Everyone is destined to die one day. Some die earlier than others, and some die later than others. Some may die of diseases and some may die of old age. Yet, in the short story, “The Scarlet Ibis” written by James Hrst, the main character Doodle was destined to have an early death. Doodle had a frail body and many heart problems. Doodle was not to supposed to live for a long time. And his destiny had come true. The skies had opened up and Brother had started to run faster and faster to get home and Doodle could not keep up. Brother had waited and walked back to see that his little Brother was curled up and lifeless. Many readers have blamed Brother for Doodle’s death, yet that is false. Brother, in fact did not do anything major to cause the Doodle’s demise.
Doodle was born as a very frail child and he was destined to die. After being born, life was already against him. Almost everyone in his family also had given up on him and the narrator even states that, “Daddy had Mr. Heath, the carpenter, build a little mahogany coffin for him” (Hurst 1). The coffin was a symbol for death and it foreshadowed that Doodle
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was going to die even if he lived past his first birthday. The narrator's family still did not fully give up on the fact that Doodle will die. The narrator had mentioned, “Within a few months Doodle had learned to walk well and his go-cart was put up in the barn loft (it's still there) beside his little mahogany coffin” (Hurst 3). The coffin was left in the barn as a foreshadow for the reader that Doodle was destined to die. Throughout the story there are symbols everywhere foreshadowing that Doodle will die even if Brother had done anything. Another factor that proves Brother is not responsible for Doodle’s death is that he is only a teenager.
Every teenager has or will do something that will hurt someone. Brother had done this and he even said, “The faster I walked, the faster he walked, so I began to run” (Hurst 9). Brother had started to run because it was raining and he did not know that it would hurt Doodle. Brother, is like every teenager, he did not know what his actions would do. Also, since Brother is also just only a teenager, is his main responsibility to Doodle? Most teenagers who have younger siblings tend not to make them their biggest responsibility. And even in the narrator's case, just because Doodle is different, that does not mean he has to make Doodle his biggest responsibility. Since Brother is just a teenager he should not be blamed for the heavy burden of Doodle’s
death. Everyone in the world has the right for self preservation, which means that they have a right to get away from harm. As it was raining and Brother started running, Doodle could not keep up. Instead of continuing on his trek back to his house Brother had noticed, “Finally I went back and found him huddled beneath a red nightshade bush beside the road”(Hurst 10). Doodle after giving up just crawling into a bush. Doodle could have simply just walk home because Brother would have waited for him. Also, before Doodle and Brother had left to explore Doodle could have just simply said something which could have also save him from potential harm. Brother had also said, “Doodle said he was too tired to swim” (Hurst 9). Doodle could have spoken up and Brother and him might have stayed home.
In “The Scarlet Ibis," Doodle had the same right to live as his family did. I believe that even though Doodle was destined to die” he should have been able to live the short life he had.
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.
Ever since the beginning of Doodle's existence Brother planned to kill him. The story proves this when Brother says "I began to make plans to kill him by smothering him with a pillow". Brother felt embarrassment toward Doodle because he didn't like the idea of having an invalid brother that could never play with him and do activities that other children his age would do for fun. When Brother had the chance to leave Doodle behind he did it because his cruelty against Doodle began to rise and he didn't want to see Doodle in that
The brother, frustrated and upset, is unable to "shift the emphasis" that the play has left on these youths, and he feels...
No matter how malicious he is, like all siblings, he has some love for his brother. The narrator showed Doodle Old Woman Swamp
In conclusion, Brother shows his self-interest in how he treats his younger brother. He treats his younger brother, Doodle, as something to ‘fix’ and he cannot accept his brother as he is. When Doodle finally learns to walk, Brother’s selfish need for a more ‘ideal’ little brother is not satisfied for long. Soon he demands a little brother who can run, jump, climb, swim, swing on vines, and row a boat. When he gives Doodle lessons for these activities, he does not do so for concern about Doodle wanting to be able to do them, but because he wants Doodle to be able to be a ‘normal’ brother.
As a result of the collective knowledge shared by people then and his physical conditions, Doodle’s father had expected for him to decease in a short period of time and made the decision to arrange a coffin for him. “They did not know that I did it for myself…” (pg. 6) showed the consistent motif throughout the story was the reason behind Brother’s actions – his pride and his need for his younger brother to fit society’s expectations. In The Scarlet Ibis, Brother`s thoughts often revolved around one major objective; to make Doodle normal. As Brother narrates the story he recalls himself repeatedly pushing Doodle away from his comfort zone because Brother had wanted to make sure that Doodle would be seen as normal. When Brother had convinced Doodle that learning how to walk was important, Doodle and he would frequently go to practice. Although Brother had told Doodle multiple times that walking was an important task that he must learn how to do for himself, the underlying reason why he pressured Doodle to integrate into the norm was that he wouldn’t have to deal with the embarrassment of having a crippled brother. When Brother had finally been successful in teaching his sibling to walk, all he could think about was that his sole purpose that drove him to teach Doodle to walk; his
Doodle's brother would only do this to have control on Doodle and Doodle's actions. This control, which Doodle's brother wanted, gave him enjoyment to boss around his brother, enjoyment to boss a crippled kid. And that Doodle walked only because his brother was ashamed of having a crippled brother. It was bad enough having an invalid b....
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
Doodle’s health is not good and you can see that in this piece of text. (Topic Sentence) The author writes, “He didn’t answer so I placed my hand on his forehead and lifted his head. Limply, he fell backwards onto the Earth. He had been bleeding from his mouth, and his neck and the front of his shirt was stained brilliant red.”(172)(Textual support- 5). Doodle is harmed and it’s because his brother’s pride got in the way of his health and well being. (Commentary)
Brothers spend more time outside running, wrestling and playing sports. They enjoy doing things that take physical skill. Even if Doodle went outside, she probably wouldn't be interested in running through the forest and climbing trees. Chances are that she would be more into picking wildflowers and feeding the squirrels. There are rare occasions where you will find a real special brother-sister relationship, especially at the age Doodle and his brother were at.
“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
Neither did the burden from his brother nor the harsh defeats in training Doodle took away the narrator’s born-within pride. Throughout the entire story, the narrator’s actions toward his brother were either cruel or loving, such contradicting emotions did make him suffer in the end. Whereas the narrator regrets his actions of leaving Doodle behind, which resulted in Doodle’s death and he now have to bear the pain and shame for losing his brother his entire
While there are many more significant literary devices throughout the short story, symbolism and foreshadowing are the most prevalent. These devices enhance the story, because they keep the readers attention. Symbolism and foreshadowing help the reader better understand the characters and how the brother’s actions lead to the death of Doodle.
Throughout Edgar Allan Poe’s life, death was a frequent visitor to those he loved around him. When Poe was only 3 years old, his loving mother died of Tuberculosis. Because Poe’s father left when he was an infant, he was now an orphan and went to live with the Allan’s. His stepmother was very affectionate towards Edgar and was a very prominent figure in his life. However, years later she also died from Tuberculosis, leaving Poe lonely and forlorn. Also, later on, when Poe was 26, he married his cousin 13-year-old Virginia, whom he adored. But, his happiness did not last long, and Virginia also died of Tuberculosis, otherwise known as the Red Death, a few years later. After Virginia’s death, Poe turned to alcohol and became isolated and reckless. Due to Edgar Allan Poe’s loss of those he cared for throughout his life, Poe’s obsession with death is evident in his works of “The Tell-Tale Heart”, “The Black Cat”, and “The Fall of the House of Usher”, in which in all three death is used to produce guilt.