The Scarlet Ibis Conflict Analysis

Through the use of the character vs. self conflict of the narrator being ashamed of his little brother’s disabilities and the symbolism of Doodle’s death through the scarlet ibis, James Hurst conveys the theme that pride should not grow so great to the point that if hurts others in his short story “The Scarlet Ibis”. For instance, the story revolves around two brothers, the narrator and Doodle; Doodle is a boy who was born with a heart condition that causes him to be paraplegic. However, the narrator is embarrassed by his unfortunate brother, so he took Doodle’s health into his control; the narrator attempts to make Doodle be able to be physically active, for he teaches him how to walk and is successful. This success caused the narrator to push Doodle even harder than he was before as it is revealed, “Once I [the narrator] had succeeded in teaching Doodle to walk, I began to believe in my own infallibility, and I prepared a terrific development

program for him, unknown to Mama and Daddy, of course” (7).

The narrator was not satisfied with his brother’s huge milestone, so he made him push even harder. The concept that the narrator helping his brother because he wanted the self-gratification demonstrates that he valued his own pride over his brother’s health. This character vs. self conflict about his pride dramatically affects the story and it’s theme, for it is the main reason why the narrator continually pushed Doodle into boundaries that could possibly cause more harm than good. Moreover, an additional significant factor of the theme is the symbolism of the scarlet ibis representing Doodle. One day when the two brother’s were walking, they noticed a bird, later identified as a scarlet ibis, who had just fallen to the ground; the bird and Doodle have similar tributes. Likewise, Doodle and the scarlet ibis are in the world that they cannot survive in, they are frail, as well as neither of them fits in. The symbolism between the two grows even greater the next day; there is a rainstorm that the brothers get

caught in. The narrator runs ahead, leaving his incapable brother behind; Doodle pushes his body so hard to the point that he dies of exhaustion. When the narrator realizes that he has died, he cradles Doodle and watches as the blood dripping from his mouth turns his body red. The idea that Doodle dies contributes even more validation to why the scarlet ibis symbolizes him, for they both strained their bodies to the point where they died of physical exhaustion. The concept that the scarlet ibis symbolizes Doodle’s death due to being worn out ties in the theme, for the narrator pushed Doodle to run much faster than he was capable because he wanted Doodle to be healthy. Nonetheless, the only reason the narrator was pushing for Doodle’s health to that extent was because he wanted to have a brother that he viewed as adequate. Therefore, in the short story “The Scarlet Ibis” written by James Hurst, a character vs. self conflict about the narrator and his pride and the symbolism of Doodle’s death through the scarlet ibis, both correspond to the theme that one should not be egoistic to the point that it causes harm to others.