Pride and Shame in the Scarlet Ibis This book talks about a character named Doodle and the Narrator. Throughout the book, we learn about Doodle’s medical state and the challenges he has worked on overcoming. We also learned about his brother/The Narrator helping him, but it was for himself because he was embarrassed by not having an ordinary brother. Throughout the story, the brother's selfish pride brought death and hurt upon his brother and family. A thesis statement in The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst is pride and cruelty as portrayed throughout the book by The Narrator's actions toward his brother. It warns the audience not to let their pride and selfishness overcome their love, leading to consequences that they will regret. Having too much …show more content…
I ran as fast as I could, leaving him far behind, with a wall of rain dividing us. The drops stung my face like nettles, and the wind flared the wet, glistening leaves of the bordering trees. Soon I could hear his voice no more”(Hurst 182). This quote shows how the Narrator does a cruel thing and the outcome hurts someone else. He left Doodle behind, who was scared to be alone. His cruelty got the best of them and in the end, they hurt someone by leaving them behind even when they heard them begging not to. Another example that supports this is “.I placed my hand on his forehead and lifted his head. Limply, he fell backward onto the earth. He had been bleeding from the mouth. ...’ Doodle... Doodle!’ I cried, shaking, but there was no answer but the ropy rain,.I began to weep, and the tear-blurred vision in red before me looked familiar. ‘Doodle!’ I screamed above the pounding storm, and threw my body to the earth above him. For a long, long time, it seemed forever, I lay there crying, sheltering my fallen scarlet ibis from the heresy of rain”(Hurst …show more content…
It is something that not only will cause them pain, but also others who know this person. These two pieces of evidence convey how the action of being cruel always comes with a cost that you will regret. We can see from the quotes that this person is now suffering a great amount of pain because of their actions. They not only hurt themselves, but also others. We can see how your emotions get the best of you, and your actions will eventually come back and hurt you even more. We can also see that these outcomes are something you will always remember and it will cause you pain just remembering the outcome of something you did. The Narrator's desire for a normal brother caused him to push Doodle beyond his limits. His pride and selfishness caused him to be cruel towards his brother. He was ashamed of not having a normal brother, and throughout the story he went too far. He left Doodle behind even though Doodle begged him not to and pushed him to learn how to walk, run, row, swim, and more. In the end, his actions of pushing Doodle too far and leaving him lead to death and pain. Now the Narrator's actions will always be with him and he will never get rid of the images he has in his
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.
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.
For someone to feel guilt for something they did is truly a horrible feeling. It is something that will carry on with that person for the rest of his life. In James Hurst's "Scarlet Ibis" Brother, the main character, feels that terrible guilt towards the way he treated his younger brother Doodle. Brother since the beginning let his pride take over and make Doodle do things that were almost impossible to learn in his condition. The story tells about two brothers growing up together and how the older brother let his pride push his handicapped brother a little to far. Brother is guilty for letting his pride get in the way of what was right and wrong. Also for letting his pride hurt someone he loves, his baby brother Doodle.
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
In the story "The Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst, an important theme is pride. Pride is what keeps the story going. The theme is expressed in the story in many ways. An example is when the narrator teaches Doodle to walk and shows the family. The narrator is so proud of what he did that he wanted to continue to make Doodle "more of a person." I think that this pride that the narrator has can cause readers to get angry. It was that pride that caused Doodle to die in the end. The narrator lost his pride when Doodle could not succeed and left him. Doodle died because the narrator ran away and did not help him. If he didn't let his pride get to him then Doodle wouldn't have died.
In James Hurst's short story “The Scarlet Ibis” the author describes the life of Doodle and the relationship he shares with his brother. During the story he has some happy moments with his brother, but his brother is also very selfish. Doodle pushes himself to his limits to try to please his brother. Doodle’s brother lets his pride get the best of him and forgets about the wellbeing and feelings of Doodle. (Summary) Throughout the entire story the central message is, Pride can lead people to do terrible as well as wonderful things.(thesis)
Humans are never perfect, and their emotions often conflict with their logic. In “The Scarlet Ibis”, the narrator receives a physically disabled brother, Doodle, thus trains Doodle physically so that he could live a normal life. Throughout the story, the narrator’s actions and thoughts reveals his true personalities to the audience as he slowly narrates the story of himself and his scarlet ibis, Doodle, whose existence he dreaded. In the story written by James Hurst, pride, love, and cruelty, these conflicting character traits all exists in Doodle’s brother. And the most severe of all, pride.
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.
“But a man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed, but not defeated” (Ernest Hemingway). The Scarlet Ibis is about a boy who wants to teach his disabled brother, Doodle, to do normal things, but the boy does not know when enough is enough. Brother pushed Doodle so hard, it eventually led to his death. Brother and Doodle did not accept defeat, but only Doodle was destroyed. In the story, The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst, the theme ego cannot accept defeat is revealed through symbolism and rising action.
Gloom. While having “Pride” in recent years has been a staple in society and seen as a great thing we all should be reminded of the troubles pride causes, this idea and the gloomy pride causes is shown in James Hurst’s popular short story, “The Scarlet Ibis”. “The Scarlet Ibis” is a short story about a brother with crippling heart disease. The main character, only introduced as “brother” wanted a younger brother but when his brother was born crippled he is determined to make him walk in order to be “normal”. The author of the story uses many techniques to entertain her readers.
Now, while in this case his pride led to a good outcome, it does not always end as such. In the scene where Doodle dies, the two brothers had gone to practice running but it began to storm, “The knowledge that Doodle’s and my plans had come to naught was bitter, and that streak of cruelty within me awakened. I ran as fast as I could, leaving him far behind with a wall of rain dividing us.” (371-373). This shows how his point of view affects the story.
Human emotions incite complex reactions that are often difficult to control. Even feelings that seem conventional or puerile have the ability to transform an ordinary situation into a treacherous one. In The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst, Brother struggles with humiliation towards his younger, crippled brother, Doodle. After teaching Doodle to walk, his pride impels him to help Doodle acquire other skills he needs to function in society. However, when his pride becomes blinding, Brother forces Doodle beyond his limits and is forced to accept the consequences. Though loved by his brother, Doodle becomes an innocent victim of selfishness and pride. The bitter seed of shame that blossoms into the flower of pride strangles discernment and results in absolute inability to accept defeat.
Pride is something that can make us do wonderful things or end up killing someone. The Narrator always wanted a brother (Doodle), but not one that was disabled. The narrator got caught up in trying to help Doodle because of how disabled he was, and ended up killing Doodle because of pride, which he did not know he had until it was too late. The narrator should not be responsible for Doodle’s death because he didn’t mean to kill him, he’s too young to know what he is doing, and although he was prideful, that is only human nature.
The brother admits to himself, “They didn’t know that I did it for myself; that pride, whose slave I was, spoke to me louder than all their voices; and that Doodle only walked because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother” (Hurst 175). The narrator is ashamed of his brother’s disability and decides to teach him to walk, pushing him to his limits. The narrator is cruel towards Doodle, leaving him behind despite Doodle’s attachment. In the end, the narrator’s cruelty overcomes his love for his brother and kills Doodle. Additionally, in “My Brother’s Keeper,” Jamie loved himself more, choosing to turn his brother in for his faults.
The novel The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat tells the tale of a Dew Breaker, or torturer, and those he has affected. By switching narrators and time periods, Danticat is able to craft a story where readers know each character’s perspective on the Dew Breaker. The book starts off by depicting the Dew Breaker as a loving, but awkward father. The greater truth about the Dew Breaker is revealed soon after, showing that Danticat believes that even through significant changes in disposition, people who have committed terrible acts of violence can never redeem themselves because their actions are irreversible, and will forever be consequential.