The Scarlet Ibis By James Hurst: Character Analysis

The passage begins with the narrator letting his pride and frustration turn into cruelty, leading him to make a selfish decision in abandoning his disabled brother, leaving him behind. This action established the narrator's inconsiderate and selfish characteristics which created a contrast between him and his brother Doodle. This contrast left a “wall of rain dividing [them].” This foreshadows Doodle’s death, with the storm’s increased intensity throughout the passage, such as when the narrator stated that “the sound of

The narrator’s brother, affectionately nicknamed Doodle, wasn’t supposed to live for much more than a day after he was born. “Everybody thought he was going to die- everybody except Aunt Nicey,” (Hurst 1) Doodle was born with a specific disability that perhaps was untreatable then. Yet, they called him a disappointment, and no one believed that he had a single choice. “He was born when I was six, and was, from the outset, a disappointment.” (Hurst 1)No one else tried to find a way to support him even after he lived beyond Aunt Nicey’s expectations. Neither of his parents cared to help or even attempt to love him, presumably they just avoided him all the time. Doctor’s assumed that Doodle wasn’t going to make it, because his heart was too small and his body too big to be supported by it. “The doctor said that with his weak heart this strain would probably kill him, but it didn’t.” (Hurst 2) The narrator tried to treat his brother like a normal kid and make him learn things, to make him closer to normal than

Have your parents ever told you that you needed to improve at something? It could be a sport, activities, or even how well you do in school. This is a vile thing for parents to do to their children. Sometimes parents just need to back up a few steps and let you be yourself. The same can happen with an older sibling! That is the case in The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst. The narrator of this story has a younger brother called Doodle, who has some health issues. Big brother pushes little brother to be better than he is. In The Scarlet Ibis, Doodle strives for the goals that his brother sets for him for many reasons, which reflects the conflict in the story.

In “The Scarlet Ibis,” James Hurst uses symbolism to develop the theme that one can push themselves to overcome things but don't push beyond their limits because one could hurt someone and might not get what had been hoped of. Hurst’s characterization of ‘Brother’ communicates the message that don’t let pride get in the way of ones actions and do what one thinks is right.

“There is within me … a knot of cruelty borne by the stream of love, much as our blood sometimes bears the seed of our destruction.” James Hurst. Hurst points out that when people love someone, they have the ability to hurt the ones they love, and they are also capable of doing things that can cause them to harm themselves. This idea is complicated, because people are complicated. People can be cruel as well as kind. People can do cruel things yet have caring intentions. “People are complicated. People have secrets. It doesn't make them good people or bad people.” David Zayas. In the story “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, the narrator, called “Brother” shows this mixed side of being human. In the story, Brother

In “The Scarlet Ibis” James Hurst symbolizes the narrator’s brother, Doodle, as the scarlet ibis, and the narrator as the storm, in order to reveal the theme that challenging someone to go beyond their limits can help in achieving extraordinary results, however pushing the limits too far may prove fatal. As the narrator, Doodle, and their family were eating dinner, they saw a scarlet ibis getting carried by the storm and “[tumbling] down, … landing at [their] feet with a thud”. Doodle’s family doesn’t care much, however, Doodle takes time to respect the bird and to bury it, even though he saw the bird for the first time as if he had some special connection with the ibis. “It’s a scarlet ibis! … South America to Florida. A storm must have brought it here. A scarlet Ibis! How many miles it had traveled to die like this, in our yard, beneath the bleeding tree” (14). The bird, native to South America had flown all the way from “South America to Florida”, which was way beyond its natural capacity. Doodle had also come a long way from being a baby who everyone thought wouldn't survive or a cripple who couldn’t stand. “A storm … brought it here”, somewhat assisting it and somewhat forcing it. Doodle learned to walk, with help from the narrator who pushed him and didn’t let him give up. Now the narrator was pushing Doodle, even more, to learn rowing, swimming, and fighting even though his body and heart were weak. The storm had powered the amazing flight but pushed the bird’s

The author of "The Scarlet Ibis" is James Hurst. Doodle is a physically disabled child with a normal and healthy brother. His brother pushes and is very cruel to him because of his disability. He also ends up making Doodle try to complete simple everyday tasks that everyone expects he can not do. The author uses symbolism and foreshadowing to reveal Doodle's frailty and impressionability.

Just because you have barriers on life doesn't mean you can't overcome them. In "The Scarlet Ibis" Doodle faces many barriers and have to overcome all of them. "Oh yes you can, Doodle."I said."All you got to do is try. Now come on." This shows how even if you get pushed down in life that doesn't mean you can't get back up and try again to overcome your boundaries. Another way Doodle would overcome boundaries is by setting a goal to try to achieve. "Aw, come on Doodle, "I urged." You can do it. Do you want to be different from everyone else when you start school". This shows how he wanted to try and overcome his barrier by setting a goal and trying to overcome it even if it was hard. "In the story, "The Scarlet Ibis," by James Hurst, the author

In the text it states “Doodle told them it was I who had taught him to walk, so everyone wanted to hug me, and I began to cry."What are you crying for?" asked Daddy, but I couldn't answer. 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.” The narrator, brother, regrets teaching Doodle to walk. The narrator taught Doodle how to walk but for the wrong reason. The narrator was embarrassed of having a disabled brother, so the narrator wanted to make him look normal. So the narrator decides to teach Doodle to walk, but the narrator taught Doodle to walk for himself not for Doodles health. In the text it also states “ Let's go, Doodle," I said. 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 the mouth, and his neck and the front of his shirt were stained a brilliant red. "Doodle! Doodle!" I cried.” The narrator ran away from Doodle hoping for Doodle to fun after him, but after awhile he goes back and checks on Doodle, and Doodle was lifelessly laying on the ground. The narrator finally realized how much Doodle actually meant to him. The narrator had regret being mean to Doodle. Now that Doodle was dead, the narrator regrets taking advantage of Doodle and now he knows he should of

Hurst’s uses symbolism in The Scarlet Ibis to convey his theme that it is human nature to change ourselves or the people around us if it causes embarrassment, or hurts our reputation. People tend to try and change the things that cause us to feel ashamed or embarrassed. Many humans have likelihood to change what and who surround them in order to have a good ego. When people get embarrassed, they try to modify themselves, so it doesn’t happen again. An example of symbolism is when Brother thought in his mind while crying, I was embarrassed at having a brother of that age who couldn't walk, so I set out to teach him.” (Hurst 353). In other words, his own shame was the reason he wanted Doodle to walk, so he taught him. This symbolizes how humans do things for

According to google dictionary, Pride /prīd/ (Noun) - Is a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one's own achievement, the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired. This definition is saying that pride is the feeling emitted when something gets accomplished. Pride plays a very important role throughout the storyline of The Scarlet Ibis. In the story “The Scarlet Ibis”, by James Hurst, the theme is, pride can be an amazing thing, but when one has too much pride, things may change for the worse, the author uses metaphors to portray this theme.

The story “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst was about the narrator having a disabled brother. The narrator was always embarrassed by his brother for the fact that he couldn’t walk, he couldn’t swim, barely could speak, and much more. Even though he knows he’s not supposed to make him do these things, he still taught him to swim, and walk, just so he could feel less embarrassed in front of his friends. Doodle is being mistreated and his family is not being fair to him. Feeling terrible for Doodle seems to be all this story is about.

James Hurst's short story "The Scarlet Ibis" is about a young boy named Doodle. The story is about a boy who is not expected to live. The story goes on to show that if you have hope, the biggest dreams can be accomplished. Doodle never gave up and proved that he could do much more than anyone thought.

The short story ¨The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst talks about the narrator who is going to have a baby brother, but there is one problem: his brother has a disability when he is born. When the narrator hears about this, he plans to kill his brother, but then decides not kill him and let him live because the finds out that Doodle can recognize him. In the story, there is a lot of pride in the narrator, but it is the bad kind of pride. The narrator has so much shame in him over his brother’s differences, but he still loves and wants to show him how to do something in life. The author uses the narrator to show his theme that pride can be harmful.

The story is called “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst. The main characters are Doodle and his brother. Doodle has a weak heart and did not know how to walk at five years old until his brother taught him out of embarrassment. After Doodle learned to walk he started to teach Doodle to do other things. In a storm one day the brother left him behind and Doodle died. Throughout the story, Doodle is kind but different from other boys his age.