst, Brother's pride compels him to constantly push his sick little brother, Doodle, to become a normal child. Waverly and Brother handle their pride differently since Waverly runs away from her problems, whereas Brother faces his problems head-on and tries hard to fix them.
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.
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.
In “The Scarlet Ibis” the positivity of pride prevails in the characters. I think that judgement is influenced by pride, and it can change the whole outcome of a situation. Pride that has wonderful consequences, counts more than pride that ends
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.
In the story “The scarlet Ibis” A kid and his little brother,Doodle could walk,but not run but for his brother who was perfectly fine, had pushed him to walk,run,swim,and to do things like an ordinary child. Because his little brother who couldn’t do any of those things, he tried to help his brother because he didn’t like having a brother who couldn’t walk,so he forced his brother to try and to do things that he has never,done or never did.Doodle was not excited that he couldn’t walk because he wasn’t trying hard enough and died all because of his brother.
of a little boy and an invalid. Despised by, and an embarassment to his older brother,
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.
Since the beginning of time, mankind has sheltered their fragile egos, in which is driven by one main attribute, pride. If mankind’s ego is placed in harm's way, their lousy judgment takes over thus causing them to conceive loathsome ideas which their greed feeds upon. When mankind reflects on their dishonorable actions, a wave of regret and disappointment washes over them. This wave of resentment is what Doodle’s brother, the narrator, in the short story “The Scarlet Ibis” written by James Hurst, is currently causing him to reflect on his past actions towards Doodle. As the narrator recalls how his pride was more important than his relationship with Doodle, the reader will realize the theme of this short story, do not let pride cloud your judgment. Hurst illustrates the theme through the usage of internal conflict, man vs man conflict, and
Brother doesn’t think twice about Doodle and how he’s doing. Even when brother see’s Doodle’s health deteriorating he still keeps Doodle’s limits. (Commentary)
“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 50). This supports the claim that this is Brother’s fault, because if he were never ashamed of Doodle in the first place, he wouldn’t be given all of the extra stress running has brought his body. The narrator was very strict, and hard on Doodle because he wanted a brother that was “all there.” Brother would have been much nicer, and understanding if his decision to teach Doodle to do things like the other children was based on
In restless sleep and longing for contact with those outside of Bly-- particularly her employer-- the governess placed hope in chance meetings of random individuals. In her walk in the yard, the governess began to wish for the sight of her employer who she was still madly in love with. The governess's desire to see him and receive his reassuring approval conceived the ghost of what was later revealed to be Peter Quint she believed she had seen. Later in her climax of interaction with her ghosts, the governess is afraid that the master will come home, for she is fearful of what he will think of her.
One might think that when Doodle was five his brother teaching him to walk was a fair surprise. Doodle’s brother saw it this way, and I see it this way as well. The narrator was not trying to kill his brother by teaching him to walk, but this is what caused Doodle’s death. Doodle’s brother was well aware of Doodle’s preexisting heart condition. The doctor said that using his legs too much would cause him to overexert his heart, and in doodles death, walking was the main reason he died. While teaching Doodle to walk, Doodle’s brother was often careless. For example, when the narrator taught Doodle to walk, Doodle would often fall to the ground and land on his chest. The ground was swampy and covered in twigs and rocks as well. Doodle was using a part of his body that he had never used before. Although teaching someone to be independent is a kind act, in Doodle’s case, how he taught him was not the safest. Doodle’s brother was well aware of Doodle’s heart condition as I said earlier. Even though Doodle’s brother knew this information, and after the doctor said that physical exercise was not an approved option, Doodle’s brother still taught Doodle to walk. That is why I believe that Doodle’s brother is guilty of teaching Doodle to walk, when he should have never done
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.